Thrills, spills and the sounds of silents
It’s a case of lights, camera and action aplenty at this year’s Inverness Film Festival. With 11 Scottish premieres, a guest appearance by an Oscar-winning actress and an opportunity to hear a silent pianist speak, there’s something to suit all tastes, writes Susan Welsh
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THERE’S a hunger for films in the Highlands which can’t be satisfied with run-of-the-mill movies and multiplex cinemas lacking any sense of drama.
Evidence of this was seen recently when Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton and director Mark Cousins organised Nairn’s first film festival, the Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams, which was hugely successful.
One of the guests appearing in Nairn was Bourne Trilogy star Brian Cox, who said he hoped that what had been started at Nairn would continue and spread throughout the country.
He said: “For too long, cinema has been in the hands of the wrong people and it is time to give cinema back to the people.”
His wish will be fulfilled next week when the sixth annual Inverness Film Festival gets under way at Eden Court cinemas.
The festival offers movie fans 22 film screenings, 11 Scottish premiers, plus a range of special events, masterclasses and workshops.
There will be documentaries such as Crawford, set in George W. Bush’s home town, a double bill of Highlands-set classics, The Ghost Goes West and Local Hero, and the finest in new International cinema with features from Israel, Poland, The UK, France and Sweden.
The Ghost Show combines footage of Scottish fairgrounds taken during the early days of cinema and is followed by a question and answer session with researcher Mitch Miller, while Eden Court’s Antix Youth Theatre will perform a lighthearted multimedia show, King Kong, inspired by the original movie.
Adding a touch of Hollywood glitz is Tilda Swinton, who lives in Nairn with her partner, the artist and poet John Byrne.
Ms Swinton will appear at the festival’s opening gala screening of Orlando, the acclaimed 1991 movie which first brought her to worldwide attention. In the film, she plays a nobleman who travels through time, changing sex along the way.
She said: “Once again, we are reminded by the Inverness Film Festival of the hunger in the Highlands for cracking and varied cinema; it’s surely the most avid population of filmgoers in these islands – willing to fight their way to beanbags, deck-chairs and now through blizzards to go gaga for film.
“It's my great honour to bring my work home to my neighbours to present Orlando here, one of the dearest films I ever worked on, and one of which I am extremely proud.”
Other highlights include the Scottish premieres of modern ghost story Genova, which stars Colin Firth, of Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones fame, and a bad-taste comedy, Hamlet 2, which stars multitalented comedian and television star Steve Coogan, the man behind such wonderful creations as Alan Partridge and Saxondale.
Bafta-winning Scottish actor Robert Carlyle, star of hit movies including Trainspotting and The Full Monty, turns in an another award-winning performance in Summer, a powerful British drama directed by fellow-Scot Kenny Glenaan.
Another special event attracting a lot of attention is an appearance by one of the world’s greatest silent-movie pianists, Neil Brand, who may be familiar to some from his role as co-star in Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns TV and stage show.
The show he is bringing to the festival, Neil Brand: The Silent Pianist Speaks, is the same Edinburgh Festival Fringe show which had silent movie fans howling with laughter.
Neil’s show uses clips from some of the greatest moments in silent cinema to illustrate his 25-year career and the special place music has within silent film.
“I fell into being a silent movie pianist when I was part of a company running a little arts centre which still had the projectors in from when it was a cinema,” said Neil.
“The local film society approached us and said they would like to show silent films. They asked if I wanted to have a crack at playing the piano as they knew I played by ear and at the same time was a big film fan.
“They did warn me that they tried it once before with a local pianist who had broken down after 20 minutes.
“But I took to it like a duck to water. In that first performance, something took over as soon as that first laugh came from the audience and off I went, and that’s how it has been ever since.”
During the show, Neil improvises soundtracks to everything from clips from early thrillers to Laurel and Hardy.
“When silent movies first came out, cinemas were given a cue sheet, a piece of paper that came with the film which broke the film down into scenes and had suggestions of mood music which should be played, sometimes with specific music.
““One of the things I talk about in the show is that, by the time you got to the mid-1920s, most cinemas across the country had little bands which were, by that time, extremely proficient acts moving from one style of music to another very quickly.
“Part of the experience of going to the cinema in the silent days was that you would see a film you hadn’t seen before but hear extracts of music that were familiar.
“As we have moved further and further away from the silent period, there has been a greater interest in silent movies, and more of a willingness to meet them half-way. When I started out, it was very difficult to persuade anyone to view a silent film as the generation that grew up in the 30s and 40s had done such a good job of trashing them.
“Now they are treated as works of art in their own right, which is what I’ve been hoping for since I started this job.”
Neil added: “During the show, I get the audience to score a piece of film and I play the piano while watching a piece of film for the first time, while talking them through my thinking.
“It gives them an understanding of how I work, but, more important, the audience gets a good laugh.”
The festival programme, which has been put together by directors Paul Taylor and Matt Lloyd, also offers aspiring film-makers the chance to attend a Channel 4 masterclass in cinematography and sound, and a range of Eden Court workshops in everything from acting for the camera to screen combat.
Two films, made in co-operation with Eden Court’s FilmLab, will also feature in a screening of short films entitled Short Cuts.
The festival will close with the Scottish premiere screening of Tilda Swinton’s new film, Julia, a nail-biting tragic thriller in which she plays a reckless alcoholic who kidnaps a boy to claim a ransom from his rich guardian.
The Inverness Film Festival takes place at Eden Court from November 19-23. Tickets can be booked by calling 01463 234234. For full listings, pick up a festival brochure or log on to invernessfilmfestival.com
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