Saturday 29 July 2017

Blues Afternoon, Princes St Gardens Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

A three hour show featuring three very different blues acts.  Opening the show was Alabama's Lisa Mills.  Blues songs of broken love and cautious optimism, a driving guitar and clever fingerwork.  And a voice made to sing the blues.  Raspy, towering, intimate, soaring into long held notes, a voice that touches you and shares it's troubles, and yours. Backed up by a hugely infectious smile and natural rapport.  Outstanding.  I went a way a Mills convert.

Second up was Liverpool's Connie Lush Band, and altogether rockier affair with drums, bass, guitar and the smoke and whisky voice of the eponymous veteran singer.  A mix of blues classics and self penned material, some decent guitar solos and some excellent bass work.  But the musicians are very much a backing band and the attention on the vocals and stage antics of Lush, a diminutive but compelling persona with real presence.  Her voice works with a wide range of songs, becomes an instrument in it's own right beyond the lyrics, and often produces the unexpected.  Energetic, energising, uplifting and quite simply great fun.

Headline was Matt Schofield and his band, turning the rock quota up a notch or two.  Drums, bass, keyboard and the man himself on guitar and vocals.  In contrast to Lush this was much more about the music than the singing.  He's got a decent enough voice, but the mid-Atlantic drawl seems affected on a man from Manchester.  On the plus side, he was reminiscent of Gregg Allman at times, so it's not all bad.  But the music compensates for any vocal failings - as long as you're a fan of rock guitar and lenghty solos (my companion thought the performance fell into the 'boys and their toys' category!).  Schofield's playing is full of imagination and variety, whilst remaining faithful to the bluesrock template, and there were good solos from all of the band members to add variety.  A powerful ending to a great afternoon of blues.

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Davina and the Vagabonds, Princes St Gardens Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

Davina Sowers is back in Edinburgh.  Her fourth year in a row and playing on all ten days of the festival.  Either she's very cheap to book, or this band can sell out venues night after night.  Go to one of her gigs and you'll soon know which is right.

Jetlagged from a delayed flight, this was a performance run on adrenaline, and none the worse for it.  Drums, double bass, trumpet, trombone and the lady herself on piano.  The playing is solid, occasionally inspired, always enjoyable.  Both brassmen and the drummer take a turn at lead vocals and all show themselves to be more than competent.  But the essence of this performance is all in Ms Sowers' vocals, expansive personality and riotously entertaining facial expressions.

Brash, funny, confidential, outspoken, Davina erupts on to the audience and drags them with her.  Her voice is extraordinary, full of power and raw emotion.  Singing her own material, and classics from Louis Jordan to Chuck Berry, this is jazz with soul, and always intent on having a good time.

There will be better musicians in this festival.  There might even be a few better voices.  But not many acts will make you feel so good and send you out fizzing with joy.  It's no surprise they keep being asked back.

1945, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Two men in black step down from the train and unload a large box which they have loaded on to a cart and taken through the town.  They're not the gunslingers so favoured by old Westerns, but two Orthodox Jews, father and son, with something to return home.  But the Western comparison holds further, with the film shot in black and white, and the arrival of the men raising tensions and old wounds in the townspeople.

This is a small Hungarian town on a baking hot day in August 1945.  The war is over, the Germans have gone, the Russians are now the occupiers, but the political future of the country is uncertain.  In this vacuum even the most insignificant of local politicians are jostling for power and trying to ensure they don't lose out of whatever changes are heading their way.

But this is a town with guilty secrets, and the arrival of the silent Jews brings up memories that many would prefer left alone.  Several prominent members of the community benefited from the Nazi purge of their Jewish neighbours, and now find themselves conflicted between guilt and avarice.  Their varying reactions to the visitors expose the problem and give rise to some extreme reactions.

Director Ferenc Torok has tacked a difficult subject with honesty and sensitivity, shining the spotlight on an part of the country's history that has been largely ignored.  It's tensely atmospheric throughout, with minimal dialogue, and beautifully shot.  In a fine ensemble cast Péter Rudolf stands out as the bullying Town Clerk, determined to protect his position, no matter how ill-gotten.  

This is a wonderful exploration of the impact of occupation, and collaboration, and the scars they leave behind.  Highly recommended.

Wakefield, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston) seems to have it all.  A lovely wife (Jennifer Garner), 2 sweet daughters, a high powered job as a New York lawyer and big, comfortable home in the suburbs.  But is he needed?  Would anyone really miss him if he were gone?  When he returns home late one night after a frustrating train journey his attention is distracted by the local wildlife and he finds himself up in the attic of their large garage.  From there he finds he can spy unseen on much of his own home, and family.

He could go down the stairs and in the front door.  Or he could sit and watch for a while, see what they do when he's not there.  This proves more addictive than he'd expected and he settles in for the night.  When the family have all gone the next morning he goes into the house, intending to pick up where he left off, but he can't help wondering....

With the addition of a few comforts he settles in to his new 'home', days pass, weeks go by, he becomes adept at scavenging for food, while hiding himself away from his former life.  And once you've done all that, and the police have stopped looking, and your wife is getting on with her new existence - what then?  Can he go back, and how?

With nobody to talk to considerable use is made of voiceovers.  Cranston has a wonderful voice, but there are times when the script edges too far towards the banal.  His feral lifestyle is well portrayed and is just the right side of feasible, but the characters introduced to provide him with a bit of spiritual awakening feel like they've been shoehorned into the storyline.  And at times Wakefield's voyeurism is just a bit too creepy for comfort.

It's still an intriguing film though, despite the flaws.  For anyone who's ever imagined the idea of dropping out this is an interesting variation on "What if....".

Insyriated, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A day in the life. In this case, the life of a family trapped in their apartment in Syria. This is a war story from behind the lines, and brings home the fears, tensions, dangers and tedium of living in a war zone.

This comfortable middle class apartment could be anywhere, but for the bars across the door and the sounds of jets, explosions and sniper fire from outside.  Three generations of the family live here, and a young couple from upstairs whose flat had been destroyed by blast damage.  The couple plan their departure that evening, escaping from the hell they are now living in, and the husband goes off to make the final arrangements.  But, just a few metres from the block, he is shot down by a sniper's bullet, seen only by the maid.  She confides in the matriarch of the household and they decide not to say anything until night falls, for fear that another of their number might get hit.

With this knowledge in the background, and the already tense and unpredictable circumstances of their daily lives, we watch the group interact and cope as best they can.  Because they have to.  They eat their meals, the children do homework, they work around the inconveniences of unreliable power and water.

The tedium is interrupted by a break in by some of the local thugs, and the seemingly inevitable male violence towards women, but for most of the time it's a claustrophobic look at the minutiae of life, culminating in the dash to recover the sniper's victim.  Helplessness, constant fear, sudden terror.  This is Syria, now, but could so easily be a scene from Berlin in '45 or Sarajevo '92.  Technology may change, but the horror is the same.

The appearance of the brutal thugs felt like an unnecessary addition to the movie, as if the director felt some action sequences were needed, but otherwise this is a powerful and empathetic story of human beings coping with a lie none of us would choose to live.

The Little Hours, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A comedy of fourteenth century nuns.

In medieval Italy three young sisters are bored with their existence and dream of ways to escape their tedious existence.  To break their ennui they beat up the convent gardener, who leaves in disgust.  His replacement is a young man on the run from a local lord of the manor, who the priest introduces as a deaf mute.  Cue misunderstandings, confusion and nuns hell bent on sexual experimentation, a situation out of control and an audacious rescue mission.

The characters talk in American accents, which is probably better than an attempt at cod Italian.  They swear a lot, which has some initial amusement value, coming forth from those habits.  But the jarring element of the language is the use of contemporary slang, losing any sense of period.  The result feels more like a short comedy sketch that's been extended way beyond it's limitations than an actual feature film.  There just aren't enough laughs to cover up the weakness and predictability of the plotting.

Unless the idea of nuns uttering obscenities and trying out their powers of seduction is one that will keep you easily amused then this is best given a miss.

Edie, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Now in her eighties, Edie (Sheila Hancock) has been carer to her husband for thirty years.  When he dies she wonders what a life alone will mean for her.  Daughter Nancy (Wendy Morgan) wants her to go into a home, but Edie still has too much independence left in her.  Then, when clearing out the mountains of rubbish accumulated over a lifetime, she comes across an old postcard from her dad, picturing Suilven, a mountain in northwest Scotland.  And Edie decides she needs a challenge to reinvigorate her life.

Taking the sleeper train to Inverness, she finds herself forced to accept a lift from Jonny (Kevin Guthrie).  His helpfulness gradually overcomes her initial dislike and he becomes her tutor and guide in learning to survive on what will be an arduous climb.

Does she make it?  Spoiler alert -  of course she does, for this is an unashamedly feelgood movie.  In one sense this makes Edie entirely predictable.  There are obstacles along the way, both physical and emotional, dangers to be overcome, a mystery intervention and a redemptive ending.  You know the story.

But there's more than Edie to this apparently formulaic storytelling.  As with many Festival films there was a Q&A session following the screening.  Not something I'd usually mention in a review, but in this case it underlined what a remarkable achievement this film is.  The obvious warmth between the 83 year old star and a co-star more than 5 decades her junior was one aspect, and gives the lie to so much of the current nonsense in the media about inter-generational conflict..  But it was hearing Hancock talk about the physical challenges the role posed, and her joy at overcoming them, that underlined just how motivational this film is.

You can hear her talk about the efforts involved in this short video.  Well worth a watch, even if you don't think you'll get to see the movie (although you really should).  Because the real inspiration in this film isn't Edie, it's Sheila Hancock herself, and what it takes to still be young in your eighties.

Wednesday 5 July 2017

Let Me Go, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

It's 2000, and sixty-something Helga (Juliet Stevenson) leads a contented life running a small dress shop in London.  When a letter arrives to say her mother is dying it stirs up memories she'd prefer to suppress.  She shares some of her worries with granddaughter Emily (Lucy Boynton) and the two of them fly off to Vienna.

With much trepidation, Helga visits mother Traudi (Karin Bertling) and from their discussions, arguments and flashback sequences we can piece together the events that destroyed their relationship, and the horror of the secrets she has been hiding for more than five decades.  When Emily also learns the truth, followed by the arrival of her mother Beth (Johdi May), family loyalties are fractured and roles challenged.

The film explores the nature of inter generational trauma, and questions how much we can be held responsible for the actions of our predecessors.  Should children have to share their parents' guilt?  Can trauma be inherited?  And what damage is inflicted when the darkest of long held secrets are exposed to scrutiny?

It's a well plotted movie, with a gradual build up of the truth about the past.  There are times when it lags, and better editing might easily have reduced the running time by ten minutes, but the storyline never fails to keep the attention, and there is much to think about when the lights come back up.  All four of the leading women are excellent, Bertling standing out in her portrayal of the banality of evil.
Recommended.