| Edinburgh Film Festival pt.VIII (Thu 25 Aug) incl. Dave McKean’s 'Mirrormask' [7/10] |
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| Friday, 26 August 2005 | |
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Dave McKean's MIRRORMASK [7/10] James Toback's FINGERS (1977) [8/10] ----------------------------------------------------- Some amazing visuals comfortably compensate for a rather half-baked plot in Mirrormask, the long-awaited collaboration between graphic-novel/fantasy legends McKean and Neil Gaiman that's easily one of the bbest child-oriented films from Britain in recent years - though that's admittedly not the strongest of fields. The plot is a by-the-numbers dream-quest in which Helena (Stephanie Leonidas, a engagingly game, more upmarket Billie Piper), daughter of married circus-performers (Rob Brydon, Gina McKee), must venture through a bizarre realm of weird creatures and impossible happenings in order to save the 'white queen' (McKee again) from the forces of the 'black queen' (McKee again). The episodic results are heavily indebted to Alice in Wonderland, and to a lesser extent The Wizard of Oz - while the fact that the special effects are by the Jim Henson Company only goes to emphasise the similarity to Labyrinth. But Mirrormask - or perhaps MirrorMask - is very much its own beast: if nothing else, this is one of the most frightfully posh fantasies ever committed to celluloid. Any posher, indeed, and the picture would be enrolling at Roedean - the target audience would seem to be that Emily Blunt's upper-class babe from last year's Edinburgh hit My Summer of Love. I predict the picture will do best overseas, where the poshness won't be quite so apparent: Japanese teenage girls may well flip if/when they get the chance to see it. But the film's appeal isn't as narrow as my prophecy may make it sound - the subtext, about how Helena's creativity is being crowded out by her blossoming sexuality, is an intriguing one. And the images are often astonishing: at three or four moments (at least) any doubts or niggles fall away and you sit there dumbstruck as it just - takes - OFF! ---------------------------------------------------- James Toback was supposed to be on hand to introduce Fingers and take questions afterwards, but his visit to Edinburgh was sadly cancelled at the last minute. It was still great to see his savage character-study on the big screen (even in a slightly red-tinted old print). I saw it on video over a decade ago, and certain scenes and lines have stuck firmly in my memory ever since. Two moments in particular - one involving major-league swearing, the other an incident of stunningly unexpected violence - pack a real punch, and it was a pleasure waiting for and then experiencing the audible audience reactions. Fingers is an archetypal directorial debut, in that Toback poured his heart, soul and mind into it, perhaps fearing he'd never get such an opportunity again (it's hard to imagine a 'Toback' figure getting this kind of leeway in modern-day Hollywood). Result is at times a little dated to today's eyes, and Tisa Farrow (looking more like sister Mia than Mia herself) isn't the most charismatic leading-lady ever. But the picture has an emotional force and intensity that continues to burn impressively strong all these years later. Harvey Keitel delivers the key performance of his remarkable career as Jimmy, a small-time, volatile, sexually-conflicted hood who also happens to be a gifted classical pianist. Fascinating to compare and contrast with the current French remake, Jacques Audiard's The Beat That My Heart Skipped (shown here last week), and while Fingers is undeniably the more seedily jagged of the two (appropriate that it was a ‘Brut' production, paid for by the Faberge Brut company responsible for the legendarily rough-arsed seventies-tastic aftershave of the same name), Fingers has an immediacy and originality that can't be replicated. Like the Toback-scripted The Gambler, this is one of the key overlooked films of seventies US cinema. ----------------------------------------------------- Neil Young 26th/31st August 2005 * MIRRORMASK : [7/10] : UK 2004 : Dave McKEAN : 101 mins * FINGERS : [8/10] : USA 1978 (copyright-dated 1977) : James TOBACK : 90 mins Both seen at Cameo cinema (Mirrormask - press show; Fingers - public show) CLICK HERE FOR COVERAGE OF THE NEXT DAY'S FILMS, FRI AUG 26TH or HERE for A-Z and rankings of all films seen at Edinburgh ‘05 |
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