BRIT 1: Out of Step
Subtitled 'Out of Step', the Best of British 1 programme showcases a diverse series of films examining the experiences of characters trapped on the peripheries of modern British society, whether they have chosen to position themselves there or not. 'Not fitting in' is central to Mark Gutteridge's intelligent, skilfully-constructed Assessment (2010), whose story of an aspiring young ballet dancer who doesn't quite fit the cookie-cutter mould expected of her ambitiously weaves in subtexts about racial identity, social class, gender and body image in its fleeting duration, and in pairing its main narrative with another containing more violent, primal imagery, it hints at a deeper, more violent destructiveness at the heart of patriarchal homogenization.
Image: Assessment
Elsewhere, two films dovetail in their examination of characters whose life choices have resulted in their rejection from an unsympathetic 'normal' society. Hollow (2010), by Wednesday (2007) director Rob Sorrenti, follows the struggle of a young woman whose pregnancy leads her and her partner in a determination to kick their shared heroin addiction and restart their lives clean. Whilst unflinchingly graphic in its portrait of their situation, it is propelled by a sense of determined hope for the possibility of renewal, though one coloured by the ever-present lure of temptation. Similarly Rough Skin (2011), from Small Change (2010) director Cathy Brady, tells the story of Kelly, a young woman attempting to assimilate back into normal life after being released from prison, but whose past proves inescapable and forces her into a painful renegotiation of her relationship with her mother.
Image: Hollow
The theme of the parental relationship is also explored in two other films in the programme. Opening film Sunny Boy (2011), is an affecting story of a young man dealing with the pitfalls of adolescence whilst suffering the added hindrance of having a painful skin allergy to sunlight. The film is unsparing in its visual detailing of his condition, but achieves a universality in its theme of a son wanting to shake off the shackles of a loving but perhaps over-protective father, capped by sympathetic lead performances from Darren Kent and Lewis Nicolas. By contrast, Douglas Hart's Long Distance Information (2011), starring the currently ubiquitous Peter Mullan, offers what might appear to be a more straightforwardly farcical take on the paternal bond, but the comedy is deceptive: the ultimate reveal also offers a wry, oddly poignant commentary on the all-too-common distance of the father-son relationship.
Image: Long Distance Information
Also screening is Ruth Reid's Night Shift (2011), a succinct documentary focusing on Anne Wallace, and her extraordinary dedication to bring help to the working women of the streets of Glasgow via Salt and Light - a mobile safe haven housed inside a double decker bus.
