A escape to the countryside is no panacea. This very British drama is set in the majestic and idyllic French countryside, but even this beautiful and peaceful backdrop does provide harmony and reconciliation to the troubled characters in the movie.

Beatrice (Juliet Stevenson) and her 15-year-old son Elliot (Alex Lawther) spend one last weekend at their family’s holiday home. They grudgingly pack their luggage and dispose of furniture before the sale of the house completes. Beatrice is healing from a break-up with Elliot’s father, and both mother and son seem to lead a very lonely and insular existence in a foreign country: they speak poor French and have hardly any local connections.

Beatrice bought the house in a vain attempt to save her monotonous and sexless marriage, but its failure to do so drove her to hopelessness and hysteria. She has a dysfunctional relation with her son and is unable to bond with a kind and warm neighbour. She is also selfish and self-destructive.

Meanwhile, the sensitive, introspective and intellectual Elliot is infatuated with the informal and brusk Clément (Phénix Broassard). Elliot is a young poet; his writing dark and enigmatic. The two adolescents of very contrasting personalities develop an unlikely and awkward relationship which veers from teenage horsing-around to sexual experimentation. Young gay love can hurt – quite literally – in more than one way, it soon becomes clear.

Departure is a film about tacit feelings and unspoken changes in people’s lives. Beatrice, Elliot and his father (who appears in the last third of the film) have a very British trait: they are unable to externalise and communicate their feelings in a clear and concise way. They never call a spade a spade, and it is impossible to understand their inner motives with certainty.

Lawther and Stevenson deliver very honest and convincing performances, making it easy to engage with the sorrow and despondency of their characters. The photography is elegant and soothing, blending images of the countryside with symbols of a broken family. The forces of nature and human feelings are exquisitely juxtaposed more than once: firstly, as Beatrice burns the house furniture outside, secondly when foliage unexplainably falls on a very pensive Elliot inside his bedroom – in a very Tarkovskyan attempt to bring the forces of nature indoors.

The movie script, however, is a sometimes diluted in the intricate photography. As a result, this film will not hit you like a punch and make you cry. Instead, it will caress you gently and make you smile.

Earlier this year André Téchiné also dealt with the complexities of gay teenage love in the French countryside in the film Being 17. This impressive French movie is multi-layered tale of teenage testosterone-fuelled feud and love in the snowy Midi-Pyrénées. The difference is that Téchiné’s characters are less introverted, perhaps because they are French. Click here in order to read the film review.

Departure is out in cinemas Friday May 20th. Watch a short interview with first-time director Andrew Steggall below:

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How many films made by teenagers have you seen? Most filmmakers we know – even the most famous and renowned ones – only get behind the camera when they get into university. Films about children and adolescents are not entirely authentic because the person behind the camera is almost invariably a grown-up trying to see the world through the eyes of the younger. The adolescent gaze is conspicuous in its absence in most of the film industry.

The UK charity Films Without Borders (FWB) is attempting to change this. Together with teenage directors and professionals (such as film editors, sound engineers and clappers) from many countries, the organisation has produced three diverse short films: Being Maasai (from Kenya, pictured below), Tales From the Slums (Kenya, pictured above), and Coming Home (Israel, pictured at the bottom).

The films were screened in the BFI Tent at the UK Film Centre in Cannes this afternoon (May 12th), and the FWB Patron Nadja Swarovski (FWB Patron) is present at the event. Just click here for more information about the organisation.

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Tales from the Slums (Nairobi, Kenya)

Films Without Borders presents a Swarovski film in association with the Sandy Vohra Foundation and supported by Twickenham Studios and Swiss International Air Lines

A deeply impressive film made by and through the eyes of kids from two of the most notorious slums in Nairobi, Kibera and Mathare. They take us on a harrowing journey of daily life in the slums. “I have seen the dark side of life and am now striving to turn my life around and have a better future” says 19 year old Francesca. Featuring a guest appearance from one of Africa’s most esteemed rapper’s Octopizzo, who grew up in the slums and is one of the success stories young people all aspire to. The film won the Slum Voice Award at the 2015 Slum Film Festival in Nairobi. Furthermore, the United Nations selected Tales from the Slums for World Habitat Day, and has screened the film all over Kenya and other parts of Africa, and is now screening the film worldwide.

Being Maasai (Amboseli, Kenya)

Films Without Borders presents a Swarovski film in association with the Sandy Vohra Foundation and supported by Twickenham Studios and Swiss International Air Lines

Being Maasai is a hard hitting film made by and through the eyes of girls who are torn between the love for their Maasai tribe, and their determination to put an end to their outdated traditions. The film gives us a touching insight into their vulnerable lives. We explore the traditions of the tribe, looking at them in depth to discover what has forced these young girls to flee their homes. For the first time ever, the girls have agreed to share their heart-rending tales of running away from female genital mutilation, early arranged marriages, and rape.

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Coming Home (Israel)

Films Without Borders presents a film supported by Hilton Nathanson for the ‘International Award for Young People – Israel’.

An African American Gentile tribe, mainly from Chicago, has set up its own village in the middle of the desert in Israel. They are highly respected for their creative talents, such as music, dance, art, and fashion design. They are vegan, make their own clothes, and men are allowed up to four wives at a time. This is a fascinating look at a highly unusual tribe and their unconventional, yet charming way of life.

If you are interested in cinema made by young people, read our article ‘Cinema as Transformational Weapon Against War’ about Life on the Border. The film was made by eight children from Kobani and Shengal in refugee camps on the border of Syria and Iraq. They recorded their own life experiences and stories in the wake of brutal attacks by Isis. Just click here in order to accede to our review.

Prison release is not always about reconciliation with family and society. It is often an uphill struggle against social and financial reintegration, and the outcome is sometimes failure and frustration. Many former inmates battle to stay out of trouble (particularly with illegal drugs), but many re-offend and eventually become hardened, revolving-doors criminals. This is what routinely happens in the UK prison and probation system. The Return reveals that the rehabilitation establishment also faces very large and similar issues in the American state of California.

The documentary examines the post-release life of two former inmates, and their societal “reentry” challenges, including the financial hardship, family differences and the virtual closure of the job market for these people. It also reveals that the “Three Strikes” (three offences) policy in California incarcerated more than 10,000 drug users. The sudden passing of Prop 36 resulted in a abrupt law change and the immediate release of many people with little regard to their prospects of successful reinsertion, which also became a problem per se.

The Return is a very intimate and sentimental portrait of several black men who encountered such predicament, including Bilal and Kenneth.

Bilal Chatman received a 150 years to life sentence under Three Strikes for selling U$200 worth of drugs to an undercover police officer. In 2012, Chatman became eligible for release. He is currently married and works as the logistics supervisor for a major organization and oversees two campuses and 21 employees. He travels the country speaking about the effects of mass incarceration to communities and individuals.

Kenneth Anderson was sentenced to life in prison for a nonviolent drug offense also under the Three Strikes law. He was released in March 2013 after 14 years. He currently lives in a reentry home in southern California and receives support from his ex-wife Monica Grier, his four grown children and their families, but his job situation is not as stable as Bilal’s.

The film is populated with emotional statements and a mushy instrumental soundtrack highlighting the difficulties as well as the achievements that these men have made. It is successful at investigating a very serious problem from a melodramatic perspective. Long sentences and little reentry support are very detrimental to rehabilitation, the movie makes it very clear. A former inmate explains: “It is my convictions that define me”.

The Return fails, however, to provide some context and universal relevance to the events, and it may be difficult for a non-US audience to relate to it. It is a niche movie. While the conjecture in the California is unique, reintegration of former prisoners is a major challenge in many countries in the world, including the UK.

It barely touches on the issues of prison overcrowding and racism. It never reveals, for example, that the US has the biggest prison population in the world, that nearly 1% of the country’s population everywhere (not just in California) is behind bars and that the incarceration policy for drug users started as part of the Nixon failed moralisation campaign. It never investigates the issue of institutionalised racism, either.

By contrast, the American documentarist Michael Moore examined the historical reasons for racial profiling in the American judiciary in his 2016 film Where to Invade Next. He revealed that drug laws in the US where passed at times of civil rights. According to Moore, this was a stealthy way of denying Black Americans the vote, because drug users with a criminal record permanently lose their right to vote. He also shows that prison labour is a modern type of slavery, as prisoners earn close to nothing. Click here in order to read our full 4.5-splat movie review.

The Return sometimes gives the impression that Christian faith and family are the most successful road to reintegration. In a way, this exempts the judiciary from its responsibilities and legitimises its shortcomings. Not all prisoners have a Christian faith and a family to go back to, and ultimately it is the state’s duty to help these citizens to rebuild their lives.

The Return won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival last month. It also took the Bay Area Documentary Award at the San Francisco Film Festival last week. It will be broadcast on US television in the new season of Point of View (POV) on Monday, May 23rd, on the TV channel PBS. POV is one of the longest-running independent documentary series in the country. It is unclear whether the film will be shown outside the US.

Find out more about the film here, including production details and distribution rights, and watch its trailer below:

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In 1992, a wave of refugees from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina reached Denmark. Among them, there was a 12-year-old boy named Vladimir Tomic, who fled Sarajevo together with his mother and older brother. He spent two years in a giant ship floating on the canals of Copenhagen, waiting for the decisions on their asylum applications. Now Tomic has finished an experimental documentary, using VHS tapes he and other refugees registered inside the aptly named ship Flotel Europa.

The refugee crisis has reached the stars. U2 frontman Bono Vox engaged in campaigns and said it is a “fallacy to consider the crisis temporary. (…) Some families have spent two generations – and some young people their entire lives – as refugees”. Actress, director and UN Goodwill Embassafor Angelina Jolie wrote the book ‘Notes from my Travels’ detailing her experiences in troubled regions. It is therefore natural Flotel Europe received plenty of attention in film festivals across Europe. In the last Berlinale, it received a Jury Special Mention; it won best documentary in Docufest, Prizren, Kosova; and best Balkan documentary award in Sarajevo Film Festival. After all, it is a register from a refugee, and not a mere journalistic piece.

The story is told by the oppressed people, which is an achievement per se. Although living in a ship in Denmark can be considered a luxury comparing to other refugee camps, the reality is that those 1,000 refugees were in a legal and social limbo. They had escaped genocide but they weren’t integrated of Danish society in the first two years. They were kept in the outskirts of the city, just like the brothels in old Pompey. Danish Red Cross organised activities in the ship, such as games, folkloric dance classes, Bosnian language classes to children, but still they couldn’t contribute to Danish society. Not until their papers were validated.

As time passed, Flotel Europa became a site of tension and division. Refugees realised that, in reality, little had evolved since they arrived. The boat was a hub for rats and insects, spreading disease. There was no attempt to integrate them with the society on land.

They watched the news on TV and found out that the war was still going on and their relatives were been killed or disappeared. Some of the refugees threw the TV into the sea, which generated a meeting with Red Cross staff. The organisation decided to throw a party and invite the Danish for a tour of the boat. The result is a horrifying — yet sobering — clash, very similar to the tours to the Brazilian favelas for rich tourists who come to Rio. Poverty and depravity turn into a merchandise, and there were no improvements.

Besides from being a powerful register, the film is monotonous. It doesn’t explain who those refugees were and if audience has no knowledge about that war, they will remain oblivious to the subject throughout and after the film.

Tomic never mixes the past registers in VHS with more current images, and so many questions remain unanswered. What is the current situation of those refugees since? Did they stay in Denmark? Did they get back to their homes after the war finished? What is the legacy to the Danish society of receiving refugees? Flotel Europa is like a Polaroid picture in the form of a documentary: accurate, but with little depth. History still has to be treated, revealed, just like processing a film in old photo cameras.

This is not the first film made by refugees that DMovies has come across: find out more about a powerful initiative involving children in refugee camps in Iraq here.

Flotel Europa will be shown at Sheffield Doc/Fest on June 11th, followed by a Q&A. Click here for more details about the event and watch the film trailer below:

Troublemakers unearths the history of land art in late 1960s and early 1970s. It features a collective of artists, mainly North Americans, who describe their work as “land art” or “dirt art”. Michael Heizer, Dennis Oppenheim, Germano Celant, Walter De Maria, Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt had a physical conception that art was strictly connected to earthly landscapes. They avoided showing work in galleries; instead they searched for open spaces, so that the Earth became malleable.

They transcended the limitations of painting and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest. They subverted the meaning of painting by devising a much larger “canvas” to work. Big spaces like the Grand Canyon and sites in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah offered visibility of up to 40 miles. For them, open spaces induce awe in the viewer and create a new immersive experience that is not possible in the cities.

Kansas City – due to its proximity to the “land art” locations – became a cultural hub in the US for marginalised artists. It attracted people who lived in Chelsea Hotel, in New York. Chelsea Hotel was famous for housing very creative artists, such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, Janis Joplin, Arthur C. Clarke, Leonard Cohen, among others.

The piece called ‘Double Negative’ by Michael Heizer was a new kind of sculpture and landscape. It showed scars on a mesa. Heizer shunned traditional art concepts. He had ecological concerns and he was influenced by his father, who was an archaeologist. When invited to demonstrate his work in a French gallery, he simply dug a hole on the wall. Heizer is still alive and has been working on a secretive piece for the last 30 years.

‘Spiral Jetty’ by Robert Smithson is also examined in the movie. It forms a 1,500-foot long and 15-foot wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the lake. Smithson was one the most ambitious artists of the collective. He was also a writer and a leader who wrote apocalyptical notes about his pieces. The Vietnam War (1954-1975), the Cold War anxieties and other political uncertainties of the nuclear age were in the background of the land art.

Because their work was not exhibited in galleries, it was difficult to reach it, as well as be sold. They couldn’t sell 400 stainless steel poles, with solid, pointed tips arranged in a foundation in New Mexico. ‘The Lightning Field’ by Walter De Maria was commissioned by Dia Art Foundation but it flopped. Trips to the site consists of a long drive, because the installation was intended to be viewed in isolation.

American gallerist Virginia Dwan sponsored some artists, but all she could sell were photos. These photos never achieved the high market value of a Mapplethorpe shot.

James Crump used original footage produced with helicopters and rare re-mastered vintage footage from the period. Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art is Crump’s second feature. His debut is a documentary entitled Black White + Gray (2007) about the influential and legendary curator and collector Sam Wagstaff and artist Robert Mapplethorpe – it was described by The New York Times as “a potent exercise in art-world mythography”.

The film is as immersive experience that transports the viewer, just like art pieces it examines. There is something devilish in the fruition of “land art”. Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art rescues the contradiction and conflicts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their impressive audacity and protests were never to find a suitable channel. “Land art” is the most efficient way to build another universe in art. And the film is an impressive register of the radical artistic experimentations of an anti-establishment group of young artists.

Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art will be released in cinemas and on demand on Friday May 13th.

Watch the film trailer below:

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This is the story of rival “football firms” (also known as “hooligan firms”) in the 1980s, and Alan Clarke’s last movie. Clive Bissel (nicknamed “Bex”, or “Bexy”, and played by a young Gary Oldman, in one of his most acclaimed performances) is a married man with a baby child. His wife Sue (Lesley Manvill) severely disapproves of his violent and dangerous activities as a football hooligan, which stark contrast to his respectable job as a dandy estate agent.

Bex wishes to unite with rival local “firms” for a face-off against the Dutch for the European Championships of 1988. The opposing leaders, however, view this as a challenge to their authority, and unprecedented violence quickly unfolded. The Firm clearly exposes how hooliganism progressed from pure violence to a form of organised crime in the 1980s, when it became a major social problem in the UK.

The tactics of the warring “firms” range from the puerile to the extreme. They prance, wail and hoot like little children, but they carry and use very dangerous weapons. In fact, they have a collections of arms, including truncheons, sledge hammers, wrenches, Stanley knives and revolvers. They also have the habit of vandalising property and cars with graffiti and fire. Towards the end of the 70-minute-long film the violence escalates to such an extent, that tragedy seems increasingly inevitable

As usual, violence in Clarke’s movie is very graphic and disturbing. There is plenty of kicking, punching, blood and open wounds. As in Scum (1979, read our dirty review of the movie here) and Made in Britain (1983, click here), the film protagonist is full of hatred and anger, and it is not entirely clear where they came from, as Bex has a stable family life and a decent job.

Nearly all the violence in Clarke’s movies is perpetrated by men, and The Firm is no exception. There is an exaggerated and grotesque masculinity invariably combined with the violence. The hooligans scream, gnarl and twerk their faces in a bizarre and animalistic display of power. This is the antithesis of British cordiality and courteousness.

The feigned masculinity and the violence are not the only repulsive behaviours in the film. There are also elements of homophobia and plenty of sexism. At one point, a hooligan claims “every woman has the right to be ugly but this one abused her privilege”, and at another point they throw their drinks on a slightly chubby exotic dancer.

In a way, Clarke’s last film is representative and prescient of europhobia and Brexit angst. The hooligans have a clear dislike of Europeans, and their sense of superiority is very loud and clear, and not confined to football, not too different to Nigel Farage’s rhetoric.

The Firm is a very strong film about a very serious social problem. It questions how this country picks its working-class heroes, without being a moralising tale. It also has problems: the narrative is very complex and sometimes a little disjointed, and some cultural and historical knowledge is necessary in order to fully grasp the movie.

Alan Clarke’s The Firm is a part of ‘Dissent & Disruption: The Complete Alan Clarke at the BBC (Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set)’ out at the end of the month, which also includes the other movies mentioned. You can pre-order it now by clicking here. Alternatively, you can also watch the film online on the BBC website here.

The world of documentary is very well represented in the UK film festival circuit, as more than 160 films from 49 countries – 52 of them UK premieres – hit the Sheffield Doc Fest next month (June 10th to 15th). There are features from China, Chile, the US, Palestine, Iraq, Sweden and Mexico, and many other nations. Not just is the programme incredibly diverse, but it also includes an alternate realities exhibition.

According the event’s new CEO and Festival Director Elizabeth McIntyre the objective of the Doc Fest is “to entertain, inspire and bring out about change” to the UK and the world. McIntyre is a filmmaker and mentor herself, and she was a regular at the event for many years. She is pictured below with the editor of DMovies Victor Fraga.

A vast landscape

There is certainly no shortage of socially and politically-charged films in the event, such as the opening movie Where to Invade Next, by the documentarist Michael Moore. The American director examines how many countries around the world successfully implemented the American dream, while the US failed to do so. The film was presented earlier this year in the 66th Berlin Film Festival – click here in order to read our exclusive review.

Pictured at the very top are Tilda Swindon and John Berger. The British actress, who will also attend the event, has directed the documentary The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger, in which four close friends of the art critic in the film’s title collaborate on four different film essays. The movie is set in the Alpine town of Quincy.

Documentary stars attending the events and showcasing their latest work include Stacey Dooley, Joanna Lumley, Louis Theroux and Freddie Flintoff. There will also be a special tribute to the legendary British filmmaker Ken Loach with three of his films: Cathy Come Home (1966, pictured below), The Flickering Flame (1996) and The Spirit of ’45 (2012), and the director will also be present at the event.

Another highlight is Strike a Pose, followed by a Q&A with film director Ester Gould. This is a documentary about the fate of Madonna’s seven dancers after the Blond Ambition Tour – you can read our film review here. Other films likely to receive vast attention include Serena (Ryan White), about the external pressures and vulnerabilities of the famous tennis player, and Notes on Blindness (James Spinney), about a man losing his sight – both films will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

Not what it seems

The Alternate Realities Exhibition will take place during the entire duration of the Doc Fest, bringing more than 30 interactive screenings and interactive shows and a summit. Highlights include social robot Bina48 debating love, war and the universe with Ramona Pringle, Dr Stephen Smith presenting virtual Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter, who answers all questions about his experience in real-time, and NAO giving a brief history of robots and iCub, thereby helping audiences “to see beyond their own eyes with telepresence experiments”.

The Virtual Reality Arcade has 12 interactive installations, where audiences can engage with images and sounds in an entirely new way. In Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel (Oscar Raby), people can step into a man’s memories and into a crucial moment that the history of Ireland, while in Invisible (Darren Emerson) they are invited to enter an immigration detention centre in the UK.

For more information about the Sheffield Doc Fest and to book tickets now, just click here. DMovies will be live at event bringing to you the dirtiest films and virtual reality shows.

Three screens with more than 50 years of age, an unmatched repertoire cinema menu with a taste for dirty movies, plus cinema parties and events. These are some of the reasons that make the Curzon Soho, in the heart of the London West End, one of the most emblematic cinema venues in the country.

Unfortunately, the Curzon Soho was recently declared a ‘surface of interest’ by Transport for London, meaning that it could be demolished to make way for the £25 billion Crossrail 2 developments. DMovies spoke to the Director of Cinema Development at Curzon Cinemas Robert Kenny about its cultural heritage and how to avoid this massive loss to the cinema world.

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Fluffy future ahead?

Kenny recognises that they have received a communication from TfL, but says “they are not totally transparent. Curzon is not against the Crossrail 2, but we don’t want this place to become like any other space, with no particular identity. When foreigners and tourists come to London, they come to Soho, and it is important to preserve it. Curzon Soho is like Ronnie Scott’s jazz house. We feel the need to preserve this theatre. We want TfL to work with us to find a solution”.

Much like the Curzon Soho, a number of iconic LGBT social and entertainment venues are either under threat of demolition, or have recently been closed in the name of urban development. In the panel promoted by the venue last May 3rd, Marc Thompson, National co-ordinator of Positively UK, and NGO for people with HIV, reminded that “we can’t just open new spaces and pretend that it’s all right. We are concerned about the legacy and continuity of spaces that include the diversity in London”.

Chatting with Kenny, it quickly becomes clear why Curzon Soho is singular: “Our staff is composed by creative people. They know about cinema. You can talk about cinema with them. People use this space to do casting, to discuss scripts at the bar. Just look around. I mean is there any other cinema where you can find a notice at the bar like this?”, pointing to a sign that says: “When purchasing a ticket for Son of Saul in respect to the movie theme, we ask people not to consume snacks and popcorn after the first 20 mins of screening”. This László Neme’s movie from last year offers an unforgettable viewing of a concentration camp during the Second World War.

Curzon is set to open other five more UK venues before the end of 2017, in addition to the 12 already existing ones. They are partly verticalised: they exhibit, distribute and tread into film production territory, as they sometimes buy titles at a script level. Curzon Artificial Eye has been releasing critically acclaimed films since its foundation in 1976. A great amount of films exhibited and distributed by Curzon are shown in their original language. Kenny says that Curzon founder Harold Wingate used to include the subtitles in films shown at Curzon Mayfair already in the 1930s.

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Cinema of tales

Speaking of the most significant cultural and social achievements of Curzon Soho, Kenny remembers three occasions: “In 2004, we planned to screen Tale of Tales [by Yuriy Norshteyn, 1979], a 29 mins Russian animation. We put it into the small screen, and it was sold out. Then we moved to the big screen, and it was sold out again. I asked myself ‘Why is everybody coming to it?’ It was incredible, a hype, a beautiful old school animation”.

He also remembers the launch of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, pictured above) in the year 2000: ” it was New Year’s Eve. I arrived at Curzon Soho at 14:00 and there was a large queue for the 16:00 screening. I even looked at my watch to check the time again. The film was on for 26 weeks in a row.”

The Curzon also knows how to party! Kenny explains: “I will never forget Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think [Adam Smith, 2012, pictured at the top] screening. People went wild, it was like a rave. People had fun, they were dancing all the time and that added to the experience.”

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Old cinema lovers

The building of the Curzon Soho was erected in 1912 in order to replace the bombed-out Shaftesbury Pavilion. It started showing films in 1958 under the Columbia Cinema brand. It took until 1985 to come under the Curzon brand. Originally, it was intended to be a sister venue of the original Curzon Mayfair, on Curzon Street. First named the Curzon West End, it was rebranded Curzon Soho in 1998, when it was also divided into three screens. Is is pictured above in 1962, when it was still called Columbia Cinema.

Now it’s your turn to help save this historical building and cinema. A customer started a petition in December 2014. After just six months, 38 Degrees and Curzon took over and they now manage it. They have 42,500 signatures at the moment, and they aim to achieve 50,000 before they take action. Then they will pass it over to the future London Mayor, in order to discuss the issue with TfL. Join the campaign now by clicking here now.

Helen (the very creepy-looking Angela Pleasence, pictured above) invites her friend Anne (Lorna Heilbron) to spend a few days with her in her enormous countryside mansion somewhere near London. She lives with the estranged housekeeper Brady (Peter Vaughan), whom she despises and fears. Soon ghostly noises and sightings suggest that the three are not alone in the mansion. Anne begins to show an introspective and dysfunctional behaviour, and she urges her friend Anne to stay with her for a few more days.

“They are about to return”, Helen warns at the start of the movie without giving any further explanations. Is it the “symptoms” in the movie title? Is it the ghosts? Or is it her fear and dark secrets that are about to come back? One can only speculate.

Despite being made by a Spanish director, Symptoms is a very British film in all six senses. Helen constantly describes the weird smells, the different tastes, the sounds and the sensations of the English countryside. She also claims that she can hear “things” nobody else can. The woods, a large spooky mansion and constant rain provide the perfect backdrop to this spooky tale.

Symptons is very elegant and effective, particularly in the first half. Some very unexpected and subtle scares will make you jump out of your seat. The eerie photography and shriek soundtrack of the film were very carefully concocted to make the countryside look like a nightmare. There are plenty of squeaky staircases, window and mirror shots, in the good old tradition of horror. There are also very sexual and lesbian elements, a trademark of Ramón Larraz often described as exploitative.

This is not a perfect horror movie, however. The plot has some loose ends that make the film disclosure a little awkward, if still creepy. This does not diminish the artistic merit of a film worth rediscovering – preferably alone, at night and in a countryside house.

The BFI has now restored Symptoms and it is finally available for purchase at the BFI Shop – just click here for more information.

You can watch the movie trailer below:

Made in Britain is a 1983 British television play written by David Leland and directed by Alan Clarke. It tells the story a 16-year-old racist and angry skinhead named Trevor (played by Tim Roth, in his first major role), who constantly challenges his country’s institutions and authority, while remaining utterly “proud” to be British. The teenager is one of the least palatable pure-British produces: he emits a pungent odour of of xenophobia, racism, blind hate and gratuitous violent.

The film was originally broadcast on ITV in 1983 as the fourth in an untitled series of works by Leland. As with many Alan Clarke works, the director attempts to show English working-class and the country’s fragile and questionable institutions. He directed Scum in the previous year, a very graphic and profoundly disturbing tale about life in the now-defunct British youth correctional facilities called Bortals (click here in order to read our dirty review).

Clarke created a very simple film in terms of plot and structure, and yet powerful like a knife in the belly. The dialogues and Roth’s performance are so realistic that it is easy to mistake the actor for a real skinhead. His lower lip slithers through air, he gnarls through his perfect white teeth, his eyes psychotic and possessed, confronting both workers at his residential youth centre and the audiences. Cinematographer Chris Menges’s Steadicam and the punk soundtrack by the band UK82 contributed to the gloomy and jarring atmosphere in the film.

Yet Made in Britain is never a moralising tale. Despite being completely despicable and mostly dehumanised, the director never vilifies Trevor. Instead, Clarke allows him to voice his racist, violent and anti-establishment rhetoric as loud and clear as possible. He spells out his perverse and twisted interpretation of honesty in detail in an angry and yet perfectly eloquent manner. His officials are a role model of ethics: when Trevor steals a car, instead of calling the police, they just ask him to take the vehicle to another place instead.

Trevor is the personification of the most putrid and old-fashioned British values: exacerbated national pride, violent white supremacy and a sense of intellectual superiority. Fortunately, these values are not conspicuous in modern Britain, and perhaps this is why Trevor feels angry and hopeless. He even finds joy at the prospect of going to prison, as if he already knew that this is his inescapable fate. He dons a perfectly smug smile at his own failures.

Britain has seen the a few Trevors since the film was made. In 1999, the White Wolves conducted several racially motivated bombings in London, claiming several victims, while the English Defence League constantly holds protests against what they call the “Islamification of the UK”. The xenophobic rhetoric is also very vivid in Nigel Farage’s speeches, if less violent. This is why Made in Britain remains a very significant and current film.

Made in Britain is a part of ‘Dissent & Disruption: The Complete Alan Clarke at the BBC (Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set)’ out on May 30th. You can pre-order it now by clicking here.

Below is the movie trailer: