Obsession, death and Edinburgh 3rd report

Obsession, death and Edinburgh 3rd report

Posted on Saturday June 20, 2009, 15:26 by Nev Pierce in Under The Radar

Four films today, all of which, to varying degrees, dealt with escape.

Writer/director Andrea Arnold – widely feted for Red Road – returns with Fish Tank and I’ll add my tuppence worth to Damon’s views. It’s an estate-set drama about troubled teen Mia (Katie Jarvis), who dreams of dancing her way beyond the high rises, cheap cider and familial conflict of her confined existence.

Where Red Road was gripping but somewhat dour, Arnold finds humour in unlikely circumstances here (the potty-mouthed exchanges between Mia and her younger sister make the foul-but-funny banter of Superbad appear mild), while visually she finds unexpected beauty in parts of the kitchen-sink surroundings, without appearing studied, self-conscious or patronising.

Jarvis is very good – giving a charisma and empathy to a character who could easily have appeared brattish – while Michael Fassbender underlines his extraordinary talent once again, walking an extremely tricky line as the boyfriend of Mia’s mother.

The script threatens to take a very schematic turn, but pulls back to something that feels much more like life. My sensibility – Ken Loach aside, I tend to favour blockbusters over kitchen sinks – means I’d love to see Arnold bring her humour and eye to a more story-driven genre piece, but that probably says more about my ignorance of social realism, than her ability.

The escape in Salvage is more immediate and literal: it’s a horror siege-flick where a teenage girl (Linzey Cocker) and her estranged mother (Neve McIntosh) are stuck in a sleepy cul-de-sac suddenly drenched in fear and blood. Lots of blood… Is it a terrorist attack or *something else*? The first hour is strong: the unknown is frightening and while the threat in Salvage is hidden, it’s scary. For a glorious moment, I thought director Lawrence Gough and writer Colin O’Donnell were never going to reveal just what was causing the carnage… Sadly, they do, and the fear dissipates in an overwrought final act. Still an enjoyable, jumpy horror for those who relished 28 Days Later….

Now, Kicks, about two mid-teenage girls who share an insane crush on a Liverpool footballer and do their damnedest to meet the object of their obsession… It appears to be inspired by the strength of feeling ’Pool fans showed when Steven Gerrard was talking of moving to Chelsea, but the idea never really develops into the unexpected. There’s not a great deal more to talk about, without revealing what limited developments the story makes. In its favour, there’s an uncomfortable eroticism in play and solid performances, but overall it only underlines, at some length, a sentiment observed by, I believe, both Iron Maiden and Annie Lennox: “There’s a thin line between love and hate.”

Finally, the most unusual and intriguing film of the day, Crying With Laughter… This is a decidedly odd, funny and tender debut from Edinburgh-based filmmaker Justin Molotnikov. I won’t go over the ground already covered by Damon, just add that I echo his compliments and have less of an issue with the final act plot swerve. It’s a little heavy-handed and exposition-heavy, but the performances give it credibility: it should feel contrived, instead it somehow feels true.