Shorts Of Distinction #3 - 'Night in a Hotel' (Dir:Daniel Kontur, UK, 2012)

A random act of kindness leads to a transformation in this acclaimed short by Daniel Kontur. I like the 2-part structure to this and how strikingly different both sections are in tone and execution. The scene on the train is particularly effective, with 2 very well cast actors, performing brilliantly.



Night In A Hotel from Daniel Kontur on Vimeo.

Shorts Of Distinction #2 - 'Wind' (Dir:Robert Loebel, Germany, 2013)

As I sit in a severely wind-swept, rocky outcrop on the edge of Europe - this beautifully animated short from Germany seems remarkably apposite. A simple tale, ingeniously told, I love the animation style of this - refreshingly angular and monotone!


WIND from robert loebel on Vimeo.

Shorts of Distinction #1 - 'Old Mate' (Dir:Sam Dixon, AU)

One of the things I have done for enjoyment since 2012, is view short films for the local film fest, pick out the ones that I think are of a high quality, and pass these on to the festival's Head of Shorts for review. Since the number of submissions is vast, many excellent shorts are not selected, which is a bit of a shame, but I have kept a record of some of the ones that impressed me the most and I will share these on an occasional basis.

First up is 'Old Mate', an Australian short from 2013 that deals with peer pressure in a rural setting. It has a dark, foreboding atmosphere and is vaguely reminiscent of that brilliantly surreal work 'Wake in Fright', as well as the films of John Hillcoat. The soundtrack and sound design sit with the film perfectly and the ending is unexpected but highly effective.


Old Mate from Bahloo Pictures on Vimeo.
Enjoy!

Stephen Grosz - The Examined Life

Stephen Grosz - 'The Examined Life' (2013)

Just finished reading this great collection of psychoanalytical case histories; a veritable Pandora's Box, full of strange conditions and foibles and a book I will frequently revisit over the next few years, I suspect.

Here is a fine review of the piece in The Guardian a few years back.

Mariapia Veladiano - A Life Apart

This is an elegant and quite engaging short first novel about a physically 'tainted' young girl who is attempting to come to terms with her apparently extreme ugliness and the secret history behind her mother's chronic depression. Some of this book is very well-written and while overall ultimately it feels a little slight, it has some beautifully observed moments that reminded me of incidents related to people with mental illness in my own life that rang absolutely true. A promising debut and a recipient of many awards in its native Italy that reads well in translation I enjoyed this, if not immensely, then at least a fair amount.

Here is a review from The Irish Times that led me to the work and here is a link to the publishing house MacLehose press

Donal Ryan - 'The Spinning Heart'

Having recently been nominated for the Booker Prize, 'The Spinning Heart' has garnered a lot of praise of late and deservedly so. The fact that the book was initially rejected by 50 publishers is surprising in the extreme - I was hooked right from page 1.

The story is set in small-town, rural Ireland and each chapter is told solely from the point of view of one of the town's inhabitants. The story that pieces itself together over the course of the book is massively compelling and puts paid to any fears that this is just some literary parlour trick.

In its mere 150 pages there exists here a brilliantly described, bittersweet universe and an angry polemic against the greed that has brought most of Europe to its knees. There is much more going on than just raw invective however - Ryan's ear for ribald, naturalistic speech is magnificent and frequently hilarious. On reading it I was instantly reminded of some of the more colourful and somewhat tragic characters of my youth growing up in small-town North Cork and at times I was not sure whether to laugh or cry in response to some of the stories contained within. The interior dialogues are at once both hilarious and gorgeously poetic. There is also hope I would say in its pages as well as deep, deep sorrow.

If an established writer had written this it may well have been acclaimed as a masterpiece, but the fact that it is a first novel is staggering. I look forward massively to reading more from Ryan in the future and would hugely recommend this to all readers.

Here is an interview with the author.

Karen Black RIP

 

I was saddened to hear Karen Black passed away a few days ago (obituary here). She worked with amany of the finest directors of the American 'New Wave' and was usually an odd but particular presence in any film I have seen her in at least. She is probably most famous for her part in 'Five Easy Pieces' opposite Jack Nicholson and was somewhat typecast as a troubled, dumb blonde in her heyday. I remember as a teenager first seeing her and being at once sympathetic to her vulnerabilities, and lazy eye, but also being weirdly repulsed by her for some reason. She certainly made a lasting impression anyhow and this weekend I decided to give one of her films a watch, 'Night of the Locust' from John Schlesinger, 1975, and my what a film it is. It must be one of the darkest representations of Hollywood ever made, almost Jodorowskian at times, like a proto 'Mulholland Dr.' and full of Freudian undertones relative to 'Civilization and its Discontents'. I have never seen anything quite like it - I hugely recommend it to lovers of the surreal and bizarre and Karen Black - fare thee well.