Jonathan Melville: Filmhouse and Cameo leave us spoilt for choice

Published on Friday 22 May 2009 09:57

IT may be a quiet Friday for big budget releases but Edinburghers are still spoilt for choice when it comes to more unique film choices over the next seven days.

First up is the 2009 Edinburgh 48-Hour Film Project, taking place from today at the Cameo and continuing until Sunday.

From 6pm tonight, teams will pick a film genre from a hat, be given a character, prop and line of dialogue and asked to make a short film in just 48 hours.

The resulting film will then be premiered in the cinema the following week.

While most teams will by now be full up, budding filmmakers should head to www.48hourfilm.com/Edinburgh for any last minute spaces and head to the Cameo on 26, 27 and 28 May to see the results on the big screen.

Staying with the Cameo, today sees them start showing new film Helen. Focusing on the disappearance of a girl called Joy, when Helen (Annie Townsend) agrees to feature in a reconstruction of Joy's final movements, she soon becomes involved in the lives of her family and friends with unexpected results.

The cinema's European Matinee season continues with North Face (2008), a drama based on the true story of two Bavarian soldiers who in 1936 decided to scale the spectacular north face of the Eiger.

Elsewhere, last night saw the launch of Dance: Film 2009 at the Filmhouse, a week-long mix of musicals, documentaries, shorts and films celebrating the medium of dance.

Tonight's screening is Perhaps Love (2005), a lavish film inspired by Moulin Rouge and Bollywood epics that takes place on the set of a Chinese musical. This is only the second time the film has been shown in the UK.

Slumdog Millionaire fans might want to try Bollywood musical Om Shanti Om (2007) tomorrow night, while 80s cheesefest lovers should look out for Flashdance (1983) on Saturday 30 May.

If dance isn't your thing, the Filmhouse are also offering a couple of golden oldies over the next few days.

First is Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 drama Pierrot le Fou, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, in which Ferdinand Griffon, or Pierrot, escapes Paris and travels to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl being chased by hit-men.

The penultimate film in the James Mason season is Bigger than Life (1956), screening on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mason is schoolteacher Ed Avery, prescribed a so-called wonder drug which turns him from mild-mannered father and husband to psychopath.

Mason is mesmerising as the man who ends up believing "God was wrong," while director Nicholas Ray's use of colour is impressive.

Finally, out on Monday for the first time on DVD is Frank Sinatra's 1951 musical Meet Danny Wilson.

When up-and-coming lounge singer Danny Wilson (Sinatra) is offered the chance of success by a local gangster for 50 per cent of his future profits, it seems a decent offer - until Danny hits the big time and reconsiders the deal.

Sinatra shines and there are a few in-jokes for Rat Pack fans in this black and white gem.

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