What else have I been up to recently – well, I’ve been enjoying a few films as usual at night after a day’s work. Some turned out to be too dull to mention though and were ideal for snoozing deeply through, so I won’t bother with those… One that has been visually more appealing (I greedily eat through a lot of visual stimulation) has been the Kaurismaki film ‘The Man Without A Past’ set in the homeless community Finland, a comedy with striking visuals and rugged, low budget sets that imbue the film with a closeness and earthiness so unlike that of other directors. No visual effects needed here, and all the more to add to the human aspect of the guy whose lack of identity leads to a funny chain of events. My friend Alan got me into his movies at a showing of ‘Le Havre’ at the Glasgow Film Theatre, a recent film in French with similar themes but a bit lighter, and tremendously fun and enjoyable.
Whilst Kaurismaki has folk living in containers, David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ features a classic caravan/trailer scene from the 90s, way ahead of the art scene fascination. Apart from the annoying intro with Hollywood interference written all over it, this DVD was well worth the wait to get back into the world of Bob and Laura Palmer, where sublime rules and the air is thick with strange colour, neo noirish lighting and screeching, screaming momentum. Plus flickering neon and ceiling fans of course. Another good watch was the Danish TV crime series Broen – or ‘The Bridge’ – which features a great intro with wide angled shots of Copenhagen, the bridge to Malmo in Sweden, and buzzing fast flashing views of factories at night which I loved.
