On the IMDb boards, I recently discussed with a fellow poster the excellent 24 Hour Party People film by auteur Michael Winterbottom. Checking a local DVD shop a few days ago,I spotted a title which I had heard about years ago, which led to me entering Winterbottom's Wonderland.
View on the film:
For the last film to be produced by Polygram, and one of two movies he made in 1999, (the other being With or Without You) directing auteur Michael Winterbottom & cinematographer Sean Bobbitt continue building on the grainy "Kitchen-Sink" motifs of Winterbottom's work, and (unintentionally) present a fitting tribute to the indie spirit of Polygram.
Filmed away from the landmarks on the streets of London, Winterbottom and Bobbitt thread the criss-crossing stories with a "fly on the wall" atmosphere which follows the characters around in grainy 16mm hand-held cameras, (with Winterbottom straying the camera to random members of the public in wide-shots, creating the impression that "their story" could be the next followed.)
Winterbottom starkly enters their lives with a stripped-down, earthy atmosphere of a sex scene filmed with no background music, natural light and not even a boom mic used, (a preview of what was to come with Winterbottom's 9 Songs (2004) ) and the cafe where Nadia works being filled with the sounds of real customers.
Expanding on the contrasting lo-fi "Kitchen-Sink" and the digital stylisation which runs across his credits, with stylish time lapse photography becoming increasingly overlapping as the separate tales cross each-other, startling close-ups on the sisters when facing the aftermath of devastating hardship, and Michael Nyman's excellent, mournful, ticking clock score.
The first of two collaborations with Winterbottom (the other being Genova (2008)) the screenplay by debut writer Laurence Coriat draws up considerate slices of life across a long Guy Fawkes Night weekend tracking Nadia, Debbie,Molly and Eileen with their fractured family lives.
Working both as individual stories and as a wider collage, Coriat rubs open moments that at first appear small in their lives (Nadia's unsatisfactory dates, Eileen's announce at the neighbours dog) which gradually become the dominate factor/focus in their lives, as each attempt made to resolving the problems, causes fallout which bring their lives closer together.
Opening this Wonderland up, Gina McKee gives an incredibly raw performance as shy Nadia, whose optimistic smile McKee breaks when Nadia is in private. Under pressure of job loss and a pregnancy,John Simm and Molly Parker give great performances as couple Molly and Eddie, thanks to Parker and Simm tugging at their partners doubts and vulnerability when travelling in this Wonderland.
View on the film:
For the last film to be produced by Polygram, and one of two movies he made in 1999, (the other being With or Without You) directing auteur Michael Winterbottom & cinematographer Sean Bobbitt continue building on the grainy "Kitchen-Sink" motifs of Winterbottom's work, and (unintentionally) present a fitting tribute to the indie spirit of Polygram.
Filmed away from the landmarks on the streets of London, Winterbottom and Bobbitt thread the criss-crossing stories with a "fly on the wall" atmosphere which follows the characters around in grainy 16mm hand-held cameras, (with Winterbottom straying the camera to random members of the public in wide-shots, creating the impression that "their story" could be the next followed.)
Winterbottom starkly enters their lives with a stripped-down, earthy atmosphere of a sex scene filmed with no background music, natural light and not even a boom mic used, (a preview of what was to come with Winterbottom's 9 Songs (2004) ) and the cafe where Nadia works being filled with the sounds of real customers.
Expanding on the contrasting lo-fi "Kitchen-Sink" and the digital stylisation which runs across his credits, with stylish time lapse photography becoming increasingly overlapping as the separate tales cross each-other, startling close-ups on the sisters when facing the aftermath of devastating hardship, and Michael Nyman's excellent, mournful, ticking clock score.
The first of two collaborations with Winterbottom (the other being Genova (2008)) the screenplay by debut writer Laurence Coriat draws up considerate slices of life across a long Guy Fawkes Night weekend tracking Nadia, Debbie,Molly and Eileen with their fractured family lives.
Working both as individual stories and as a wider collage, Coriat rubs open moments that at first appear small in their lives (Nadia's unsatisfactory dates, Eileen's announce at the neighbours dog) which gradually become the dominate factor/focus in their lives, as each attempt made to resolving the problems, causes fallout which bring their lives closer together.
Opening this Wonderland up, Gina McKee gives an incredibly raw performance as shy Nadia, whose optimistic smile McKee breaks when Nadia is in private. Under pressure of job loss and a pregnancy,John Simm and Molly Parker give great performances as couple Molly and Eddie, thanks to Parker and Simm tugging at their partners doubts and vulnerability when travelling in this Wonderland.