Feature
2010: A Mediocre Year?
Becky Bartlett discusses how EIFF's programme reflects the state of the film industry.
Every year, the routine is the same. Some time in May or early June, after receiving confirmation of press accreditation, we at LIFM get our hands on the Edinburgh International Film Festival programme. Some people attend with a specific mission in mind – to see all the films from a certain country, to catch all the special screenings or retrospectives, to watch the mainstream films guaranteed for release to ensure a story – but we don't discriminate. Our aim is simple: to watch as many films that sound good as possible, and hope they live up to their blurb's expectations.
This year's festival, at first glance, did not appear too inspiring. The circled entries were fewer than previous years, though by now we have become savvy to the ultra-enthusiastic synopses featured in the brochure. Regardless of this though, this year seemed an altogether more low-key affair than previous ones.
Perhaps it had something to do with budget cuts, which must have limited the programme, the events and the facilities. Probably more than this is the fact that 2010 simply hasn't been the greatest year for cinema. It's only July, so maybe some mind-blowingly wonderful films have yet to appear, but the general consensus amongst critics and audiences alike is that 2010 will soon fade into a hazy memory of disappointing sequels and average 3D films, with a few gems mingled in.
The festival's programme reflected the state of the industry, and chose to focus heavily on British cinema (including its retrospective, which focussed on Lost and Forgotten British Cinema 1967-1979), with patchy results. The highlight was Monsters, a sci-fi with similarities to District 9 but featuring giant space octopus in Mexico, which proved just the sheer quality that can be achieved on a low budget if the right person (in this case Gareth Edwards) is behind the wheel. Yet for every good film, there were several mediocre – and some downright bad - ones. Cherry Tree Lane attempted to be the British Funny Games, and while it looked stylish and sounded interesting, the resulting film left a lot to be desired. Huge boasted a cast of almost every major British comedian working today, but it turned out to be a film entirely devoid of humour (and not one comedian actually uttered a word in the single crowd scene they appeared in). Jackboots on Whitehall, a stop motion WWII satire, had a promising voice cast (Ewan McGregor, Richard E Grant, Timothy Spall and others) but wore thin quickly, especially as Team America comparisons were inevitable – and of the two films, the latter blows Jackboots out of the water. So the list continues. But with any film festival the quality is going to be varied, and one can only hope that the truly great films make up for the inevitable bad ones. In the last few years, EIFF has been the proud host of films such as Let the Right One In, Encounters at the End of the World, Moon, The Hurt Locker, Wall-E and Man on Wire, and this year there have been good films, but few that really stood out as being future classics. It says much for the film industry, more than for EIFF's programmers, that one of the biggest films of the festival – and one of the most entertaining – was a sequel, though as expected Pixar pulled off Toy Story 3 with aplomb. And with a large proportion of the selection being rather morbidly themed (a large number of films focussed on stories of death, suicide, old age, terminal illness, poverty, abuse and murder), perhaps it is no surprise that the only film to receive a round of applause from the press (that LIFM is aware of) was HIGH School, a much welcomed, clever and very funny stoner film featuring a demented Adrian Brody.
Of course, a festival is not just about watching films. For press, industry and the public alike, EIFF is an excellent opportunity to meet filmmakers and actors, with special Q&A sessions, critical discussions and debates, and a host of interesting people to talk about their work. In 2008 EIFF director Hannah McGill somehow managed to get stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen to attend, and many of his films were also shown. It seemed she would not be able to beat this, until 2009, when the one and only Roger Corman became the focus of the retrospective. In addition to his personal appearance, film-makers Sam Mendes, Darren Aronofsky and Joe Dante also attended, while critics Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo broadcasted one of their radio shows straight from the festival. This year, however, the pickings were slim, and the lack of big names and willing talent (the only public interviews coming from Patrick Stewart and Nick Hornby) was all too obvious in the event that prides itself in being something of a people's festival.
It is hard to criticise McGill or any of the programmers of EIFF for the largely uninspiring selection this year – the films shown at Cannes reflected the weak offerings also. It also seems suggestive that one saw the same actors popping up in multiple films at Edinburgh. So not only did Chloe Sevigny appear in three films (including Werner Herzog's My Son My Son What Have Ye Done, which already seems to be dividing audiences), but Paul Dano featured in two, as did Michael Shannon and British actor Tom Burke.
Despite this, in the coming months we look forward to focussing on the better films of the festival, including Get Low, a story of a hermit (played by Robert Duvall in a powerful, emotional performance) who sets out to arrange his funeral prior to his death, and The Oath, a documentary about Bin Laden's bodyguard, which won Best Documentary at EIFF. This year may not go down in history as one of cinema's greatest, but we're already looking forward to 2011...
Becky Bartlett
