Tonite Let’s All Make Movies in London

The weather’s gone a little wobbly in old London town. I think I got hailed on today. That’s no good is it. If the last couple of days have got you considering setting yourself up for the annual Winter hibernation, or if you’re not in London have a hankering for rotten chilly miserable weather, here’s a list of films about London you may want to sift through. Boicozine recommends grabbing yer duvet, quilt, blanky or doonah and watching them all back-to-back in one sitting (with random snack breaks of course). Got a fave film about London to add to the list? make sure you leave a comment and let us know.

London [iMDB]
No-one does narration like the English and Paul Scofield’s subtly surreal narration in Patrick Keiller’s ‘London’ is second to none. Documenting a city forever teetering on the verge of stagnation, abet with loving care and attention, this film appears timeless and yet documents a very distinct era in British politics and the mindset of the world’s first ‘invisible’ city. This is the only clip I could find, a rare moment in the film that is quite explicit about it’s political inclinations.

Finisterre [iMDB]
Kieran Evans & Paul Kelly’s Finisterre pays homage to Keiller’s film and expands on it by including interviews with noteworthy Londoner such as artist Julian Opie [julianopie.com] and ex-Subway Sect member Vic Godard, amongst others. Commissioned by indie-pop (and proud) group, Saint Etienne [saintetienne.com], as an alternative to having produce a bunch of music videos for their album of the same name, it also benefits from a top soundtrack tailored to the film. The clip below is from a later album. Another little film about London town…

Wonderland [iMDB]
Michael Winterbottom’s ‘Wonderland’ is a bit of a test but only because it aims to give the viewer that unique sense of ‘disconnect’ you can feel in city you can regularly get lost in, both physically and metaphorically.

The Young Americans [iMDB]
Bjork sings the theme song for this very British attempt at a gritty crime drama. Even having Harvey Keitel and Viggo Mortensen on board can’t dilute the resolute gloom of London left that permeates this film. Weirdly uplifting in parts but for no obvious reason. Here’s the video clip to go with it…

The London Nobody Knows [iMDB]
What starts off as a merry jaunt around the lesser known (or cared for) areas of late 60s London ends in a type of morality tale involving meths drinkers. Still it’s enchanting in places and with James Mason as our guide, it’s certainly never dull. I think you can see most of it on YouTube, if you really want. Better to watch it on DVD though if you really want to see what’s going on. Still, here’s a taster…

Naked [iMDB]
Naked is deliberately dark… although you won’t know it from this trailer. America really didn’t know what to make of Mike Leigh’s ‘quintessentially’ English investigation into the murkier side of human nature. This trailer tries to shoehorn it into your a-typical ‘black comedy’ mould but it’s a far more intricate film than that. The highlight being when our main character, played by David Thewlis, takes a preamble around late night London encountering a bickering Scottish couple, a philosophical security guard and a disgruntled flyer posterer along the way.

Tonight Let’s All Make Love in London [iMDB]
The only film/documentary about ’swinging’ London in the 60s that you need to see… if you can find it. The easiest way to see bits of it at the moment is to pop along to the Alan Aldridge exhibition at London’s Design Museum [designmuseum.org]. He is interviewed in the film along with David Hockney, Julie Christie, Michael Caine, Allen Ginsberg and many other noteworthy personages.