Christian's Salvation?
All publicity is good publicity, as the truism goes, but to whom the publicity is of benefit to is another matter. It’s proven to be the undoing of Susan Boyle of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ fame, and it might prove to undermine this week’s release of Terminator: Salvation. Susan Boyle, affectionately christened ‘Su-Bo’ by certain quarters of the Fourth Estate (presumably in case adjectives like ‘spinster’ or ‘dowdy’ don’t hammer home the point with the requisite oomph), did not enjoy a widely expected triumph in the end, but at least the anti-climactic denouement was not of her own making. Joseph McGinty Nichol, better known as ‘McG’, might have considerably more to answer for. While it’s all very well to question the wisdom of installing a director whose film making ouevre includes Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, it's harder to envisage that a self appointed pseudonym as ostentatious as Nichol’s won’t be a sure-fire way to invite accusations of hubris. That’s before we even get to the Christian Bale Thing.
However, exceptions to the rule regarding the merits of negative publicity don’t come much more obvious than Eric Cantona. Having emerged from the furore of an impromptu kung-fu demonstration at Selhurst Park smelling of roses, Cantona has long since been busy forging an acting career in his native France. In this respect, Looking For Eric is what you might call his breakthrough film on these shores. Supplemented by the steady hand of director Ken Loach, the film plays up to Cantona’s enigmatic persona whilst coupling this with a life affirming narrative revolving around out-of-sorts postman Eric (Steve Evets). Although not officially released until 12th June, the Glasgow Film Theatre will host an exclusive screening on the afternoon of 6th June, followed by a Q & A session with writer Paul Laverty.
There’s no doubt that Terminator: Salvation and Looking For Eric will enjoy plenty of attention, but the pick of this week’s releases may come in the form of intriguing French thriller Anything For Her. Comparatively inconspicuous as its release may be, Fred Cavaye’s directorial debut carries the whiff of an accomplished feature. After his wife Lisa (Diane Kruger) is imprisoned for murder, Julien (Vincent Lindon) vows to clear his wife’s name, whatever it takes. Delving ever deeper into the crevices of a criminal underworld he is utterly ignorant of, Julien’s naivety is cruelly exposed as the arduous task facing him becomes apparent.
Cavaye’s first feature, on the back of a previous vocation as a photographer, is far from an incongruous career move; while the moving image provides a more elaborate form of narrative, photography and film share a singular purpose in telling a story. Jan Troell perhaps has a similar point to make in Everlasting Moments, screening at the GFT and the Edinburgh Filmhouse. Maria (Maria Heiskanen) is a housewife in turn of the century Sweden with little to cheer, least of all her brutish husband Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt), a perennially suffocating figure. Maria’s timorous nature begins to subside when she wins a camera thanks to a lottery, and discovers a preternatural knack for photography, which is further encouraged by her tutor Sebastian (Jesper Christiansen).
Timorousness is certainly not a trait you’d associate with a man willing to act in a feature he’s also written and directed. Jacques Nolot’s Before I Forget, screening at the Cameo, is a film of no little ambition in other respects too. Bringing together themes of lost youth, sexuality, isolation, writer’s block, poverty, and more besides, Nolot’s discourse-heavy tale is a mournful one, for sure, albeit one that perhaps indulges a little too much in the self-pity department.
Finally, Last Chance Harvey completes this week’s roundup. If this paragraph feels somewhat tacked on, it only serves to reflect what seems a rather superfluous film in the respective careers of Dustin Hoffman and Emily Thompson. After Harvey (Hoffman) is fired from his job as a jingle man, he also discovers that his daughter intends to have her stepfather give her away at her wedding. Crestfallen, Harvey meets Kate (Thompson) whilst drinking alone at an airport bar, and from there they embark on an unlikely romance. If you do end up catching this one, consolation should come with the assurance that Hoffman and Thompson are both fine actors with more than enough charisma to carry this Joel Hopkins feature with little effort.