Orphans (18)

Today we have gritty British indie flick Orphans (1998), out on DVD and Blu-ray Monday 31st October.

Orphans (18) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Actor Peter Mullan’s 1998 feature debut as writer and director is a gritty, no holds barred Scottish drama mixing heartfelt agony and unexpected hilarity, resulting in a rich and powerful ensemble piece. This is a must see for any fans of British indie cinema.

Recently bereaved of their mother, four siblings (three brothers and a sister) embark on a sleepless night of turmoil and anguish ahead of her funeral the next day. Gary Lewis plays Thomas, the oldest and most emotionally bottled up brother. Thomas chooses to spend the night alone in the local Church, keeping vigil by his mother’s body. Douglas Henshall is spellbinding as Michael, perhaps the most interestingly written character in the script. After suffering a stab wound defending Thomas’ honour in a pub brawl, he rejects hospital treatment in favour of waiting for his next day of work, planning to pretend that it was a work related injury and thereby claim compensation. The film is laced with many such difficult to watch but extremely funny twists and turns, and although deeply sympathetic to his character’s burdens, Mullan was also clearly having a whale of a time bringing the dark and bracing humour of his Scottish homeland to the screen. Some of the passionate but boneheaded sweary dialogue is side-splitting.

Youngest brother John channels his feelings into a misguided crusade for vengeance against his brothers knife attacker. His misadventures take him on a wild roller coaster of emotions, and Stephen McCole plays the part with flair. The final sibling and only sister is the handicapped Sheila (Rosemarie Stevenson), who suffers after being left in her older brother Thomas’ care. His devotion to his dead mother trumps that for his live and very needy sister. Left to wander the dark streets alone in her wheelchair, Sheila serves as a symbol for where the bereaved’s focus should lie, but sadly rarely ever does.

At first the film’s score (an insight into the early days of now successful composer Craig Armstrong) feels overly melodramatic, but soon it’s appropriateness is made clear as it helps to soften the contrast between the film’s bleak atmosphere, and the explosions of comedy which appear left, right and centre. So pitch black is the style and tone that visually the picture looks like it’s been dipped in tar, and that coupled with Mullan’s emotive camera work and direction is shatteringly effective.

Orphans paved the way for Mullan to direct The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Neds (2010), and as far as career launchers go it’s a belter. Here’s hoping he’ll take the reins behind the camera for many more films to come!

Devil's Redemption (2010) - my short film

My short film Devil's Redemption is finally online for all to see! The tables have turned... now it's your turn to review my film!



"Convicted sex offender Dave is haunted by nightmares of guilt, and sets off to find the woman he wronged... but can he make things right?"

You can also view or download in HD here for a small fee.

The Beaver (15)

Next week sees the DVD & Blu-ray release of Mel Gibson's comeback vehicle The Beaver, and it's pretty darn good:

The Beaver (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Mel Gibson is a good actor. Whatever the truth about his personal life, it isn’t relevant to that fact, and The Beaver features one of his best performances to date.

He plays Walter Black, a deeply troubled soul caged deep within a hardened shell of depression. His wife Meredith (Jodie Foster) has lost all hope of rediscovering the wonderful man who she married, having struggled through years of Walter’s ever increasing moroseness. She kicks him out, and of course that has no positive effect on poor Walter’s state of mind.

Enter the beaver. In a scene both hilarious and sensitive, Walter finds himself incapable of committing suicide and is finally talked out of it by... himself! Strangely drawn to an old hand puppet, Walter begins conversing with himself via the furry toy, and Gibson’s performance makes this potentially ludicrous turn of events seem not only plausible, but entirely convincing.

Jodie Foster also directed the picture, and it is her first effort behind the camera in sixteen years, much of which she must have spent practising! The story unfolds with a mature mixture of heartfelt respect for families torn apart by mental illness, coupled with a healthy injection of humour and wit.

Anton Yelchin plays Walter’s son Porter, and proves himself once again as a fantastically talented young actor. Hard as he tries, Porter finds it impossible to rid himself of his father’s every mannerism and trait, as he fights to escape the shadow of a dad who to him seems pathetic and helpless. Yelchin comfortably handles this complicated character, and clearly has a big career ahead of him.

Gibson’s soulful, naturalistic portrayal is likely informed by his rumoured personal battles with depression, but whatever his method he dominates the screen and makes you feel Walter’s pain. Being something of a shunned name in Hollywood these days his turn here is unlikely to garner the recognition it deserves, but it certainly is one of note.

The film has a distinctly European flavour to it, partly thanks to the darkly playful score by Marcelo Zarvos, characterised by its accordion tangos, but also due to the crisp and summery cinematography by Hagen Bogdanski, which helps to lend the heavy themes a softer, more digestible quality.

Inevitably the plot is tainted with some measure of Hollywood cliché, and particularly later on in the film some strands of the story risk getting lost in the realms of wishful thinking. However as a whole the tale rings true, the finale for example being far from as pat as it could have been, and for that writer Kyle Killen and the director deserve credit.

Killen’s ingenuity lifts The Beaver way above the cesspit of films full of trite and obvious metaphors, and without preaching delivers a timely message about accepting the unexpected, not judging the apparently strange, and however painful making the effort to keep your family under one roof.