For the first time, the Edinburgh Film Festival (www.edfilmfest.org.uk) broke with the tradition to run parallel to the Edinburgh Fringe. Instead, the festival rolled across the screens from the 18th - 19th of June. Not that it did the whole shebang any harm. Au contraire, judging from its special events, its stars and its visitors, Scotland’s biggest festival was bigger than ever!
The opening night gala The Edge Of Love was a world premiere, and all smiles on the red carpet were Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys, who convincingly portrays Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in the movie. In this complex and poetic love story – set in Wales as well as war-ravaged London – Keira Knightley proves that she has more to offer than go a-pirating at World’s End with a cutlass and rum. Welsh/Scottish playwright Sharman McDonald is not only responsible for the film’s script, she also happens to be Keira’s mother.

In between interesting retrospectives of French star Jeanne Moreau and New York underground pioneer Shirley Clark, the insightful music documentary Patti Smith: Dream Of Life was screened, in which the legendary punk chanteuse allows the viewer access into her private life and occasionally shows herself from a less rebellious side (for example, during a guitar duet with Hollywood Star Sam Shepard).

The ‘gothic fairytale’ SPIKE (see interviews) delivered both thrills and chills. This homage (and another world premiere) to the Brothers Grimm is a sensible and original take on the genre by US newcomer Robert Beaucage. Edward Gusts plays Spike, a misunderstood creature best described as a human porcupine. A car breaks down in a landscape surrounded by dark and eerie forest; and with it a pair of lesbian lovers, a macho idiot as well as the ‘girl’. All of them make the creature’s acquaintance, well, more or less. But what first seems like an unlucky incident soon turns out to be linked to Spike’s past…

A huge audience hit was Death Defying Acts, a nostalgic trip to the Edinburgh of 1926 by director Gillian Armstrong. Guy Pearce portrays famous escapologist Houdini, who, at the end of his tour, has reached the Scottish capital and offers a reward to anyone able to make contact with his dead mother. Enter self-styled medium Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who is more interested in money than making contact with the dead, and who manages to captivate the artist straight away. Both know every trick in the book of illusions, but who will come up trumps? Photography and set-designs are impressive, and the same can be said for the actors. Sadly, it does not save the saga from being slightly on the shallow side.

This is certainly not the case with English-Indian production The Fall. A fantasy spectacle of epic proportions and filmed in 26 countries, director Tarsem Singh displays his remarkable skill as far as the stunning visuals of his film are concerned! Los Angeles just before the 1920’s: stuntman Roy Walker (Lee Pace) falls off his horse; in addition, his girlfriend runs off with the movie’s leading man. With broken bones and a broken heart, Roy is convalescing in a hospital where he befriends the young patient Alexandria (Catinca Untaru). Out of boredom and frustration, he invents ripping yarns to keep the little girl entertained. Fellow patients, hospital staff, friends and enemies all morph into fantasy characters acting out the roles in his stories. His rival appears as evil governor Odious, pretty nurse Evelyn turns into a magical princess, and Roy himself turns into the avenging Black Bandit – with Alexandria as his little daughter. However, Roy never finishes any of his stories. Instead, he asks his little friend to sneak into the medical room and steal morphine pills – only then will he continue with his stories. When the tales become darker and darker, Alexandria comes to realize that more is at stake than the fate of characters from Roy’s hallucination-induced tales…. The Fall is cinema on a grand scale and without doubt one of the most lavish productions in recent times. Despite a rather confusing narrative and structure, the film manages to entice its audience.

Also worthwhile mentioning is the British thriller Donkey Punch by director Oliver Blackburn, with Robert Boulter, Tom Burke and Jaime Winstone in the lead roles. A group of young girls on holiday in Majorca are asked by a bunch of college boys to join their yacht-party. As the music gets louder, drugs are passed around and the conversation takes on a more sexual tone. The group sails off into the sea, but before sunrise one of the girls is dead. Whilst the remaining girls are in shock and intend to tell the police what happened, the boys fear for their future reputation and decide to throw the corpse overboard. As they begin to accuse each other, the true character of each party reveller comes to surface…
Upon first impression, Donkey Punch (another festival premiere) appears to be a typical thriller with a twist; however, the true horror here lies in the individuals’ behaviour. The film promotes itself as being different and clever, although the concept of a teen-party gone wrong does not exactly enter new waters.

Now on to animation, and a very special treat lay in store for festival goers: legendary special-effects guru Ray Harryhausen arrived in Edinburgh to present his new book ‘A Century Of Model Animation’, and a special screening of the classic Jason And The Argonauts was held in his honour.
JAB is a remarkable animated short by Brit Keith Lawes – an inventor and engineer who uses 3-D computer software in his daily job. The same software was used to pay animated homage to his favourite poem ‘Jabberwocky’ from ‘Alice In Wonderland’! “JAB is entirely created with Adobe After Effects, and I treated photos and footage with 3-D Manipulation,” explains the talented hobby animator, whose short was well received.

A further premiere highlight was Bernard Rose’s new film The Kreutzer Sonata (see interviews). After Anna Karenina and IvansXtc, the Candyman-director introduced his third Tolstoy-adaptation - starring once again the excellent Danny Huston (as well as a cameo by half-sister Anjelica Huston). Edgar Hudson (Huston) is a wealthy and charming philanthropist who starts an affair with the talented pianist Abby (Elisabeth Röhm) and marries her when she becomes pregnant. Whilst Ed’s career continues to shine, Abby soon feels reduced to arm-candy. Disillusioned, she is aware of her own declining career due to motherhood. During a dinner party hosted by Ed, Abby meets the violinist Arden. From now on, he pays her regular visits to practice Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer Sonata’. Finding herself artistically challenged again, Abby’s husband becoming increasingly possessive. Finally, the inevitable happens when Ed’s jealous heartbeat begins to resemble an A Minor Presto…. The Kreutzer Sonata is a maturely acted and accomplished piece of dark work that skilfully displays the composition of a modern marriage.

Like every festival, this one had nominations and awards aplenty (with Danny Huston and Nip/Tuck’s Joely Richardson being members of the jury): the award for ‘Best British Newcomer’ went to Shane Meadow’s Somers Town, a film about three youngsters ending up in London for different reasons. The ‘Standard Life Audience Award’ went to James Marsh’ documentary Man On Wire, in which Philippe Petit balances life and reputation on a wire-cable strung between the two towers of the former World Trade Centre. The ‘Best Documentary Award’ went to Werner Herzog for Encounters At The End Of The World.

The closing night gala was yet another world premiere. Faintheart by Vito Rocco is a film that progressed thanks to users of MySpace. Eddie Marsan (Gangs Of New York) plays Richard, a likeable and quirky guy who, together with his mates, loves nothing better than to re-enact Viking battles for kicks. When wife Cath (Jessica Hynes) reaches the end of her patience, Richard is forced to find his inner hero. Faintheart has a Monty Pythonesque undertone and proved to be a fitting end for a brilliant festival!
Claudia Andrei

Interviews Danny Huston / Bernard Rose for THE KREUTZER SONATA:

“Dialogue in books has more depth than in films”

Moviestar: Danny, in the Tolstoy novel, the main character Pozdnyzhov claims that ‘Women will never enjoy equal rights to men as long as men view them as objects of desire.’ How does this statement relate to your character in the film?

Danny Huston: As I see it, the novel does not only describe the human condition but also the Christian institution of marriage. In Tolstoy’s Russia, be-jewelled aristocratic young ladies were often trapped in marriages that promised them a comfortable life and children, but hardly any other joy, whereas peasant girls had more freedom and fun, at least as far as sexuality goes. And the character I play in the film looks upon his wife as some sort of trophy as well. Still, Bernard and I didn’t want some silicone-injected Barbie doll, but an attractive woman (in this case a pianist) with talents in her own right – to give it a more contemporary feel. Personally, I certainly don’t want to own a woman with material means, but as a man I’m aware what it means to buy dinner in a restaurant (smiles cheekily).

MS: Which other authors other than Tolstoy would inspire you to a movie adaptation?

DH: Oh, there are so many! My father (legendary director John Huston) was a master when it came to adapt great literary works for the screen. He once said to me “Film is a bastard of the written word.” What he meant is that books have the ability to indulge the reader in a dialogue that has more dimension and depth than film. I mean, every good film adaptation needs a talented director who, just like a skilled surgeon, takes the scalpel and dissects the organs.

MS: Are you a fan of classical music?

DH: I am a lover of classical music, that’s true. But Bernard (Rose), who plays the piano beautifully, is a real connoisseur of classical music! When we wrote the script for the Kreutzer Sonata, he broke down the music into action, so towards the end of the film the bloody finale could take place only at that particular musical moment. Beethoven originally composed the Kreutzer Sonata, a hundred years later Tolstoy wrote the Kreutzer Sonata, and another hundred years later Bernard and I adapted the Kreutzer Sonata for the digital age (laughs).

MS: What are your next projects?

DH: I recently did two films in London. The first is called Boogie Woogie – an ironic take on the contemporary art scene, in which I play a slightly dubious art dealer called Art Spindle. The second film is called How To Lose Friends And Alienate People and is both a romantic and sharp satire set in the magazine and tabloid world. My co-stars in it are Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg.
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Moviestar: Bernard, The Kreutzer Sonata is your third Tolstoy adaptation. Not exactly the easiest material to digest…

Bernard Rose: He had this great ability to not only analyze the human mind, but to describe it in precise and uncensored detail. Many people have this perception of Tolstoy as this stuffy and bearded old man who wrote very long and very serious novels, but of course, a lot of his work was rather short. I feel that Tolstoy is perfect for the cinema, because his work is more about emotional states than intellectual ideas.

MS: Once again you chose Danny Huston as your leading star…

BR: Danny has a real movie star quality about him, and he’s a friend of mine. When I first met him, he was actually working as a director and scriptwriter, but he has this transient ability to slip effortless into acting mode, and so I offered him a small part in Anna Karenina. Someone as compelling as him – whether as person or as actor – simply leaves an impression. To me, he has that certain something.

MS: One of your best-known films is of course the horror classic Candyman, starring Tony Todd. Your films are often about dark themes and yet, it’s worlds between Tolstoy and Clive Barker…

BR: There are people who like drama but dislike horror films. Then there are people who like horror, but perhaps they don’t like comedies. I know what you mean, but to me, these ‘different’ movies are simply interesting sources that I adapt for the screen. I try to give it my best every time and do the original source justice.
Interviews: Claudia Andrei

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Interviews Robert Beaucage / Edwards Gusts for SPIKE:

“Fairytales play with people’s primeval fears”

Moviestar: How did the concept for SPIKE come about?

Robert Beaucage: Ever since my childhood, I have been fascinated by fairytales, especially dark fairytales a la Brothers Grimm. I didn’t want to make a slasher, but a film that plays with people’s primeval fears – and that is best expressed in fairytales, although there is no magic in my film. Sometimes I even think they were written not for children but for adults, because horrible things happen in those stories. Like, people getting devoured by a big bad wolf.

Edward Gusts: Yeah, or half-rotten corpses who have their eyes plucked out by crows… hardly fairytales with a happy end! Although there is no magic in Rob’s film, in Spike’s mind if true love will happen, then the spikes will fall off. I think he truly believes that he is in a fairytale with a happy ending.

MS: And how did the look for Spike come about?

RB: I was thinking of the so-called hirsute people, like the two brothers who live in Mexico and who are covered in fur from head to toe, just like a wolf. It’s a genetic disease that has been written about since centuries. So I had this idea to portray the character of Spike as genetically mutated, only that he’s covered with spikes instead of excessive body hair. Subconsciously, I wanted to show that there are all sorts of ways to hurt the person we love – may it be through words or through physical injury.

EG: And we were talking about Spike’s birth, like, that he was born with all those spikes (and probably killed his mother during birth - in my mind anyway). I mean, porcupines look like that when they are born, so it’s not too far of a stretch.

MS: Rob, how about the Spike make-up – was there a prototype?

RB: We were on a very low budget (and a limited 21-day schedule for shooting); so there wasn’t any prototype as such, but our designer did some initial concept drawings. And I would always say the same thing after every sketch: “More spikes… still not enough… more spikes…” until I was happy. We decided that it was much easier to come up with a costume and to blend it with make-up, instead of having to glue on every single spike. Still, it took hours every day to turn Ed into Spike. This part of the process always makes me nervous, because I just want the audience to think that we found the guy looking like that.

MS: Ed, what was your reaction when you read the script?

EG: At first I thought it was horrible, but not in a ‘That’s a bad script’ kind of way. I just thought the story was horrendous and wrong. At the same time I was fascinated by the Spike character… he’s not just this evil creature but also very complex and sensible. Initially, Rob wasn’t sure about offering me the part because he thought I was ‘too cool’ to portray Spike, because Spike is not cool. Luckily, in the end my acting skills won Rob over (looks at his director with a mock-sarcastic grin).
Interviews: Claudia Andrei