Posted on Friday June 18, 2010, 10:38 by Sam Toy in Under The Radar
The 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival got underway in style on Wednesday night, with a cracking little shindig in honour of opening night film Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist (see Damon's words on the film), but the party was one of those events where there's so many friends and acquaintances present that you never quite get around to saying hello to everyone you see and recognise, even when you check your watch and it's 2am. Good times, good job it's only the beginning.
Day one proper saw me head first to the Cameo for Outcast, a Scottish/Irish horror co-production set mostly on a run-down, modern day Edinburgh housing estate. Mary (Kate Dickie) and her teenage son Fergal (Niall Bruton) arrive and rent an apartment in the rough block, and it soon becomes evident that Mary is a witch - both she and Fergal are being hunted by Cathal (James Nesbitt) and Liam (Ciaran McMenamin, making a welcome big screen appearance - I still recognise him from TV's The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star). To top it all off, their arrival coincides with a beastie roaming the alleyways at night. At first, Outcast really drew me in: the melding of Celtic witchcraft into the modern day context is really engrossing, and the clouded motivations of the each character makes good, curious viewing, and you're never quite sure who the good guys are. The handheld camerawork fits the story, and the performances are solid across the board (keep an eye out for Karen Gillan - Dr. Who's Amy Pond - in a small role), even when Nesbitt, McMenamin and Lothian 'laird' James Cosmo are desperately trying to deliver archaic dialogue with all the po their faces can muster. There is, however, 'playing your cards close to your chest', and then there's 'withholding information', and by the last act, the script has more loose ends than director Colm McCarthy can keep track of, which without wading into spoiler territory, makes for a frustrating finale. That said, it's well worth a watch for those with even a passing interest in the genre.
Next, I headed over to Cineworld, spotting Sir Sean along the way (would it be EIFF without him?), opening a new apartment block which has just gone up on his birthplace. He seemed on very good form with the crowd, but I couldn't stay long, as I needed to see SoulBoy. I'm a big fan of soul music, and have long felt that there's a really good coming of age tale in the Northern Soul scene - working class kids of the depressed British north of the '70s blowing off steam in sweaty dance halls with an aggressive, energetic dance style. Which is essentially where director Shimmy Marcus guides his story: Martin Compston is Joe, a goalless teen living in Stoke, 1974. The moment he spots super-fit hairdresser Jane (Nichola Burley), he's desperate to start punching above his weight to win her over, which leads him to the legendary Wigan Casino and the burgeoning subculture within. Along the way, he and clumsy mate Russ (Alfie Allen) meet Mandy (Cemetery Junction's Felicity Jones), the bright younger sister of a dim schoolfriend.
If you think you can see where this is going, you're right. While there's lots to like about SoulBoy - Compston holds the screen as a perfectly likeable, fallible everykid (plus he's either a great dancer, or the editing has been brilliantly managed to make him look like one), and he's backed up by a great supporting cast of familiar faces. Marcus does a fine job of evoking the era on what must have been a very tight budget, and of course the soundtrack is magnificent. But there's a problem: Jeff Williams' screenplay. Well, Williams is credited with it, but it feels like a story that's had any originality thrashed out of it by non-writers. Never once does SoulBoy's screenplay deviate from a well-worn trail of clichs, and that's a great pity, as it restricts Marcus' film to generic goodness, rather than break-out greatness; the key's in the title, folks: SOUL. Can't wait for the soundtrack, though.
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