Friday 30 June 2017

Glory (Slava), Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Tzanko Petrov is contented enough with his simple life. He loves his rabbits, he carries out his job as a railway linesman without drama, ignoring the petty of his co-workers, and his home, basic as it is, gives him the comforts he needs. Then one day his life changes.
Finding a considerable sum of money by the rails, he calls the police, only pocketing a couple of notes. The story comes to the attention of Julia Staykova, workaholic head of the PR unit for the Ministry of Transport, and desperate to present the world with a good news story that will deflect from the crisis of corruption and incompetence swamping the rail administration. Petrov is hailed as a working class hero and invited to a presentation by the Minister of Transport to reward his honesty.
His reward is a new watch, so Julia removes the old one, promising to return it later. When she fails to do so she whistles off a train of events that spiral into darker territory. Petrov finds himself being manipulated by politicos and journalists to serve their own ends, and loses control over his life. All because of the old Slava (Glory) watch his father had given him. As ever it's the little man in the story who suffers most.

Using a lot of hand held camera work and close ups, the movie has the feel of a documentary expose at times, and a sense of real events. Although very much targeted at corruption in Bulgarian government, the message is universal, and Tzanko could be any one of us, being used to deflect attention from real problems.
Glory was filmed on a budget of only €150 thousand and with only four professional actors. Margita Gosheva is excellent as Staykova, an obsessive without scruples, while Stefan Denolyubov plays the slow witted, stuttering Petrov as a long suffering man of dignity. Many of the cast were friends and family of the professional team, which only adds to the sense of realism.

A film that transcends it's limited resources, Glory is both very funny and emotionally affecting, and well worth seeking out.


Monday 26 June 2017

The Last Word, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Harriet Lawler (Shirley MacLaine) is, or rather was, a success.  She rose high in the advertising industry, has made a lot of money, and is always very sure of herself.  She's also friendless, lonely, and makes a couple of half hearted attempts at suicide.  Her mindset changes when she reads some obituaries.  Of people she knew and disliked, but who had been made to sound like special human beings by the writer.

Determined to be remembered with such fondness, Harriet demands that the author, local journalist Anne (Amanda Seyfried), performs the same service for her - before she's dead.  When Anne is unable to find anyone with a good word for her subject (even the local priest hates her) Harriet is furious with the result.  So she comes back to Anne with a proposition - she's identified four qualities in every great obituary, so she wants Anne to help her through a series of new experiences that will enable the writer to say what a wonderful person she was.

Cue series of quirky, eccentric, amusing 'adventures'.  You can join the dots yourself for what happens next.  It's predictable, cliched and overly sentimental.  There's even a  road trip featuring grumpy old woman, young woman seeking to find herself, and cute and sassy kid.  Harriet will find redemption and her own humanity, Anne will find romance and herself.

All of which is true, but sells this movie short.  The great saving factor is Maclaine herself, who has a ball as both bitch and mentor.  She's still a strong screen presence, and moves with grace of the dancer she was.  The script does have its moments, like her gynecologist saying Lawler had "the angriest vagina this side of China".  It can be very funny at times.  Undemanding, but still enjoyable.

Rumble : The Indians Who Rocked The World, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A documentary looking at the considerable, and largely unacknowledged, influence of native Americans on the development of the US music scene.   Part history lesson, part musical celebration, with an array of talking heads interspersed with contemporary footage of artists and events, it goes along at a food pace and tells it's story in coherent fashion.

By the end of the nineteenth century it had become hard to admit to having Indian ancestry, as the government tried to eradicate all traces of native culture.  The massacre of Wounded Knee exemplified the genocidal approach adopted.  Early in the century that followed there was a project to record surviving native music, before it was expected to die out completely.  This old recordings are the key to the influence this culture exerted later, with the rhythms and singing styles being adopted by other music genres.  There are well thought through explanations of how Indian music was important to the origins of jazz, blues, R& B and rock, before moving into the history of some individual artists of importance.

Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jesse Ed Davis, Jimi Hendrix and more feature.  I'd always viewed Buffy Sainte Marie as an Indian artist, but had no idea that the great Robbie Robertson had native American roots.  So much influence, so little credit given.  Today the music of the indigenous people is having a revival and some of the musicians responsible were also shown.

Some great music (albeit too often cut cruelly short) and a surprising history lesson.  For anyone interested in the origins of modern music this film offers a fascinating insight.

Kaleidoscope, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Carl (Toby Jones) lives a quiet life in his bare beige flat, until he wakes one morning on the sofa, with no recall of the night before.  In the bathroom he finds the body of a young woman, Abby (Sinead Matthews), who he'd met through his first try at online dating.  What had happened, what had he done - and what does he do now?

Further complicating his life, his mother (Anne Reid), is threatening to visit, even though they haven't spoken for years.  Carl is attached to the kaleidoscope his father gave him when he was a child, and it's fractured images constant changes of pattern reflect the confusion in his mind.  It gradually becomes apparent that not everything Carl believes is reality.

A complex psychological drama, Kaleidoscope explores the fevered mind of a man suffering from the trauma in his past and losing his grip on the real world.  Panoramic shots of the vast block of flats serve to emphasis Carl's insignificance in the world.   It's slow (sometimes too slow), tense, with sudden explosions of action, and keeps the viewer wondering throughout.

Jones is brilliantly understated as Carl, trying to find a foothold on a shifting landscape, and Reid surprises with a sinister performance of insincerity and menace.  It's not always an easy watch, but this is a film you could see several times and still be finding new aspects to the plot and characterisation.

The King's Choice (Kongens Nei), Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

The opening titles explain that when Norway became independent in 1905 it chose as ceremonial head of state a member of the Danish royal family, who became King Hakkon VII.  Thirty five years later the now elderly monarch delights in playing with his grandchildren, but has concerns for the future of a country whose neutrality is being threatened by German belligerence.

Portraying events of the three days in April 1940 when the Germans invaded, the film shows little of the fighting, concentrating on the behind the scenes drama that brought Hakkon to face the toughest choice of his life.  The crown prince is demanding action.
 The government is weak and uncertain.  The German envoy (ambassador), an basically decent professional diplomat, wants to avoid further unnecessary deaths, but finds his authority diminished by the army.  Quisling, the Norwegian fascist leader, is trying to grab power.  And Hitler says he'll only negotiate with the king.  Hakkon has to choose between accepting Quisling, and surrendering to the invaders, or resisting, and supporting the side of democracy, in the knowledge that many Norwegians will die as a result.

There's some light relief from Hakkon's time with his family, and the snow covered landscapes add visual beauty, but the director maintains the tensions of those days effectively.  The royal family's escape north, a group of young soldiers protecting a roadblock, the disagreements in cabinet, the conflict between the Nazi military and civilian representatives, all maintain the sense of events spiralling out of control and uncertain outcomes.  Even the few combat scenes are as much about choice as action.  At over two hours this could have felt tedious, but it is so well directed, edited and acted that it never feels overlong.

Jesper Christensen is superb as the beleaguered monarch, a very human and warm presence recognising that he must face his duty alone, and feel the consequences of his own choice.  Special mention too to Karl Marcovics as German envoy Kurt Bräuer, a man conflicted between his job and his conscience, his discomfort evident.

The closing titles give something of what fates befell the main characters (Hakkon would spend most of the war in London).   War story, family drama, political intrigue and thriller combined, this is a wonderful film bringing to life a little known historical story.

Goodbye Berlin (Tschick), Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Fourteen year old Maik is the classroom outcast, the weird kid nobody wants to know.  Until the arrival of a tall Russian kid know as Tschick whose strange behaviour makes even Maik wary of him.

When the summer holidays come it looks like being a lonely time for Maik.  His mother is at the "beauty farm" (in rehab to get some relief from her chronic alcoholism) and his dad is off on a "business trip" (on holiday with his young lover).  So when Tschick turns up with a stolen Lada he might as well go along with his fellow weirdo.

It's a fairly conventional road trip movie from then on, as the pair have unplanned adventures and meet up with some interesting characters.  There are chases, misunderstandings, thefts and even a bit of romance.  This could all turn out to be very predictable and dull, so it's to director Fatih Akin's credit that this is great entertainment.  It's kept light and played for laughs.  The filming makes imaginative use of the German countryside, and the closing scene in the swimming pool is wonderful.

It might not offer much novelty, but Goodbye Berlin is well made, well acted and full of laughs and the exuberance of teenagers exploring their own selves.  Worth a look.

Fog in August (Nebel im August), Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A film based on real people and events in Germany in 1942-44.  Thirteen year old Ernst has been committed to a sanatorium because of his Yenish background and troublemaking tendencies.  His fellow inmates have a range of mental and physical health issues, or are 'undesirables' like him, with some confined to bed or ward.  The regime is austere, but appears to be interested in the wellbeing of the inmates.  Except for the regular bus that takes selected individuals away.  Ernst learns they are being sent to a euthanasia camp.

When Berlin decides that the programme is to be sped up, the power to choose who lives and dies is delegated to the sanatorium director, and he brings in the angelic looking nurse Kiefer to assist with the killing.  Ernst finds allies in both the staff and inmates in trying to frustrate these efforts, but it's a battle they can never hope to win.  Eventually Ernst realises the only hope he has is to escape, but can he get out with new found friend Nandl?

Despite the bleak subject matter this is a story with friendship at it's heart, and moments of humour along the way.  It's an important depiction of a little known aspect of the Nazi regime's madness in trying to cleanse the 'master race' of undesirable elements - which, to them, includes the disabled, and a story that should be more widely known.

Young Ivo Pietzcker is excellent as Ernst, a mix of cunning, compassion and mischief.  Although much of the action is shot indoors, there are some beautiful visual moments outside, notably on a moonlit lake and when Ernst finds himself astride the rooftop of the sanitorium, looking out over a landscape where freedom may lie.

The closing titles reveal what became of the film's main protagonists in real life.  A powerful history lesson and reminder of the essential inhumanity of the far right.
 Highly recommended.

Love After Love, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

In the opening scene Glenn's extended family are celebrating with him, but with the shadow of his terminal illness hanging over them.  His death soon after is met in differing ways by wife Suzanne (Andie MacDowell) and sons Nick (Chris O'Dowd) and Chris (James Adomian).  The family drama that unfolds explores the effects of grief, and the conflicts that run within families.

Nick can't maintain relationships, Chris drinks too much, and Suzanne worries about them both, but is trying to get on with rebuilding a life she can be happy with.  Life goes on and has to be dealt with. Even if there's no clear resolution.

It's well acted and nicely filmed, with a script that reflects the messiness of real conversation.  There are some memorable moments too, notably O'Dowd's cringeworthy attempt at a toast to the man dating Suzanne, and digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole of embarrassment.  But in the end I can't recommend this as worthy of your time.

In part this is because the wealthy characters seem little affected by the real world around them.  And partly because the editing makes for a confusing experience.  There's a Woody Allen feel to the rapid transition between scenes, but without Allen's narrative awareness, and the result often lacks context or a sense of time making it hard to follow developments.  An intrusive soundtrack doesn't help matters.

Ultimately this feels like self indulgent, middle class navel gazing, the epitome of 'first world problems'.

Just Charlie, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Fourteen year old Charlie is a star in his youth football team.  His dad, Paul, is ecstatic when they hear that his son has been picked for a youth academy scheme for a big league club, a chance he missed out on.  But Charlie doesn't seem to sure.

In fact Charlie is pretty sure that isn't what he wants, much as he loves playing, because he still isn't sure who he is.  He becomes withdrawn from family and friends as he struggles to understand the feelings within him.  And is eventually forced to confront the truth, and reveal it to his parents and sister.  Charlie knows that the person he sees in the mirror isn't a true reflection of who he is, and that inside he is a girl.

The film explores the impact of Charlie's realisation on his life, and of those around her.  There are family fights, as some take longer than others to understand her decision.  She loses friends and has to face the reaction of classmates and teachers at school.  Plus there's one big worry for Charlie - will she ever get to play football again?

Covering several months in Charlie's life, the action is forced to skip through some of the consequences overly rapidly, and it does get a bit bogged down in the middle, but this is a strong effort to cover an important subject.  Portraying the various stages of acceptance, and the often nasty reactions of those who can't handle difference, is done well.

Harry Gilby is excellent as Charlie, painfully coming to terms with herself and showing the tremendous bravery needed in coming out to the world.  There's a strong supporting cast, with Patricia Potter the standout as Charlie's mum, struggling to  achieve a balance between her socialisation and  maternal instincts.

Still Charlie deserves to be seen by a big audience to help raise awareness of how intolerance and misunderstanding can blight lives, and that our social norms still have a lot of developing to do.  Memorable.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Filmhouse, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Following the release of Withnail & I Bruce Robinson again chose Richard E Grant to star in his next movie, this time a farcical satire on the rampant greed of the Thatcher era.  It's never achieved anything like the cult status of it's predecessor, so how does it stand up now?

Denis Bagley (Grant) is a hugely successful, and wealthy, advertising executive, struggling to come up with an idea to sell pimple cream.  He starts to break down under the strain, and understand the immorality of the business he's in.  But when a large boil grows on his shoulder, and begins to talk for him, he loses his grip on reality.  The boil, which has an even nastier personality than Bagley had before his epiphany, eventually takes him over and returns to work full of ideas for making punters part with their money.

Subtle it's not.  There's none of the sophistication that would later characterise the likes of Brass Eye in showing up the follies of government.  The plot wanders about with no real sense of narrative, and it's lacking in memorable lines.  Grant does his best with the Bagley character, but seems driven to overact at times to compensate.  Richard Wilson as his boss is the best of the bunch, but Rachel Ward's wooden performance as Mrs Bagley makes you wonder how she ever went on to have a successful career.  And the technology available in the eighties to create the verbalising  pustule now looks extremely dated in a world of CGI.

This one hasn't stood the test of time.

[At the Q&A for Withnail & I the night before this screening, somebody suggested that Withnail & I was in some ways a Brexit movie.  That certainly didn't come across to me, but it's clearly the case with How To get Ahead.  The ability of the ad men to sell people anything, even when it's against their own interests, has a resonance that can't be ignored....]

Withnail & I, Filmhouse, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Thirty years on from its release, is this cult classic still worth a watch?  Most people with any interest in the film will have seen it at least once by now, so I don't think I need spend much time on a synopsis.

Two unemployed young actors in 1969 London living a dissolute life of frustration and near squalor.  Deciding to get away from it all Withnail (Richard E Grant) persuades his Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) to lend them his cottage in the Lake District.  Very much city folk, their sojourn in the country does not go well, and they are unwelcome to the locals.  To their surprise Monty turns up, his intention to seduce '& I' (the character, played by Paul McGann, is never named), and the subsequent misunderstandings send him scurrying off again.  The two return to London where '& I' discovers he's got an acting job and leaves Withnail to contemplate his situation.

It's a film without much in the way of action, or stunning cinematography, but strong on character, situation and dialogue.  A very literary film, full of quotations and references and sharp writing.  A film of memorable, quotable, lines.  And a film that's dominated by the personalities of the actors.  McGann is beautiful, a gentle foil to Withnail's extremes.  Grant, in his first major role, is a monster of self indulgence, unpredictable and selfish,yet remains curiously likeable.  His approach to fishing and motorway driving are classics of excess.  Griffiths is wonderfully camp, oozes cultured charm, and is a sadly flawed parody of the aesthete he pretends to be.

Vast amounts of alcohol are consumed, drugs taken, escapes from the world sought.
 Great soundtrack too, with Beatles and Hendrix tracks making an appearance.  But it's the laughs that are the key to why this film has aged so well.  The humour is both observational and situational and is there throughout, allied to some pathos.  Bruce Robinson's script and direction are superb.

I'll end with one of my favourite lines, in this case from Uncle Monty : "There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot."

Three decades old, but still a joy.

Brooks Williams and (not) Sally Barker, Dunfermline Folk Club

When two musicians you already admire decide to perform as a duo it makes sense to go and see what results.  So over the water we went to see what the combined talents of Brooks and Sally could create.  It was a disappointment, on arrival, to learn that Barker was stuck, with a broken car, still some way south of the border.  But a short lived one when you realise you're still going to be seeing one of your favourite performers.

Very much a traditional folk club atmosphere, so each half of the evening started off with spots from locals (your reviewer was even asked if he'd like to perform, but I didn't think the audience deserved that kind of cruel and unusual punishment).  Those that rose to the task were variable in quality, but there was one woman did an excellent job of a traditional chorus song, getting the audience to sing along, and the lowland pipes on offer had a beautiful tone.

I saw Williams, before the show, scribbling down a new set list he could perform solo.  Once he started you'd never have known there'd been any disruptions to his plans though.  He's a consistently good songwriter, and has a wealth of older American material to hand.  The voice is smooth and relaxed, not with greatest of ranges, but he chooses his songs well to suit his limitations.  Whereas the guitar work is of the very highest quality, effortlessly serving up complex rhythms and stirring solos, be it in blues, jazz or country styles.  Add in one of the most charming personalities in the circuit, and a flair for anecdotes, and Williams is the complete package as an entertainer.

Much as I'd love to have seen the Barker/Williams duo perform, and hope to at some point in the future, there was no sense of feeling short changed.  Seeing Brooks solo, or with other lineups, is always rewarding.

Friday 23 June 2017

God's Own Country, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

How can you allow yourself to be happy when happiness is so alien to you?

Johnny (Josh O'Connor) has a tough life, working his family's Yorkshire hill farm.  His dad (Ian Hart), following a stroke, is unable to help much, but remains a demanding and domineering presence, while grandmother Deidre (Gemma Jones) is disapproving and critical.  Johnny's only outlets are getting drunk, throwing up after, and occasional quick sex encounters with men he has no interest in afterwards. He has no attachments, alienates the few friends he once had.

All this we know within a few brief scenes.  There's little dialogue, but the action tells us all we need to know.  Later, when the pace does slow, it's with the languidness of awakening.

Into this combustible mix comes Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian who'll give an extra pair of hands for the lambing about to start.  Johnny treats him like dirt, unhappy that his role feels under threat.  Gheorghe soon demonstrates that he is an experienced farmworker, and has a gentleness in working with the animals that Johnny finds hard to process.

When the two young men are forced to spend a few nights up in the hills together their relationship changes dramatically and Johnny finds that he has more than just a sex partner, but has also found a lover.  Can he cope with these new found emotions?

Against a background of family crisis he has to find a way through his own developing feelings.  But how does someone who has shut his true self away for so long face seeing who he is?  How does someone monosyllabic find a way to communicate when it's vital to his future?

Despite the setting this is an intimate film, almost claustrophobic at times, so that when we are afforded a glimpse of the inspiring scenery on offer it comes as a relief, a respite from the emotional conflicts.  O'Connor is excellent in the lead role, a man who wants to change but doesn't know how, subtly conveying the gradual developments taking place.  Secareanu is a brooding yet kindly presence, reflecting a very different upbringing.  And there's strong support from both Hart and Jones, the latter delivering one of her best performances.

There's little humour to be had, but that's fully compensated for by the joyful ending and Johnny's emotional transformation.

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Le Vent Du Nord, Kings Place, London

Quebecois quartet.  Four lead voices, four harmony voices, four great musicians, four jokers.  A foursome of rhythm and melody and passion and joy.

Le Vent du Nord are Nicolas Boulerice (piano and hurdy-gurdy), Simon Beaudry (guitar and bouzouki), Olivier Demers (fiddle and guitar) and RĂ©jean Brunet (button accordion, electric bass and jew's harp).  They play in traditional French Canadian style, a genre that draws influences from the music of France, Ireland, Scotland, the US and beyond.   With one distinctive characteristic - Podorythmie.  Foot tapping, foot stomping, call it what you will, but it's a remarkable means of providing percussion.  A board is strapped to the floor, miked up, and the musician sits and raps out a rythym with their feet.

Brunet got his feet working on occasions, but the bulk of the percussive effort fell to Demers.  Remember the old childhood challenge of tapping your head whilst rubbing your tummy?  That seems a piece of cake once you've watched a man banging out a complex rhythm with his feet, melody from the fiddle in his hands, and backing vocals at the same time....

Songs and tunes are a mix of traditional standards, little known discoveries and their own compositions.  The majority of songs follow the call and response format, with the opportunities they bring for harmony vocals.  There are a few slower numbers, but the majority are rousing, uplifting.  That all the lyrics are in French mattered not a sou.  The distinctive drone of the hurdy-gurdy is increasingly a rarity nowadays, and makes the bands instrumentation readily identifiable.

Comedy there is too.  Well coordinated banter at each other's expense, clowning around the stage, amusing anecdotes within the introductions.  The humour went musical too when a Demers guitar intro turned into Stairway to Heaven.  Appropriate when a storming solo from Boulerice later revealed him to be the Jimmy Page of the hurdy-gurdy (a phrase I never imagined I'd ever be writing!).

At the end the band had the audience up on their feet, clapping and singing along, to leave everyone on a high.  Superb musicians, but also genuine entertainers, Le Vent du Nord are one of the best live acts you could see.

Sunday 18 June 2017

Love In Idleness, Apollo Theatre, London

In 1944 Terence Rattigan rewrote his then unperformed play less Than Kind, and created a more commercial alternative, now named Love In Idleness.  In doing so he is said to have removed much of the first version's political message.  Trevor Nunn has looked at both, and created a synthesised script which retains the second title, but brings back some of the lost meaning.

Widow Olivia Brown is living with a member of the War Cabinet, John Fletcher, a Canadian businessman brought in to oversee tank production.  She has taken enthusiastically to the high society life, and revels in consorting with senior politicians, novelists and other members of the perceived elite.  But then she is told that her seventeen year old son Michael is returning from evacuation to Canada and wonders how to explain to him her new domestic arrangements.

Part love story, part family drama, the plot hinges around the antipathy between the stridently left wing Michael and the devoutly capitalist John, and the conflict of loyalties it creates.  At the beginning of each we see contemporary pathe news showing the liberation of France, and the Beveridge proposals for a post war system of universal welfare, the ending of the present and a vision for the future.  Not one that Fletcher has much time for.

But there's little by way of political acuity about the script, and the potential for a conflict of ideas is lost in comic stereotyping.  It's enjoyable enough entertainment for the first three scenes, but in the last, where Olivia has been forced to make her choice between the men in her life, it descends into farce with predictable punchlines and a lame, supposedly feelgood, ending.  You leave feeling short changed.

The saving grace is Eve Best's glowing performance as Olivia.  Exuberant, loving, stylish, flirtatious, conflicted, she is always convincing and very much the centre of attraction.  Anthony Head does a decent job as Fletcher, managing to lend some humanity to the arrogance of power.  Edward Bluemel's Michael is hard to take seriously, his intellect overly swamped by teenage petulance.  Too much Harry Enfield's Kevin, not enough Jimmy Porter.

Overall an amusing enough experience, but without any of the bite  that the programme notes might lead you to expect.

Tuesday 6 June 2017

My Life as a Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette)

An animated tale of rag doll kids with large round heads and big round eyes, set in an orphanage, sounds like a recipe for cutesy schmaltz.  But, although there several moments of sentimentality, this movie manages to avoid any hint of mawkishness to provide a story of compassion and hope.

Following the death of his alcoholic mother nine year old 'Courgette' (a nickname he stubbornly clings to) is placed in a small orphanage by Raymond, a kindly and world weary policeman.  Fitting in with the other kids proves difficult at first, but Courgette has the strength of character to mark out a place for himself in the small community.  All have the shared bond of difficult backgrounds which set them apart from the rest of the world.

When the Kafka-reading Camille is sent to join them, our blue haired hero finds a kindred spirit to share his inner pain with, a pairing that is almost torn apart if not for the quick thinking of an unlikely helper.

At barely over an hour long it's impressive for being able to establish clear identities and backstories for all the kids in the home.  Even the archetypal house bully is a more complex personality than is first apparent.  Visually there's a simplicity to the world they inhabit, with nothing like the depth of background you might find in something from Nick Park, but this helps concentrate the mind on the psyches of the children, and their relationships with one another and the adults in their lives.  Objects like cars and food are a toytown delight.

It's an hour of humour and genuine pathos.  The portrayal of a ten year old's understanding of sex is hilarious (at least they got the 'exploding willy' right....).  It's always clear that these children have been damaged by the adults who have, whatever reasons, left them to themselves, and there's some heartbreaking stories of their lives before the home.  But this film is one of hope, of the resilience of human beings, and that we can find help, and even love, in unexpected places.

A little bit of Swiss magic.  Here's the trailer to show you what I mean.

[I saw the subtitled version of the film, but some showings have the voices dubbed into English.  I feel the latter would lose much of the charm of the original so I'd recommend going for the French language if you get the choice.]

Monday 5 June 2017

Rory Butler, Thomas Morton Hall, Hidden Door Festival

Great to see the Hidden Door Festival bringing the long neglected Leith Theatre back into use.  The old girl needs a fair of work doing still, but what a wonderful venue it promises to be once again.

I'd only gone there to have a look around the place and take in the atmosphere, so it was an unexpected treat to come across Rory Butler, lead singer with Southern Tenant Folk Union, performing a solo set.  The quality of his singing and guitar playing were already known to me, so it was his songwriting ability that impressed most, with some memorable melodies and lyrics.  Butler's an enthusiastic performer and an engaging personality who chats away to his audience between numbers.  At times his vocals reminded me of the late John Martyn in it's intimacy and ability to convey emotion, and the guitar work is entertaining.  A very enjoyable set.

Sunday 4 June 2017

The Jellyman's Daughter, Sofi's Bar, Leith Jazz and Blues Festival

Duo Emily Kelly and Graham Coe don't fit neatly into any genre, absorbing folk, pop, blue and country into their eclectic style.  Playing mostly self penned numbers, and some imaginatively reworked covers, they deliver a surprise package to anyone who's not had the pleasure of seeing them before.

Both are accomplished vocalists and play guitar and mandolin.  But the elements which do most to make Jellyman's so unique are Kelly's sweet, but ofttimes bluesy voice, and Coe's remarkable technique and mastery on the cello.  Perhaps not the first instrument you'd usually look to for folky inspiration, but Coe can make it bend to the role of bass, strings section, lead guitar and, using his dramatic chopping style, percussion.  It's an impressive performance to watch.

Their first half was mostly new material, much of it destined for a forthcoming second album early next year, while the second was largely familiar to their existing fans  and included the best cover of a Beatles song you may ever hear.  There's still some work to be done on developing a stronger live stage presence, with the introductions seeming almost apologetic at times.  A shame as there are some good stories behind many of their songs.

But that's a minor carp.  The Jellyman's Daughter are a genuine original.  Don't miss out on seeing them if you get the chance.