November Film Events 2010
The Filmhouse is hosting an Introduction to European Cinema, a season of films screening in collaboration with the Film Studies course at the University of Edinburgh, but open to the public. It offers rare opportunities to see a selection of influential films representing various movements in cinema. On 3 November, Hitchcock's first talkie film, Blackmail, is screening. Following a police investigation, this was influential for its experimentations in narrative structure. Also showing is Jean Vigo's L'Atalante (17 Nov) and Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (24 Nov).
In Glasgow, the CCA's new season of darkly themed films, Dark Visions, continues with Stan Brakhage's The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes on 11 November. Devoid of sound, score and narrative, it portrays, in grizzly detail, the daily activities of working life at a Pittsburgh morgue. Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum called it "one of the most direct confrontations with death ever recorded to film".
From 11-28 November the French Film Festival is in Scotland, showing a selection of previews, special films without UK release dates, and retrospectives. Celebrating the work of Academy Award winner Pierre Etaix, Le Grand Amour (The Great Love), a tale of love, marriage and longing, is screening at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh (11 Nov) and the GFT (12 Nov), with Etaix in attendance. Amongst the previews is Les Beaux Gosses (The French Kissers) at the GFT on 17 November. This coming-of-age film by first-time director Riad Sattouf was the break-out comic success at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. For full programme details, check out the festival's website.
The Cameo is also hosting a special event on 18 November, in which Steven Severin, co-founder of legendary band Siouxsie and the Banshees, will be performing an avant-garde live musical accompaniment to Jean Cocteau's surrealist masterpiece Blood of a Poet. With costumes designed by Coco Chanel, Cocteau's visually dynamic film has no distinguishable linear narrative, giving Severin poetic licence to interpret the images, and this unique evening is essential viewing for fans of surrealist cinema.
Finally, on 27 November bring a strong cup of coffee or six to the Cameo in Edinburgh for All Night Horror, five classic 70s and 80s horror films screened throughout the night, separated by some rare vintage horror trailers. Included in the line up is Dario Argento's classic Suspiria, Frank Henenlotter’s Basket Case and the original Black Christmas. For those who manage to stay awake, it promises to be a gory, funny and altogether disturbing night. [Becky Bartlett]