Queuing for a public screening at the Sundance Film Festival brings to mind the airport scene from Meet The Parents. Remember the part when an uptight stewardess asks Ben Stiller to stand aside in the empty departure lounge and wait for his number to be called? I had a similar experience trying to get into a screening of Mike Hodges' latest thriller, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.
I was running a little late (blame it on the buses), showed my ticket to a festival volunteer and was told I had to join a queue regardless. I told her I was press, that I was interviewing the film's director, and that I simply couldn't afford to get gazumped. In turn she asked to see my credentials. I obliged and she smiled her Colgate smile and said that was fine, but I still had to join the line. Fair enough, I think. She pointed me to a tent flanking the cinema and asked me to go around and to the back of it. And so, I walked all the way around this tent, stepped inside and found that it was entirely empty, walked straight through and out again, and came face-to-face with the very same gormless grin. I smiled back and handed her my ticket. She took it (still smiling!) and motioned me through into the theatre as though it were the first time she'd ever laid eyes on me.
"AS INTERESTING AS WATCHING ICICLES FORM"
Two things make this experience even more exasperating:
1) I've just received a call from the film's publicist to say that my slot with Mike Hodges has been cancelled (he's required to "focus solely on US media outlets and thanks so much for understanding");
2) The film was about as interesting as watching icicles form on my window ledge - except that all icicles have a point.
Anyway, my apologies to those of you who have submitted questions for Mr Hodges, but frankly you'd do well to steer clear of his latest film and go rent Croupier instead. In case you still care, there was a Q&A session with Hodges after the screening, during which he mentioned:
a) He detests the use of music in film as a means to emote;
b) He's really quite cheerful despite his penchant for film noir;
c) Malcolm McDowell has just had a baby, although not in the literal sense;
d) He's contemplating a third project with Clive Owen;
e) He admits Morons From Outer Space (1985) is not a very good film.
There was a great deal more interest surrounding the world premiere of Touch Of Pink, starring Jimi Mistry as a gay Canadian living in London whose life is thrown into turmoil when his devout Muslim mother comes to stay. The Eccles Theater was jammed to capacity for this fun and frothy culture clash comedy in the vein of My Big Fat Greek Wedding - but with saris. Director Ian Iqbal Rashid was also on hand to answer questions and elicited many a gasp when he revealed that the project had taken ten years to get from script to screen.
Along with Jimi Mistry, and other members of the principal cast, Kyle MacLachlan took to the stage and dazzled everyone with his snow white hair (Philip Schofield, move over), and his uncanny Cary Grant impersonation (white coif notwithstanding).
I'm planning to speak to Ian Iqbal Rashid and Jimi Mistry this week (keep your fingers crossed), so please email any questions you'd like me to put to them. (Touch Of Pink should be opening in the UK later this year.)
"FIRTH'S PERFORMANCE IS A DEPARTURE"
Quite a few of you, including Linda - aka Darcy Girl - and Michele MacDonald, have already been in touch about Colin Firth and his latest project Trauma, which has just premiered here at Sundance. Unfortunately, Colin wasn't in town for the event, although I will be speaking to director Marc Evans, and Firth's young co-star Mena Suvari, both of whom have made the trip.
Having just seen the film, I can tell you that it's a discomfiting watch - as the title suggests. Firth's performance is certainly a departure from the soft-centred roles we're used to seeing him in, but he pulls it off very well. In all, Trauma is the kind of high impact movie you'd expect from the man who brought you horror flick My Little Eye, but rather like a Chinese takeaway, it left me feeling unsatisfied.
Andy Parkinson has also written to me, asking about the films already creating buzz in Park City. I can tell you that Garden State, which I briefly talked about in my first postcard, has gone down very well with audiences here. The romantic comedy, which stars Zach 'Scrubs' Braff (also writer/director) and Natalie Portman, has been jointly acquired by Fox Searchlight and Miramax. Other titles that have picked up distribution deals are The Motorcycle Diaries, about the young life of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara; Napoleon Dynamite, a quirky comedy set in rural Idaho; plus surfing documentary Riding Giants, which opened the festival. The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon as a paedophile returning to his hometown, is just opening and is sure to stir up some interesting reactions, so watch this space for more on that.
And finally, to Purminder Gandhu, who asked about the background of the Sundance Film festival, I refer you to my Brief History Of Sundance right here.
Stella delivers her next Sundance postcard on Wednesday
See Stella's weekend gallery here
Got a question for Trauma director Marc Evans or the film's star, Mena Suvari? Or for Touch Of Pink star Jimi Mistry? You can email Stella here, and she'll ask it on your behalf. Alternatively, you can ask her any question you like about this year's event
