11. Mark Kermode Live in 3D - BFI Southbank, NFT1
Mark Kermode is by now a national institution, for good reason; insightful, self-depricating, charming, he's a true legend in the art of film criticism. He also hosts a regular evening of special guests and such at the BFI, which this night's event marks the start of the fourth year of these. Me and some friends have been going along regularly for a while now, as it's always a treat and surprise who turns up (we sat right next to Sir Michael Caine for one night!). Tonight the guests started with Joe Cornish, one half of Adam & Joe of course, writer/director of Attack the Block (a real favourite of mine!), and he was there to plug his new film The Kid Who Would Be King, which you bet I have been eagerly anticipating for yonks! Then there was director/actress Nadine Labaki, who was talking about drama Capernaum; really interesting, and you can tell what a passion project this was for her. The team behind drama Jellyfish were next, stars Liv Hill and Cyril Nri (who I recognised from his parts in Doctor Who spin-offs!) and director James Gardner, who were pretty amusing talking about a film that deals with pretty dark stuff. Finally, the magnificent Steve Coogan was on stage, chatting a bit about his film career (getting a bit embarrassed when Around the World in 80 Days came up), in particular the recent Stan & Ollie, and he mentioned some fascinating stuff, like how for one key scene they found an original rear projection reel used in their feature Way Out West. A great night out, which you can hear on the Kermode on Film podcast now; this will not be the last time I discuss one of these nights on here.
12. The Old Dark House - BFI Southbank, NFT1
Now this one had a big re-release in a new 4K restoration last year; I didn't get round to seeing that for various reasons, but I am so glad I caught this showing of it; after years of not great prints doing the rounds on DVD, this was a revelation! Catching that much more detail makes you appreciate the effort thrown in; the rain coming down at the start, the wear on the house's outside, getting more of a sense of the warped architecture of the Femme house. James Whale was a true stylist, and this one showcases it superbly, both in the visuals, and in the sheer wit of the story. This didn't start the sub-genre of the "Old Dark House" film, there were several silents that started that trend, but, as you can tell from how it renamed the form, it remains an ideal example. One thing that highlighted these from the very start was a sense of humour, and this one has that in spades. Imagine how many audience members got a bit bewildered that though they had paid to get another vehicle for Boris Karloff (who is only one of an ensemble in here), they ended up with a very morbid satire on the British class structure in the post war years. Not that it's a problem, but it is worth saying that the fact that this is based on a book by J. B. "An Inspector Calls" Priestly should clue you in to the fact that it is far from a traditional Universal horror. If you like dark comedy, classic gothic (right down to a relative locked in an attic!), and the sort of camp you could get away with before the Hayes Code came down, you really need to pick up the new Blu Ray of this one.
13. Vampyr - BFI Southbank, NFT1
No, this has nothing to do with the video game. This is a classic of Euro horror by Carl Theodor Dreyer, which has been referenced and noted with respect by many filmmakers over the years, including Alfred Hitchcock and Guillermo Del Toro. It definitely gets aim of a feel of a dream right, as there are some wonderfully weird moments achieved, such as our lead character following a shadow that has wondered away from its owner, to a vision of his being buried alive. However, I couldn't really get into this one, although to be fair on the film, it has had a rough road to this particular screening. As it wasn't well preserved, it had to be patched together from different versions made for different languages, and from what I can see, it looks like about ten minutes has been lost somewhere along the way. Therefore, I do wonder if moments film students have put down to "dreamlike ambiguity" are just down to bits lost in the edit (wouldn't be the first time that sort of thing has happened; look up the ending of Kiss Me Deadly some time...). Also, I might have been spoiled by the 4K work on The Old Dark House, but this was a bit of a pain to watch due to the quality of the film. Apparently, the camera lens had a special gauze draped over it to get a particular look; that must make any subsequent restorations a bugger to get right, as you can't be sure what it's supposed to look like. Finally, this was a very early sound film for Dreyer, and I do wonder if maybe it should have just stayed silent, as all the best bits are without dialogue (which is quite a lot of the film thankfully); those with dialogue do show up the somewhat... amateur nature of the cast (the main love interest is just plain awful!). Now I'm not going to say "I am smarter than Hitchcock and Del Toro for calling this out", or anything like that, don't get me wrong; I'm just saying it's what kept this film at arm's length from me. Maybe I'll come back to it further down the line, if there's a new restoration available, so I can view it on a fairer basis.
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