Father Geek here taking a brief break from the SXSW Film and Music Festival to post this report just sent in from our offices in Rome, Italy. I've been pretty damn busy the last few days at the fest meeting with Director's William Freidkin, Peter Fonda, Eli Roth, Monte Hellman, Robert Rodriguez, Ron Mann, and Bob Odenkirk, among others at various places around town. I've caught some great flicks too. I've seen doco's like GO FURTHER; SNAKE HUNT; THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED; and FLAG WARS plus some really great narrative features like THE HIRED HAND; ASSASSINATION TANGO; DUMMY; HAPPY HERE AND NOW; ROBOT STORIES; and MELVIN GOES TO DINNER. Annnnnnd this thing is just getting started, I've got to run now... got to make a conversation with Joel Schumacher, then later today I'll see his PHONE BOOTH...

Here's Robert in Rome...

Robert here... Grozilla was able to sit down and chat with hot Director Lynne Ramsey, who has directed the highly acclaimed Morvern Callar...

Hi there, Grozilla here...

Since I saw Lynne Ramsey's Morvern Callar in Cannes last year, I was awaiting it to be released to watch again this wonderful existential tale. This will happen, at last, in a few weeks here in France. I couldn't resist letting you hear some words from its unbelievable gifted director who I met while she was in Paris recently.

Your previous short films such as Ratcatcher all dealt with guilt or/and understanding of death. In Morvern Callar, there's no guilt expressed by the main character and she's asked not to understand why her boyfriend commited suicide. Do you see that as an evolutionary step in your work ?

I guess so. Characters are though very different from film to film. I overall wanted to change my point of view. The behavior of Morvern is close to anarchy but I didn't want to judge her, even less explain her psycholgy. She acts by followinf her impulsions, I don't think she calculates her acts.

This character is quite numb and might be perceived as a very cold person by the audience..

More than anything else, this is the story of a survivor. Some of her reactions seems childsih but she doesn't cry or have any nervous breakdown. This might appear as cold but that was was interested me in this character : that she never react on an usual, expected way. Anyhow I tried to depict her as someona who could emotionnaly resonate with audience, even if she stays an enigma.

There's some struggleclass undertext.

Well, that's the case of many british films. Morvern is in some ways outside conventions and rules and if she lives in a very small town, I didn't want it to be identified : it could be anywhere. I didn't want to give ant particular social text to this film : to me, Morvern is very representative of this apathic, resigned generation who has learnt thet money is needed to do anything you wanna do. This is more a portrait of this generation attracted by void than a social film.

The main difference between Alan Warner's book and your film is that you supress the voice-over

In the book, it didn't explain her motivations, was just a pragmatic description of her behaviour. I tried to find some cinematographic equivalency to that tone. In the first draft of the script I focused myself on visual patterns expressing Morvern's state of mind. I felt it was the right way to do, so I renounce to the monolog who was in the book. I had the feeling of a character enduring real things but moving like in a dream. She' s in some way a dark fairy tale character. So I took the option to represent it in a mode that could stay in touch with reality but evolves in some misty mood. I wanted audience to be able to enter her inner self, that the film structure looks like her intellectual modus operandi.

This leads to make her express by a very physical presence, giving some strong sensuality to the film.

Sensuality, eroticisme is to me an organical part of movies. As I felt Morvern acting childish, quite autistic, each thing, each of her movement has to be fundamental. In the opening scene we first see the bodies of two lovers long before realise one of them is dead. That was a part of the process to describe Morvern acting without being explicit.

Talking about explicit. I've heard that you were at a time involved in a collection of erotic films among directors like Hal Hartley and Gaspar Noe. Is it still on ?

This collection was titled Uncensored and supposed to be made of films very explicit on sex. At some moment, external producers came in. They were banks and became very afraid of the content of those films. So they cancelled it. The only one made and released was Alfonso Cuarron (Grozilla's note : yes the same that is currently directing the third Harry Potter)'s Y tu mama tambien. By the way a very good film.

Your use of music in Morvern Caller is very important.

I worked for a very long time before shooting on the choice of the songs used here. Mainly because Morvern is listening on a very special tape to isolate from people, find some rest in some imaginary world of her own.Sammantha (Morton) listened a lot to the songs selected fro the soundtrack to get in the same process, building her character by using those as marks.

Your description clubbing's feeling is very unusual

I never liked clubbing scenes in film because they're in no way looking like my experience of clubbing. They always seems fake. Before making movies I was a photographer and used to taking many pictures of my friends in those places. Before shooting these scenes I showed them to my DP. My idea was to use only close-ups to express the loneliness of people being drowned in a crowd.

As the french title of your movie is The voyage of Morvern Caller, do you agree if I called it an inner road-movie ?

Definitely. Morvern is searching for her inner truth, for her own definition of hedonism. I always felt her as a western character, lonely, always trying to going forward. Besides, the notion of space and natural sets is fundamental in this movie which as soon as I began writing it, it appears to me like a western. Morvern is not only stranger to a community but has no relatives, no family : she's free. I guess I'm definitely attracted to outsiders characters (laughters).

Til' next Grozilla

Two new reviews by James Bartlett. As usual, some spoilers below...

City Of God

Director: Katia Lund & Fernando Meirelles 130 mins Certificate 18

Benefiting from tremendous word of mouth, this is a film straight out of Brazil. But it doesn't look at the endless sun-kissed beaches we are used to seeing. For this film, the directors have set their sights on part of the city's hidden shame: the most notorious and violent favela (neighbourhood) of the 60's, 70's and 80's that was called the Cidade de Deus (City Of God) in Rio De Janeiro

This shanty-esque housing project - without electricity or major sanitation - is a murderously dangerous place; an area controlled by gangs who rob, cheat, steal and ultimately drug deal their way to becoming "the boss". Life is going cheap here and children carry guns - and use them - all the time.

First off we meet Sandro Cenoura - who is nicknamed "Rocket". He wants better than what is around him; better than his brother's early, wasted death. He wants to be a photographer. A friend of his, L'il Dice, is going the other way - he thinks that guns are cool and he's aiming firmly at working his way up the ladder as well. Both of them are 11 years old.

In this multiple-narrative, multi-character plot, Rocket is our narrator and he tells us what happened in the lives of his many friends - and himself - over the decades that followed.

Utterly uncompromising and shot with a breathtaking sense of speed and energy, City Of God is one of the most stunning films of recent times. The directors became totally immersed in their subject, spending years researching (amazingly, it's a true story) and then months training - real children from the City of God.

The result is an endless, violent mish-mash of stories that grips you and never let's go. Hugely ambitious and a triumph in all areas, it's Shakespearean in its scope and can namecheck Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs and even the Krays, though when life is so cheap there's no honour amongst thieves.

Cracking stuff - and not for the faint-hearted.

Shanghai Knights

Director: David Dobkin Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Arron Johnson, Tom Fisher, Aiden Gillen, Fann Wong, Donnie Yen 114 mins Certificate 12A

The sequel to the sleeper hit Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights sees Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson return to our screens, but this time they are taking on Victorian England and giving, as the posters put it, "A right Royal kick up the arse".

When the Royal Seal from the Forbidden City is stolen by Lord Rathbone (Aiden Gillen), Chon Lin (Fann Wong) sets off in pursuit, intending to recruit her brother Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) on the way.

They then go to New York to collect the gold that Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) has been "keeping" for him so that they can follow Rathbone to England. But Roy, the quintessential cowboy, is now a waiter in a hotel and more than grateful for the chance of a new adventure - and the chance to get to know Chon Lin.

On arrival in London the high-jinks begin immediately as Roy and Chon chase after Rathbone who, currently only 10th in line to the throne, plans to rise up the charts to number One by getting help from Wu Chin (Donnie Yen), an exile from the Forbidden City who wants the same prize in his country too.

Recruiting local police inspector Artie Doyle (Tom Fisher) and young pickpocket Charlie (Arron Johnson) to the cause, the duo set off after the Seal and the villains, taking in Big Ben, Jack The Ripper and Queen Victoria along the way.

Shanghai Knights is good, knockabout fun and has a wry sense of humour - Wilson and Chan are good foils for each other. The action sequences (as ever from Chan) are well choreographed (watch from the Singin' In the Rain parody), though Chan does look his age somewhat this time.

All in all, just as Shanghai Noon was a pleasant and enjoyable surprise, this is much the same and well worth a look.

James Bartlett

That's all for today See you next time

Robert Bernocchi

The Day Job