Naked Lunch

 Year:  1991

Director:  David Cronenberg

Screenplay:  David Cronenberg, based on the novel Naked Lunch by William S, Burroughs

Starring:  Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider

Running Time:  115 minutes

Genre:  Science-fiction, fantasy

New York City, 1953:  Pest exterminator William Lee (Weller) discovers that his wife, Joan (Davis), has become addicted to the yellow powder he uses to kill bugs.  Lee is contacted by a giant talking insect that claims that he is a secret agent and that the bug is his boss.  It further informs him that his wife is a non-human agent of the sinister Interzone Incorporated.  Lee accidentally kills Joan while attempting to shoot a glass off her head.  Lee flees to Interzone, a "notorious free port on the North African coast", and finds himself in a surreal nightmare of giant, talking bugs, shapeshifting typewriters and monstrous "Mugwumps".

William S. Burroughs' controversial novel, Naked Lunch, was first published in 1959, and has baffled, appalled and fascinated readers ever since.  The "novel' (for want of a better term) is a bizarre and often incoherent mishmash of vignettes and stories without any conventional structure or plot, and had been widely considered unfilmable.  However directors such as Stanley Kubrick had attempted to crack it.  In the 1960s experimental filmmaker Anthony Balch attempted to make a musical adaptation with a script written by Burroughs himself starring Mick Jagger, and, at one stage, Dennis Hopper.  Cronenberg solved the problem by largely jettisoning the book.  The film instead is more structured around Burroughs' life and the writing of the novel, mixed with various elements of Burroughs writing, not all of which come from Naked Lunch.  Cronenberg stated that the difficulty of making a film about a writer, is that the act of writing itself is not particularly exciting to watch.  He solved it by merging Burroughs' life with his fantasies.  The name William Lee was often used by Burroughs as his alter ego, and sometimes a pseudonym on some of his books, and Burroughs did kill his wife while trying to shoot a glass from her head, and Burroughs considered this incident the start of his life as a writer.  Some of Burroughs friends, such as writers Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Paul Bowles, appear in thinly disguised portrayals.  The cadaverous, pale-eyed Peter Weller, who is probably best known for RoboCop (1987), is well cast as in the  lead role, looking and sounding a lot like a 1940s film noir gumshoe.  Judy Davis plays the dual role of Joan Lee and Joan Frost, a double of Lee's wife who he meets in Interzone.  Ian Holm plays Joan Frost's husband, the sinister writer Tom (based on American writer Paul Bowles), and Roy Scheider plays the evil Doctor Benway, one of Burroughs' most memorable characters.  Interzone itself was a frequent setting for Burroughs' writing, and was the title of 1989 book of short stories.  It's based on the International Zone of Tangiers, where Burroughs lived for a time.  The fact that Interzone is very obviously created on soundstages, helps make it seem less a place than a state of mind.  The film features some startling special effects and creatures.  As bizarre and graphic as the film is in places, it is still much more restrained than Burroughs' imaginings, which displeased some fans.  Certainly the film is more David Cronenberg than William Burroughs, in it's tone and style, reducing the novel's themes of drugs and particularly toning down the novel's sexual elements, and making it more a film about writing, however Cronenberg's detached style of directing, chimes well with Burroughs' dry, dispassionate prose style.  It is also possibly the best introduction to Burroughs for a mainstream audience.

They were both disappointed with their Tinder date:  Peter Weller and friend in Naked Lunch

  

Alien

Year of Release: 1979

Director:  Ridley Scott

Screenplay:  Dan O'Bannon, story by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett

Starring:  Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm

Running Time:  117 minutes

Genre:  Science-fiction, horror

Sometime in the future, commercial space tug Nostromo is returning to Earth, with it's seven person crew in suspended animation.  Receiving a signal from an unexplored planet, the ship's computer revives the crew to investigate.  Reluctantly, they set down on the planet and three of the crew set out to explore, and discover a bizarre alien spaceship, where the Nostromo picks up a particularly unpleasant hitchhiker.

This classic blend of horror and science-fiction is one of the classic suspense films.  Even after all this time, the special effects and production values stand up surprisingly well, even where it looks dated, such as the computer readouts, it still feels like an authentic depiction of a tatty, ragged, old banger of a spaceship where pieces haven't been replaced for years because there wasn't the money or no-one could be bothered.  It's a future which looks authentic and lived in, a million miles from the polished spotless spacecraft and heroic crews of Star Trek (1966-1969), the Nostromo crew really couldn't care less about exploring strange new worlds or seeking out new life and new civilisations.  They don't want to boldly go anywhere, except home to get paid.  They are not conventionally glamorous and the dialogue is deliberately banal.  It makes the alien sequences stand out all the more.  The alien spacecraft, designed by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger,  is genuinely striking with it's mix of the organic and mechanical, and the Alien itself (played by dancer Bolaji Badejo) with it's biomechanical look and weirdly sexual elements manages to be both horrific and beautiful at the same time.  It's effect is heightened by the fact that the creature is kept off screen for most of the film and even when it appears, it's so shadowy that the details are barely glimpsed, making the monster almost impressionistic.  The film moves slowly and deliberately accruing the details of the world of the Nostromo, making the horror scenes such as John Hurt's notorious "chestburster" sequence all the more jolting.  Even more frightening than the Alien itself is the concept that, introduced in this film, runs through the franchise,  of the ruthless "Company" that want to keep the creature alive to use as a biological weapon, at the expense of all other considerations.   The fact is that the characters feel real, and you do sympathise with them as the film goes on.  It needs to be seen on the biggest screen and in the best quality possible, because a lot of the suspense depends on the way the image is composed, the cramped claustrophobic corridors, or the cavernous chambers where the threat could be lurking anywhere.  This is a very primal film, it's like a haunted house where you can't escape from.  I've seen this film many times, and I still find it exciting and suspenseful.  It's sequel Aliens (1986) is also a masterpiece, and Alien 3 (1992) is deeply flawed but has it's moments, Alien Resurrection (1997) isn't very good but it's quite fun.  The less said about the others the better.  Ridley Scott returned to the franchise with two sort-of prequels Prometheus (2012) and Alien Covenant (2017) which create this complex backstory which while interesting enough in it's own right, detracts from the mystery and unexplained fear of Alien.  In it's own right, this is a genuinely suspenseful science-fiction thriller which works it's dark magic time after time.

Sigourney Weaver and Alien
   

Time Bandits

 Year of Release:  1981

Director:  Terry Gilliam

Screenplay:  Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin

Starring:  John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, David Warner, Craig Warnock, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds, Tiny Ross 

Running Time:  113 minutes

Genre:  Fantasy, comedy

Young Kevin (Warnock) lives in an average house in middle-class suburban England, with his normal parents.  One night Kevin is woken up by a knight in full armour on horseback bursting out of his wardrobe and running through his bedroom wall.  This heralds the start of a bizarre adventure when he encounters a gang of quarrelling dwarves who have stolen a map revealing the locations of holes in space and time, which they plan to use to commit a series of robberies throughout history.  They encounter Napoleon (Holm) who is obsessed with his own height, a frightfully posh Robin Hood (Cleese), the Ancient Greek warrior Agamemnon (Connery), take a trip aboard the RMS Titanic, and become unwittingly embroiled in the age-old battle between Good (Richardson) and Evil (Warner).

This is a delightfully dark comic fantasy which shows director Terry Gilliam at his very best.  Co-written with fellow Monty Python alumni Michael Palin, who also appears along with fellow Python John Cleese, this has a real Pythonesque feel to it, and feels like a low-budget British take on the American blockbuster.  There is a distinctly British feel to the film, despite Terry Gilliam being American, with the minutiae of everyday mundanity existing cheek-by-jowl with fantastic wonders, and characters being adrift in a chaotic and hostile universe.  Working on a limited budget the filmmakers work wonders with some impressive special effects and memorable images (for example a large old sailing ship turns out to be a giant's hat).  Almost every frame is packed with detail, and there is a real chaotic feel to the film and you do feel like anything could happen.  As Kevin, the film's anchor role, young Craig Warnock doesn't really have much to do except look wide-eyed, but the dwarves have well-defined personalities and their constant bickering with each other is very funny ("I can't stand people who are right!"  "That must be how you get on with yourself so well").  Otherwise you have famous faces appearing in small funny roles, with the late, great Sean Connery giving real gravitas to the part of Agamemnon, even if his Scottish accent doesn't sound quite right for an Ancient Greek hero, and Ian Holm as the mercurial Napoleon, give to drunken rants about the heights of famous historical people.  David Warner relishing every second as Evil, and Ralph Richardson as a querulous Supreme Being ("Dead, eh?  That's no excuse for slacking off work").  There is also a very early appearance by Jim Broadbent as a game show host.  The film has some still quite pointed satire, and a surprisingly bleak conclusion.  It was co-produced by former Beatle George Harrison who provides the closing theme song "Dream Away", some of the lyrics of which were apparently inspired by his notes to Gilliam during the film's production.  

David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Malcolm Dixon, Jack Purvis, Mike Edmonds and Tiny Ross are Time Bandits 

The Sweet Hereafter

Year of Release:  1997
Director:  Atom Egoyan
Screenplay:  Atom Egoyan, based on the novel The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks
Starring:  Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood, Maury Chaykin, Tom McCamus, Gabrielle Rose, Alberta Watson, Caerthan Banks, Arsinee Khanjian
 Running Time:  112 minutes
Genre:  Drama

In the small rural town of Sam Dent, British Columbia, a school bus crash kills fourteen children.  Lawyer Mitchell Stevens (Holm) arrives in town to persuade the grieving townspeople to hire him to represent them in a class action lawsuit against the town and the bus company.  While some people accept his offer, others are more reluctant and some overtly hostile, as the town's various dark secrets come to the surface.  Meanwhile Stevens is haunted by his troubled relationship with his estranged drug-addict daughter, Zoe (Banks).

This is a deeply powerful and genuinely moving film.  As with many Egoyan films, it uses an unconventional structure, moving back and forth in time, with crucial events and information revealed out of sequence.  Ian Holm gives a devastating performance as the lawyer, who is revealed to be much more than just a sleazy ambulance-chaser.  The heartbreaking scene where he tells a story from his daughter's childhood is possibly the best moment in Holm's distinguished career.  The film has a large ensemble cast all do well, particularly Sarah Polley as troubled fifteen year old Nicole, who survives the crash but is left disabled.  The tone of the film, despite it's subject matter, is more like a dark fairy tale than gritty realism, with repeated references to Robert Browning's retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamlin, and a haunting, medieval-influenced score by Mychael Danna.

      Sarah Polley and Ian Holm face up to The Sweet Hereafter