both of these reviews were written for the late January editions of the London-based political newspaper/magazine Tribune

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NOVEL APPROACHES : A Cock and Bull Story
UK 2005
Starring : Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon
Director : Michael Winterbottom
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THUS begins Neil Young's review, written for Tribune newspaper, of the film A Cock and Bull Story. Martin Hardy's screenplay is based in part on Laurence Sterne's novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent., published in complete form in 1767 ("In spite of the title, the book gives us very little of the life, and none of the opinions, of the nominal hero, who gets born only in Vol. IV, and breeched in Vol. VI, and then disappears from the story. Instead we have a group of humorous figures including Walter Shandy [Coogan] of Shandy Hall, Tristram's father, and 'my Uncle Toby,' his brother [Brydon], wounded in the groin at the siege of Namur, whose hobby is the science of attacking fortified towns." - Margaret Drabble, Oxford Companion to English Literature, 1985). This from the British Board of Film Classification's report on A Cock and Bull Story: "Classified cert. 15, 22 September, 2005. Advice for consumers (Concise): Contains strong language and moderate sex. The main spoken language in this work is English. The BBFC has placed this work in the COMEDY genre(s). When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 94m 15s. The running time of this film was calculated from the measured length of 8483+3 (feet + frames). This work was passed with no cuts made." A Cock and Bull Story is not be confused with Will Self's 1992 publication A Cock and Bull Story (comprising twin novellas); nor with the films The Slaughter of the Cock (1996); Cock Fight (1896), Cocky Cock Roach (1932), Large Diet Cock (1994); Socialisation of a Bull (1998); The Virgin The Bull and the Capricorn (1977); or Fight Between A Lion and A Bull (1900), none of which I have at present myself seen. Unfortunately, due to strictures imposed by my Editor(s) ("300-350w please"), I am running out of the room, time and energy which would allow me to express my personal "opinions" of A Cock and Bull Story. Suffice to say that the film is very pleasing in many aspects, though somewhat less so in others. Neil Young
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original Jigsaw Lounge review from CinemaDays Milton Keynes



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CANDID CAMERAS : Hidden (Caché)
France 2005
Starring : Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche
Director : Michael Haneke
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THOUGH destined to be one of 2006's more intriguing and absorbing releases, Hidden must nevertheless count as a slight disappointment - coming as it does from so supremely gifted a film-maker (and intellectual provocateur) as Haneke (Funny Games, The Piano Teacher, Code Unknown, etc), and having been so rapturously received at Cannes last year where it won numerous prizes including Best Director. And it is brilliantly directed, with nearly camera position and movement freighted with implication and meaning.

The set-up unexpectedly references David Lynch's Lost Highway (1996) as the cosy bourgeois existence of Parisian couple Georges (Auteuil) and Anne (Binoche) - their surname 'Laurent' taken from the Lynch film - is disturbed by the arrival on their doorstep of videotapes containing surveillance-camera-type images of their own house. The tapes are accompanied by child-like drawings showing a man with blood coming out of his mouth, and one which shows a chicken being decapitated.
           
As the couple's marriage comes under strain - a process which also inadvertently affects their young-teenage son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky, a terrific debut) -Georges slowly realises that it all may trace back to a childhood incident involving himself and a young boy of Algerian descent whom his parents had considered adopting. His investigations in this department, however, lead to some unexpected, and some jarringly violent, consequences - and further questions.
           
Whether or not there's actually that much substance to Hidden is perhaps the real subject for discussion. On reflection, what does it all boil down to?  Of course many viewers will delight in joining the various dots together, poring over the film's dense visual 'text' and coming up with all manner of readings and explanations. The trouble is that sparking these post-screening analyses seems to be Haneke's primary aim with Hidden - whereas before he's always let the films speak loudly and powerfully for themselves. Neil Young
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original Jigsaw Lounge review from Leeds Film Festival



both of these reviews were written for the late January editions of the London-based political newspaper/magazine Tribune