Film Reviews

WEEKEND OF FILM - Buxton Film

photo by Jess Savage

Since launching at the Fringe last year Buxton Film have become a staple of the cultural scene in the town drawing a regular following to their twice monthly screenings in the function room of the Railway Hotel on Bridge Street. So it's good to see them back with a great selection of films for this year's Weekend of Film. Tonight's opening evening featured the short film, Tales of Moss Side and Hulme, and the feature, The Hurt Locker.

Tales of Moss Side and Hulme was a warm and insightful look at these areas of Manchester in the 1960s - 1980s using archive film and interviews with local residents. It highlighted their community spirit, ethnic diversity and family nature before poor planning decisions and social problems helped to blight the areas. Buxton Film had brought along the Producer and Director Karen Gabay to introduce her film, and to take questions afterwards. It was very well received and it was clear that it brought back memories for many of those in the audience.

The Hurt Locker was this year's big winner at the Academy Awards, picking up six Oscars including Best Film and Best Director. There is tension aplenty which starts right at the beginning and never lets up as it follows a bomb squad who face death every day risking their own lives to save others. The film is well crafted, full of action and unflinching in its portrayal of war and the impossible situations it creates, but also how the adrenaline it generates can become addictive.

Buxton Film create a warm and welcoming environment down at the Railway, and put on great films with good sound and picture quality, so check out their programme or visit their website at www.buxtonfilm.org.uk .

Buxton Film are also showing the Disney/Pixar animation Up (at 3pm on Sat), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sat 8pm) and A Serious Man (Sun 8:15pm), as well as the entries to their short film competition, Open Shorts, and a number of other films over the weekend. The John Keats biopic, Bright Star, will also be shown on Wed 21st July at 7:30pm.

Steve Walker

JEAN DE FLORETTE - BASTILLE DAY IN WHALEY - Whaley Bridge Association (WBA)

The Whaley Bridge Association

I braved the wettest thunderstorm of the year to see a film about suffering because of a lack of rain - one of the little quirks about an evening reviewing the Whaley Bridge film Group's Bastille Day celebration involving a French evening and showing of 'Jean de Florette' for Francophones and Francophiles alike.

The Whaley Bridge Film Group have been in existence for only a few weeks and this was their second viewing. As I entered the church I was warmly greeted and offered a grape-based drink, croissants, raisins et fromage. As Piaf sang Bad-aa-Boom in the background, I imagined the A 5004 to Buxton's traffic noise to be the crickets and harmonica of the film's Provencal opening scene and drank in the blue sky and wind of Provence, the film's 'enfer des villes' being supplanted in my mind by the 'paradis terrestre' of Aubagne.

The 1986 film Jean de Florette, directed by Claude Berri and featuring amongst others, Gérard and Elisabeth Depardieu, who play Jean and Aimée, tells the tale of a family of well-meaning and naïve townspeople who want to start a new life in the countryside. The would-be sitting tenants, the scheming Soubeyrands, played by Yves Montand as the devious Papet and Daniel Auteuil as Ugolin, his backward but still sly nephew, have other ideas, involving carnations ('oeillets' to you). This landscape (no, not Whaley!) is beautiful but harsh and unforgiving, and one in which it soon becomes plain that human life is of relatively little value. This is one of several interesting areas of tension - including Ugolin's ambivalent relationship with his 'friend' Monsieur Jean, and the latter's devotion to a God whose existence he later denies - which make the film so fascinating.

A further irony was that, as Jean dreamt in vain of a life-saving thunderstorm, such a one was taking place just outside the church where we sat!

I will not reveal the end of this excellent film but would recommend to anyone who has seen it to watch the equally inspiring sequel 'Manon des Sources', featuring the young girl grown up. More to the point, I would also urge you to support the Whaley Bridge Film Group (contact them at Whaleyfilms@hotmail.co.uk) and give your suggestions about films they could show. The very appreciative 20 or so audience filled this venue nicely and it would be ideal if this could continue and even grow in the future - they provide a needed and much appreciated service in this area. Denise, Sam, Sue and Martin will give you a warm welcome, even if they cannot always guarantee 'le paradis de Zola'.

Ian Hamilton