The Sunday Cult Film Corner (Brit Grit Season): Mike Leigh Special

Good Evening there my little minions.

Well the sluggish work rate of summer at the farm continues apace. although myself and many of my olleague at the paper have actually been rather busy, attending gigs, writing reviews and generally doing our best to enthral and piss people off with equal measure.

But at this moment my desk has been cleared, so i should return to some blogging duties. And as it’s sunday evening, that of course can mean only one thing. Yup it’s time for THE SUUUUUNDAY CULLLLLLLLLLLT FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILM COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNAH-AH-AH-AH-AH (arrogah!)

Now you will be sad to hear that this weekend will see the much-lauded (in my head) Brit Grit season of British cult films draw to a close. Hey, don’t start crying there. It’s been a good run overall, and there will be plenty of hardened British films that i will be showing in the future. showing some time in the future.

But to round off the season, i’m giving the spotlight to an auteur director that has done more than any other to shed a light on the  social mores of modern British life and the ongoing struggles between everyday people. the person I’m talking about is of course MIKE LEIGH.

Leigh’s films are synonymous with a naturalistic style and plots where not all that much happens. The areas he does concentrate are the personal dynamic between the characters, which is achieves by starting his project with little or no script, just a bare premise of the story, which is them filled in with lengthy improvised session with the cast members.This approach enables depth and life to be brought to characters who would normally otherwise be considered drab and one-dimensional. Many of his films critical scenes (such as plot developments or new character introductions) are often entirely improvised. Often many of Leigh’s films highlight the everyday turmoil and struggle of Britain’s working and middle classes as they often try to juggle their problems and issues while keeping appearances amongst their friends and family. The end result is that his films are often grainy and down at heel in their depiction, but feel entirely real and organic. you can believe in the characters on the screen.

Tonight i show you two of his breakthrough films of the late ’80s. the First is HIGH HOPES, made in 1988. The film is an ensemble affair that highlights the state of being working class in a rapidly changing Britain as Tory social policies and market deregulation are in full swing. the story centres around a bike courier named Cyril (played by Phil Davies) and his girlfriend (played by Ruth Sheen). Although Cyril is a hardened socialist, the world around him is fast changing. His elderly, forgetful mother is a person who admires Margaret Thatcher, while her new neighbours are moneyed yuppies, who talk only of investments and share portfolios. Meanwhile his sister is a pretentious social climber while her husband regularly cheats on her. Add to this a surprise party for his mum’s 70th birthday and it’s a recipe for disaster.

 

The second of tonight’s films is his 1990 follow-up. LIFE IS SWEET. Starring regular Leigh alumni Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent as Wendy and Andy, the head of a working class family in North London. the films tell of their attempts to better themselves over the course of one summer. Andy leaves his job as a head chef to open a fast food stall, while Wendy lends support to family friend Aubrey’s (played by Timothy Spall) attempts to open a restaurant. Meanwhile their daughters Natalie & Nicola (played by Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks) have their own emotional issues to deal with.

 

Aaaaaaand that’s it for the Brit Grit season for now. It may come back. It may not. depends if i can be bothered. But i do promised that these two films are a wonderful way to spend the next few hours fo your evening.

Enjoy…

 

The sunday Cult Film Corner (Brit Grit Season): “Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)”

Ahh, the joys of summer in Iceland. Spent the day pounding the roads, then tried to look cool and dignified, but instead thought sod that and went and cooked a shitload of BBQ and potato salad, along with a huge swathe of music related purchases.

Today life is good. Will resume some nice writing duties tomorrow. But tonight though I’ve got music blaring in my headphones as Mrs Sex Farm and her sister, Madame Artiste scream like demented banshees at the football as Spain proceed to tear a new arsehole into Italy.

But it’s not these continental fools that concerns me. No! it’s is the fine shores of Blighty as it is now time for another episode of the Sunday Cult film corner. And in the latest instalment of our BRIT GRIT season, we go to the Midlands in a hardened tale of murder and revenge from uber cult British director Shane Meadows. Ladies and Gentlemen i give to you, DEAD MAN SHOES.

Made in 2006, it stars Paddy Considine as Richard, a man who returns to his home town in the Midlands after serving time in the army. Camping out in an abandoned farm in country with his mentally disabled brother Anthony, we learn through flashbacks that Anthony has been brutalised at the hands of a gang of local criminals who live in the nearby town. Richard starts the film by swearing revenge on them all.

As the film progresses, we see Richard relentlessly stalk the men who are led by the psychopathic Sonny (played by ex-boxer Gary Stretch). With each move, he raises the stakes from intimidation tactics, to violence, and even worse as Richard becomes the men’s worst nightmare, an angel of vengeance for his brother.

Dead Man’s Shoes is very much a revenge western transplanted to the environment of semi urban Midlands, where small towns like the one in the film have high unemployment and boredom is the name of the game. Meadows perfectly captures the thuggish banality of the gang where the only interesting thnig to do is drink and get off your face, as they take pleasure in tormenting Richard’s brother.

The mood of the film is also superbly set. With a very naturalistic mood in the camera work and lighting dept,  it starts of slowly at first with only the slight hint of menace (from the scene in the snooker club). But the near humorous tone gives way to something a lot darker as the film progresses as we see acts of violence that even the gang in the film are hopeless unprepared to deal with. This is down in no small way to the acting of Considine who exudes a highly controlled level off derangement and inner fury at the people he wants dead. but the acting plaudits should also go to Stretch as the gang leader, with his gimlet eyes and vicious smile.

Dead Man’s Shoes is one of the best movies that Shane Meadows has made and is definitely a great low life thriller. If I were you i would stop watching that soccerball rubbish, open up a can of Stella and enjoy this instead.

 

The Sunday Cult Film Corner (Brit Grit Special): “The Long Good Friday (1980)”

Hmm….

Not too much energy going on here at the farm today. that’s mostly because i was running around like a fucking loon for 2 nights in a row, first with the Tickling Death Machine at Íðno, then With Entombed last night at Gaukurinn. Right now, my muscles are strafed and flayed, stiff and on fire.

So i’M going to make this short and sweet. For once again we delve into the world of films and the murky world of old blighty as we continue our BRIT GRIT season on the Suuuuunday Cuuuuuuuuuuuult Filllllllllllllm Cornaaaaaaaaaaaaah! (fart…)

And for this weeks showing, we going to see a movie so tough and hard-boiled, you could use it to line the sole fo your working boots. Ladies and Gentlemen, i give to you THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY.

Released in 1980 and directed by John McKenzie, it stars Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, a gangster looking to move up in the world. With Helen Mirren as his wife, and with aspirations of grandeur, he looks to develop the run down parts of the East end of London with the help of the American mafia. Even though Harold is the undisputed kind of the underworld, his world starts to fall apart over the course of a day (hence the title) when several of his gang are killed and bombs start going off. Harold, spends the film trying to find out the people responsible, while  also trying to see his beg venture through. But when he finds the answers he’s looking for, will he be prepared  for what comes next?

TLGF is one of those films that just old school tough. It’s lean, taut with no wasted scenes or fannying around. The story moves along at a very brisk pace and snares your attention from the off. Despite this tautness, there are some quality touches, such as the slaughterhouse scene and the soundtrack which project menace and a hint of sleaze with those heavy saxophone riffs.

The acting in the film is brilliant across the board, but in reality the film belongs to Bob Hoskins, who continuously chews up the room, scene after scene. For a small guy he just burns with the incredible intensity of a man who’s looking to rise above his station but is merely a few word away from tearing your throat out. Of course it’s also worth noting the acting from Helen Mirren as his upper class, yet disarmingly tough and organised wife.

This is also a film that wears London so profoundly on its sleeve. Using a pre-development of London’s docklands area as a backdrop, the film also shows the ushering in of the ’80s Thatcherite culture. The idea of rising from the gutters and getting rich, of shedding the old grey, decrepit London fo the ’70s and creating a glistening beacon of business, modernity and high level consumption. But despite the main characters allusions towards class and elegance, the reality is that they got where they where though brute force, casual racism, and sickening violence, something which occasionally pops up in the film, especially at the end.

So if you want to see some real hardened crims get the comeuppance, then get some beer and flick knives, sit back and watch this exemplary piece of movie action…

 

The Sunday Cult Film Corner – Brit Grit Season: “Villain (1971)”

Man it’s been such a lovely weekend up here in the land of the midnight sun. It’s been a perfect mix of bright sunshine, but NOT too hot so you can’t move. Also, the Sun at the moment DOES NOT SET! This means everyone has this carefree attitude to life and living. Even the nihilistic goths are walking around with smiles on their faces. Even watching Iceland’s prime cut arsehole ‘Olafur Ragnar Grímsson on TV right now cannot shake the beaming positivity from our souls.

But in the UK it’s different. There’s rain and the impending crushing oppression of celebrating the old Queenie’s diamond Jubilee celebrations. Everyone is wandering around with the feeling that they have to keep the side up by waving little flags and smiling inanely for “our Queen” and fearing the worst if you dare resist. such depressing times.

But it was never like this. Britain used to be made of sterner stuff. Of Vim, of vigour, of GRIT. And that is exactly what i’M going to show to your people tonight in our ongoing BRIT GRIT SEASON of the Sunday Cult Film Corner. (yay!)

This weeks, instalment is a tale of vicious hardened crims from the old East End, who are always nice of their mums, while at the same time putting nails through the ball sacks of their enemies. Ladies and Gentlemen, i give to you VILLAIN (1971).

Directed in 1971 by Michael Tuchner, it stars Richard Burton as Vic Dakin the “Villain” of the title. Straight from the off, he’s a brutal piece of work, cutting the throat of an associated accused of being a “Stool pigeon.” Dakin is also a closet homosexual who is in a brutal relationship with his sidekick Wolfe (played by Ian McShane). In a step away from his usual racket, he looks to undertake a major robbery of a plastic factory, while undertaking some blackmail of an MP. But with Inspector Matthews hot on his tail (played by T.P. McKenna), will he be able to get away with it, or will he be brought to justice?

While films such as GET CARTER were released in the same year to great critical acclaim, VILLAIN was a film that sank without a trace and did a lot of harm to Burton’s career as a top draw actor. The main reasoning was the upfront homosexuality of the main character, and the bisexuality of his sidekick. A love scene between McShane and Burton was eventually cut as too close to bone for the time. The Dakin character with his mother fixation, is an obvious amalgamation of the real life Kray twins, while Wolfe has the predatory skills of a survivor

Which is a shame, for VILLAIN is a slick, tense, stylish film that is definitely a flash of late ’60s/early ’70s criminal life. Containing a raft of top draw British acting talent (Joss Ackland, Colin Welland, John Hallam, etc) it contains quirky, smiling characters that ooze menace and deviance in equal measure. Unlike Michael Caine’s Carter, these guys are not cool and suave. they’re killers and scumbags, the lot of them. they way Dakin shows contempt for people they feel are beneath them, is rather chilling.

So if you’re fancying a bit of rough rugged types that like to take part in a bit of nastiness, then get your tea and bunting on the go, put your feet and stalking all cockney wanker n’ shite!

 

The Sunday Cult Film Corner: Brit Grit Special “Hell Drivers (1957)”

Huuuurrrr Hurrrr. sorry for my mild brain spasms, for I have been getting back on that scribing tip today. After what seemed like an eternity this week, where i pretty undertook a full breakdown of my faculties, I’ve finally felt the desire and need to put my thoughts to paper and other porous surfaces.

But now that’s done for the day, it’s time to undertake something that has been lacking over the last week or two. Yes, it’s sunday and that means that it’s time for another slice of celluloid madness. It’s… THE SUUUUUUUUUUUNDAY CULLLLLLLT FILMMMMMMMMMM CORNEEEEEEEEEEEER (belch…).

And, for no other reason than i can, i´ve decided for the next few weeks to curate a slew of movies from the old country, the true birthplace of civilisation, Britain (yes you heard me). titled BRIT GRIT, the next few weeks will se some lovely moves from the harder side of British life, to show that it’s not all afternoons of cricket, high tea, the monarchy and incest.

To start it all off, this week a give you a true underrated classic of gritty ’50s British cinema that’s as black and hard as the cargo it carries. Ladies and gentlemen, i give to you HELL DRIVERS.

Directed in 1957 by Cy Endfield, it lifts the lift on the hard knock macho life of Ballast truck drivers. It stars Stanley Baxter as Joe “Tom” Yately. Fresh out of prison and looking to make a clean break, he takes up a job at a haulage firm, transporting gravel. It’s a tough life where speed is of the essence and one false move could cost you your truck, or even your life. When he decides to go up against the Big dog (a man nicknamed Red) for the record number of hauls in a day, the other workers decide to freeze him out. Just when he’s about to leave, his only friend in the company has a major accident, whereupon the company secretary confides in him about the corruption endemic in the company. Tom then decides to expose the company’s corrupt practices.

“Hell Drivers” is probably one of the best, grittiest examples of the genre that is the ’50s British B movie. In those days, you’d be lucky if you got a single “Damn” or “Bloody” out of the script, but the actors of the screen were men, reaaal men, who did not give a fig for things like feelings, personal grooming, or washing their hands after going to the toilet. The world they inhabit is relentlessly grim and grey, a land of cold baths, boiled meat and cabbage and incessant abuse. Laughing and joking are but alien concepts to these people.

If all this sounds an awful prospect to watch, then don´t be disheartened, for Hell Drivers is positively dripping with talent. As well as Stanley Baker, you’ve got Herbert Lom, Patrick McGoohan, William Hartnell, Gordon Jackson, Sid James, David McCallum and Sean Connery. Meanwhile the director Cy Endfield went on to make the classic film Zulu. It’s pure black gold on celluloid.

So if you want to see some really heartless classic Brit grit, then get that mug of milky weak tea, some tongue sandwiches, and settle back for some serious trucking action.