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Reviews
A Boy Called Dad (2009)
Poetry and reality - 'A Boy Called Dad' has it all
You know what THEY say, don't you. THEY say start with a joke and "A Boy Called Dad" starts with belly laugh. With a great running gag of an unseen conversation coming from a bus stop as the boy of the title becomes a dad (at least from a conception point of view) the film hits the ground running. The film speeds through the aftermath of this scene with a distant first love's waters breaking in the classroom and confused Robbie's reaction to being a father. The fast paced narrative is handled cleverly and doesn't miss any required beats to get the story on its feet.
"A Boy Called Dad" has an appropriate 'say what you see' title telling the story of Robbie (Kyle Ward) an abandoned son, reunited with a wayward father Joe (the fabulous Ian Hart) and the feelings that evokes for the 14 year old new dad.
I saw this film as a part of the Salford Film Festival on Friday the 20th of November this year.
After the bus stop conception, the first act is about the happenstance meeting of Robbie and his wastrel dad Joe, a compulsive liar and gambler. They rediscover their relationship, bonded by the one perfect moment in their past. One perfect day when Robbie, Joe and his mum enjoyed a traditional family holiday at a North Wales seaside town. The fact that this memory is also the moment when Joe walked out on them, apparently for good, makes the memory all the more bitter sweet.
Ian Hart employs all of his considerable charm to make Joe realistically compelling as the man who constantly bottles his responsibilities but is still believably loved. A telling scene of Joe turning tail at the hospital door of his father's deathbed tells you all you need to know about Joe's propensity to chicken out at the moments when he's most needed to be strong. And now, for the spoilers
Inevitably, he bails on Robbie and growing love turns to disillusionment and anger at the dad who could never be relied on. Running in parallel is the story Leanne, the mother of his son, with an older and more menacing boyfriend snarling at Robbie to keep his distance.
When Joe inevitably leaves a trail of lies and hurt in his wake when he runs away from problems that come with being the father of a troubled 14 year old, it prompts Robbie to go on a voyage with his own son. His voyage begins badly with a tragic accident after an altercation with his son's bad lad adoptive dad.
He chooses to run away with his son to the one place he felt safe in his past.
The story begins anew as Robbie must struggle with the realities of fatherhood, the problems of getting food and shelter whilst on the run from the police. Changing his first nappy becomes an epic struggle and film does not shy away from the real experience that a demanding baby can bring.
Robbie's mum and Leanne cling to each other in fear for Robbie and son. Joe finally faces up to his responsibility's as he's the only one with the vital clue that can locate his Robbie and his grandson.
Whilst seeking shelter in a barn Robbie encounters a mute girl Nia (Charlene McKenna) on an isolated Welsh farm with a troubled history of her own.
The film explores themes of loss and hope; fatherhood (both traditional and teen pregnancy) and responsibility; family and loyalty; innocence and blooming sexuality with the penetrating naturalism of Ken Loach and the lyrical poetic visuals of Terence Malick or Yimou Zhang. Credit must go to both director Brian Percival and DoP David Katznelson for the sensitive use of light and setting. A scene that particularly stands out is a painful moment amongst the long grass between Robbie and Nia as she uses his need to remain hidden to exorcise a ghost from her past.
Praise must also go to a beautiful cast troupe of actors who never miss nor misstep a single beat of this perceptive drama. Special mention should go to Kyle Ward, who manages troubled, desperate, funny, warm and angry with all the skill of an actor well beyond his years. One thing is certain. Without Ian Hart's ability to make the cowardly bad father Joe into a hilarious lovable rogue, the film would fall at an early hurdle. We want him to be the dad Robbie deserves and Hart treads the fine line between charm and tragedy beautifully.
Special mention also for Charlene McKenna's Nia, whose tragic past caused her initial voiceless nature and whose chance meeting with Robbie gives her the opportunity to face and deal with that past. Her silence is incredibly eloquent in Charlene's hands and her story is the bedrock of the second act of this film.
If I have criticisms of this film it would be that the story does drift on to new themes with the inclusion of Nia. The core story of Robbie's journey of discovery of the reality of fatherhood takes somewhat of a back seat when her character appears. Her story is, however, so mysterious and compelling that the diversion isn't necessarily an unhappy one.
The climax of the film is surprising, heart warming and heartbreaking in equal measures.
This film manages to tread a fine line between realism and melodrama and fuses naturalism and poetic visuals so successfully.
I laughed, I cried and I thought. What more could you ask for.
Sleep My Love (2002)
Bittersweet twist in the tale
What a great short! I've seen this one at a few festival screenings and I admire it's wonderful plot construction and emotional twist in the tale.
A great performance by Lee Boardman (now mega famous in HBO's Rome) cleverly misdirects the viewer as to what big secret lies in the past of a broken man. Set in three time frames, always clearly moving from one to the other, this film follows a man broken by life, looking after his little girl, whilst trying to find his missing wife. All is not what it seems and when the final revelation of what did happen in the past occurs, the audience I saw it with, gasped collectively and our hearts were in our throats from that moment on.
Beautifully written and directed. A really emotional film with a twist you don't see coming and a plot that moves you.
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005)
Apocalypse definitely not the end of the world
Just saw 'The League of Gentlemen: Apocalypse' at a special screening in Manchester, with Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith of the League in attendance.
At the back was Peter Kay (who has a brief cameo in the film) affectionately heckling at the back during the Q & A session after the film.
The film was complicated (in a good way) and very very funny. It follows Geoff Tipps, Hilary Briss and Herr Lipp as they try and save fictional Rosyton Vasey from the disinterest of their creators.
The League play a wide range of their characters and themselves (or character based on themselves) and are ably supported by the cream of British character and comedy actors such as Bernard Hill, Victoria Wood and David Warner.
Warner is a particular stand out reminding me of his smooth and cutting turn in 'Time Bandits'.
The film swims in and out of various realities and allows some of the denizen's of Rosyton Vasey some space to grow beyond their usual limits of their comedy shtick.
Steve Pemberton's Herr Lipp has a great Bretchian moment near the end of the movie and has to make a decision about his purpose and meaning in life which brings a lump to the throat at an unexpected moment and surprises you with its tender affection for the characters.
This echoes something Mark and Reece said in the Q & A afterwards, that the plot of the league being tired of their famous characters is spurious and that the whole film is really a love letter to them.
For a format that started as a radio character-based sketch show, these guys have really evolved the idea so far as to sustain a movie which takes you on a journey through fiction, 'reality', comedy, tragedy and a pleasing journey for two of the less obvious characters to carry a long form story from their 70 odd existing creations.
The fans of the show will love it. It pays off dedication and attention to detail in spades, the uninitiated may be a little lost, but the joy of the LoG was always the ability to almost instantly tune into their acutely observed characters and take the stylistic leap into farce and expressionistic movie homage.
There are homages a plenty in this one including 'The Shining' and 'La Belle et la Bete', to name but two I spotted and they ably demonstrate their love for cinema and history with a segment in 1690's England that makes perfect sense when you're engaged with the movie.
What can I say, I marvelled, boggled, emoted and snickered throughout and they have definitely pulled off what many have failed at. A successful British TV comedy to cinema translation.
If you've watched and enjoyed 'The League of Gentlemen' in the past, go see it; you will enjoy.
If you haven't, rent/buy a DVD and then go see it.
Well done guys and thanks for the charming and humorous Q & A.