Snatch
UK 2000, Cert. 18
Director: Guy Ritchie
Rating: * * *1/2
A large diamond, stolen in
Antwerp, arrives in London en route to New York, and is stolen
again. Various groups of thieves, some comic and bumbling (Lennie
James, Ade, Goldie), some violent but charming (Vinnie Jones,
Mike Reid, Brad Pitt), and some vicious and downright
psychotic (Alan Ford, Rade Sherbedgia) vie with each other for
the prize, while staging illegal boxing fights, hold-ups,
dog-fights and other assorted crimes.
Director Guy Ritchie claims
that Snatch is not a sequel to his previous film, Lock, Stock
& Two Smoking Barrels. Perhaps not, but it is a rehash of
the very elements which made the first film so special. The
same twisting, turning plot devices, an identical mix of hard
v. hapless characters, the speeded-up sequences, the seedy
London underworld settings. It even makes use of the same
camera angles . Unfortunately, now the originality which
charmed Lock, Stock's cinema-going audiences is missing, this
all-too-formulaic follow up fails to impress.
It can't be denied that Snatch
has some fine moments - memorably the performances of Brad
Pitt as cheeky Irish gypsy fighter Mickey O'Neill and Vinnie
Jones as Bullet Tooth Tony, a legendary hard man - but even
these, the two best characters, are hardly more than
stereotypes.
Billed as a comedy, some of the
cruelty - dog fighting, hare coursing, bloody beatings and
shootings, leave a sour taste. The humour is thinly spread and
the bloody violence is overdone. Perhaps in trying too hard to
equal Lock, Stock, the director doesn't realise how much he
has borrowed from the original, or the extent to which a deja
vu feeling pervades this whole production. What's the point in
going over old ground? Surely Guy Ritchie, who wrote the
script as well as directed, isn't stuck in a rut after only
one film? www.snatch-themovie.com
Dancer in the Dark
Denmark, France, Sweden 2000, Cert. 15
Director: Lars Von Trier (Duke of York's)
Rating: * * *1/2
Selma (Bjork) a Czech
immigrant, works in a U.S. factory making stainless steel
sinks. A single mother, she is going blind and is saving her
earnings to pay for an operation for her 10-year-old son,
Gene, to stop him suffering the same fate. A neighbour accuses
her of stealing his money and her life takes a tragic turn.
Dancer in the Dark, in common
with Danish director von Trier's previous films (Breaking the
Waves, The Idiots) has already attracted much controversy.
This year at Cannes it won the Palme D'Or, sparking outraged
protests (and not a few boos and hisses) from critics who
deemed it flawed and unworthy. So is it an inspired,
innovative musical or a corny, pretentious melodrama? It has
elements of both.
Von Trier is to be respected
for working against sugar-candy musical convention by
introducing darker strands to the plot - he himself admits
that traditional musicals are characterised by lightness - and
so his aim was to construct a substantial film, something more
akin to opera. He and Bjork famously fell out during the shoot
and only spoke to each other again during the Cannes award
ceremony. "The style of music is the result of a
collision between me and Bjork", he says. However
insensitive the director may be, it is Bjork's performance and
her music which rescues his production from ridicule. Not a
great film by any means, but an interesting one, worth
consideration for its differences and its courage in
challenging boundaries.
www.dancerinthedark.com
Happy Birthday, Duke of
York's
The Duke of York's Premier
Picture House is 90 years old this month. The oldest purpose
built cinema outside London still screening films, it was
opened by the then Mayor of Brighton on September 22 1910. To
celebrate 90 years of the Dukes, a special weekend of
screenings and events will take place between September 22-24.
The weekend features an exhibition on the history of the
Dukes, the Brighton premiere of the new Terence Davies film
The House of Mirth (Fri 22nd 7pm), a charity screening of The
Italian Job complete with parade of Mini Coopers on Sunday at
12noon, with the screening at 2pm and a walking tour of
Brighton's cinema heritage, culminating at the Dukes with a
screening of Cinema Paradiso on Sunday pm. On Sat 23 at11pm
there's a rare screening of the short film La Jetee, with live
music from Broadcast subject to licence. The Duke of York's is
currently collecting anecdotes and reminiscences of visiting
the picture house from local people. Contributions can be
handed in at the cinema or e-mailed direct to: tim.b@picturehouse-cinemas.co.uk
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