Edinburgh. Wednesday, 20 August
Thrilling Stuff
Claire Clouzot, niece of French film maker Henri-Georges Clouzot was in town today as part of the Film Festival’s retrospective on her uncle’s career. The French woman, now in her late seventies, took part in a Question and Answer after the screening of one of Clouzot’s most famous films, Les Diaboliques. The 1955 classic takes a chilling look at the murder of a school teacher.
The nation’s treasured silver-tongued film buff Barry Norman was at the Book Festival this afternoon to talk about his book And Why Not? which includes plenty of witty encounters with the likes of Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier and Robert De Niro.
Later in the evening, we meet the celebrated British director John Boorman, (Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur and Hope and Glory).
Pa-pa pa-pa pa-pa pa pa pa!
There was laughter, nostalgia and an awful lot of crimplene and Bri-nylon in this evening’s Fifty Years of Pearl and Dean event. The hour-long show featured commercials from the last century – including the very first filmed advert – for Dewars Whisky which was made in 1898. Bringing us up to the present day via cigarette ads, dodgy aftershave commercials and Lulu selling shoes, the show was rounded up with some modern day adverts – featuring the oh-so-cool Harvey Keitel advertising Johnnie Walker whisky and the hilarious Ricky Gervais making some very naughty un-PC jokes in a charity campaign to stop discrimination against disabled employees. Top of the bill was a spectacularly saucy lingerie advert from Kylie Minogue. The Agent Provacateur ad features Kylie and some raunchy undies writhing about on a bucking bronco. All in the best possible taste of course.
Surprise, surprise
Shane Danielson was determined to draw out the suspense as much as he possibly could when he introduced the annual List Surprise Movie. Keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, Shane announced that this year’s choice was an attempt to bring a more ‘educative role’ to the Film Festival. As the audience squirmed and wondered just what exactly they had let themselves in for, Shane, ever the prankster, announced with great pride that the director was going to give a few words before his film was shown. Enter 4 burly looking men carrying a coffin on their shoulders as Shane welcomed Alfred Hitchcock onto the stage.
Oh, how we laughed. But oh, how we sighed with relief when we realised the actual film was Spirited Away, an absolutely magical fairy-tale for grown ups. Spirited Away, or Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakushi if you prefer, is a Japanese animation film -and a bloody great one at that - written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Featuring talking animals, flying dragons and some beautiful animation, the film went down a storm.
Shcotland's favourite shuper shtar
Hearts were a-flutter in the Industry Delegates’s Centre this afternoon as living legend Sean Connery popped in to say hello. And, just as he has done the last few times he’s appeared at the Festival, he stopped to pose for a photo with the staff at the Press Desk. Whattaguy.
Sean, who plied his trade as an milkman in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh before he broke into acting, is a holder of the Keys to the City of Edinburgh. He has also been a loyal EIFF patron for several years now. Doing his bit to support Scottish film as ever, Sean went to watch Four Eyes last night (directed by Duncan Finnigan and filmed in Coatbridge) and will be going along tomorrow night for the screening of Afterlife (directed by Alison Peebles). Expect a big turn-out outside the cinema when he walks down the red carpet at 8pm tomorrow.
I for one, will have my camera at the ready….
Until tomorrow, Claire x
