The Next Big Thing

I think I'm losing it. Having spent the past few days in darkened theatres, any sense of time and space is mushed. I'm sure the Filmhouse members screening of was supposed to be Sunday but the girl on the counter in the conference centre sez no. A bit like the computer in the Little Britain sketch. Anyway, no matter, it gave me longer to catch up with my old mucker, Mr K. Elder. Another indication of mind meltdown came a little later with the screening of “... A Bude Hůř (It’s Gonna Get Worse)". For some reason, I thought that it was an old film reactivated but no, it was shot last year. Apparently blown up from 16mm black and white to 35mm same, the background is here and you can find a trailer of sorts here. Beware though, it is NOT WORKPLACE FRIENDLY! There's an element of bizarro world Bill Forsyth-ness to the otherwise bleak canvas of being set in 70's Czechoslovakia. The centre figure is almost Jesus-like and his mate Pig Pen (no Grateful Dead relation) looks like Roky channeling David Thomas. Soundtrack is groovy too and includes The Plastic People of The Universe.

A strangely optimistic optimistic piece in spite of the overall mood, every citizen is seemingly disenfranchised from the relentless oppression. Social deprivation? We don’t know the meaning of the word. The singing of “It’s A Long Way to Tipperary” during a funeral scene is definitely odd. Like somebody mistook it for “Auld Lang Syne”.

Had a night off on Monday but Tuesday’s burst of culture came in the shape of “Comrades In Dreams”. A look at cinemas in India, the US, Ouagadougou and North Korea and the people who run them. I think I would have liked it more if it had been edited into four specific sections, the jumping back and forth seemed to make it seem longer than it actually is. It would have made it easier to get a beat on the individuals for sure and would have made the North Korean section even more surreal. “Titanic” is dissected and is also the subject of the strangest homage I’ve seen in a long time. This would be good playing first on a double bill with "Cinemania".

No more movies until Friday, kicking off with the "LYNCH" documentary… lot of stuff to process through the old napper in the meantime though.