Before the two screenings of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia at this year’s Fantastic Fest, there was a screening of an interview with Von Trier conducted by Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci for the festival. Von Trier has a good relationship with Fantastic Fest and given the fact that he doesn’t fly had chosen to introduce his film via Skype. I was there and the audience response to the interview, in which von Trier is surprisingly likeable and upbeat, was more enthusiastic than to Melancholia itself, which I found beautiful, well-directed, but ultimately kind of pointless - though it did generate quite a bit of discussion and debate.
You may recall that von Trier got himself into a bit of a public relations nightmare at this year’s Cannes Film Festival when he provocatively called himself a Nazi during a press Q&A - you can read Roger Ebert’s account of the incident here. As is his nature, Von Trier was being a shit stirrer, he was joking, pushing buttons, but the French have strict laws about proclaiming you’re a Nazi (apparently even in jest) or making anti-Semitic comments in public (just ask former Dior designer John Galliano). Now it seems that the French government may be planning to prosecute von Trier for his remarks. As hard as it is to believe, Von Trier may be tried for his facetious comments. Yesterday Von Trier issued the following press release.
“Today at 2pm I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes.
The investigation covers comments made during the press conference in Cannes in May 2011. Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews.”
If indeed von Trier never does another interview, the one he did with Faraci for Fantastic Fest may be the last one we’ll ever see. Here it is:
I’ve put together an exclusive hour long music mix for New Jersey’s WFMU radio station, for the show ‘Do or DIY’ hosted by People Like Us. It’s available on line from 8pm to 9pm tonight, then it will be archived. The mix encompasses off kilter electronica, opiated indie and blissful horror film scores, including pieces by The Anti Group, Ennio Morricone, Wire and Bachelorette.
Playlists and archives for Graham Duff on DO or DIY here.
Below, Graham Duff as “Brian,” tripping, in Ideal:
It was a little after three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, when the dark green Cherokee jeep, loaded with canisters of propane gas, hurtled towards the Departure zone at Glasgow International Airport. The driver was saying prayers and asking for god’s help, when his vehicle hit security bollards and burst into flames. 28-year-old, Kafeel Ahmed had intended that the jeep would crash through the glass doors, enter into the airport concourse, where it would blow-up, killing as many of the men, women and children who queued patiently for their holiday flights.
It was June 30 2007, and this was the first terrorist attack in Scotland since PanAm Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in 1988. Little could Ahmed, or his co-conspirator Dr. Bilal Abdullah, have known that their actions were not to lead to holy martyrdom, but rather to the resurrection of one of the funniest, most popular and successful comedy creations of the last 50 years.
In a hotel room in Budapest, the writer Ian Pattison watched the images beamed from Glasgow onto a flickering TV screen, as the would-be terrorists were arrested, all Pattison could think of was one question: “What would Rab C Nesbitt make of this?”
Fall, present day, the trees are cashing in their savings, and the streets are covered with gold. I meet Ian in a coffee house, in Glasgow’s West End, a background of children and mothers laughing and chatting, and the hiss of an espresso machine. It’s a clear day, and we have a long sweeping view down to the Clyde and across the water to the high rises and tenements of Govan beyond, home to the fictional Rab C. Nesbitt - “the original unemployed man”, whose comic television adventures have brought national acclaim, incredible viewing figures and a cabinet full of awards.
Pattison looks relaxed, toned and much younger than his grey hair implies, and he must be older than he looks for It’s twenty-five years since he first dreamt up the alcoholic, head-bandaged street philosopher Rab C. Nesbitt:
“It was New Year’s Eve,” recalls Pattison, “And I was married and living in this masionette apartment in the north of England. Now I’m an anti-social person and when the front doorbell went, I said to my then wife, ‘That’ll be them from downstairs coming to First Foot, I don’t want to see these people. You entertain them, give them a drink and send them on their way. I’ll go upstairs and you tell them I’m in Glasgow.’
“I go upstairs to ‘Glasgow’, but wives don’t always do what you ask them, and these two neighbors sat there until about 5am knocking back the swally. I was upstairs fuming, wondering what can I do? I just can’t suddenly materialize – I’m in Glasgow!
“So I had a notebook up there, because I used write in the wee room, and I started trying to write something about a Liverpool councilor, but it wasn’t working. Then suddenly, I don’t know why, this mutated into a Glasgow speech rhythm, and in about 10 minutes I’d written the first Nesbitt monologue.
“I’ve no idea where it came from. All I knew about him was he raved, he had a head bandage and wore trainers.””
It was a piece of genius inspiration and Ian passed it on to Colin Gilbert, producer of the sketch show Naked Video. Gilbert liked it, but the actor chosen to play the part, Gregor Fisher, wasn’t so keen.
“There was no inkling of developing the character. I just knew it was a character piece, that is to say you weren’t going from gag to gag to gag. I just knew if it got into Gregor’s hands, I knew what he could do with it, and how he would play it. The trouble was persuading Gregor to do it.”
Anyone who has seen Fisher’s work will know that he is a brilliantly gifted actor, with a warmth and subtlety most Hollywood actors would pawn their looks to possess. I first saw Fisher as an unforgettable, happy-go-lucky, wide-boy in Peter MacDougall’s brilliant Just a Boy’s Game, then a few years later stealing the crappy eighties version of 1984 with a cameo role from under the noses of Richard Burton and John Hurt.
Now Naked Video had made Fisher a household name, on the back of his incredible comic acting, but when presented with a new character to play, he was less than impressed by Pattison’s latest creation.
“Gregor read it and said it was as funny as cancer,” Pattison recalls.
Thankfully, Head of the Comedy Unit, Colin Gilbert was on hand to quietly help matters along. Gilbert is a legend in TV comedy, with a long list of ground-breaking shows from Nesbitt to The Limmy Show, Still Game and Gary - Tank Commander on his long and impressive CV. Indeed, Gilbert with his white hair and beard and twinkling eyes is a polar bear disguised as a man - he may look nice and cuddly, but underneath you know there is this formidable energy just waiting for its moment.
“Colin quietly insisted, and Gregor tried it 2 or 3 times, and by the third time, I think Gregor began to think maybe I’m wrongish, and we never thought any more about it. But when the show went out, people picked up on this drunk character, largely because of Gregor’s eye-catching performance.”
Rab C Nesbitt returns to BBC 2 for 6 weeks from Wednesday 5th October at 22:00 hours
The full interview with Ian Pattison and more from Rab C Nesbitt, after the jump…
David Bowie, in his Aladdin Sane guise, is featured on the new local currency you can only use in the Brixton district of South London. Known as the Brixton Pound, or the B£, the first round of the notes in 2009 featured Olive Morris, the radical political activist who founded the Brixton Black Women’s Group and played a pivotal role in the squatters’ rights campaigns of the 1970s; scientist James Lovelock who developed the ‘Gaia’ theory; C L R James, Trinidadian journalist, historian and socialist; and painter Vincent Van Gogh.
This new series of B£ notes pays tribute to Bowie; Black Cultural Archives founder Len Garrison; Chicago Bull Luol Deng and brave WWII spy Violette Szabo.
I appreciate that the folks behind the B£ (Transition Town Brixton) designed the money to call attention to luminaries who were either born in, raised or lived in Brixton. It draws people in emotionally and it’s a great way to start a conversation among residents of the district about what alternate currencies are, helping support local businesses and encouraging trade to stay in the local area, things most people would never even consider or think about these days. As a former Brixton resident myself (not that I’m hinting about anything!), I’m wondering when Nick Cave, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash, and Linton Kwesi Johnson will receive the honors.
If you’re curious about how an alternate currency works in a fully urban setting, check out this video, it’s worth your time:
Below, the B£1 pound note that pays tribute to Olive Morris, political activist, pioneering black feminist and squatters rights champion who died at the age of 27 from cancer in 1979:
Listen to the splendor that is Johnny Wakelin’s “In Zaire.” I love the shit out of this song, but so far I’ve resisted posting it here because of the totally 70s videos of it floating around out there (as if this has ever stopped me before?). Now I’ve decided that I like them, go figure.
The lyrics describe the infamous 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” prizefight that saw world Heavyweight champion George Foreman pitted against the former world champion, Muhammad Ali. In a stadium filled with screaming fans in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Ali knocked Foreman out in the eighth round.
But the music, can we talk about the music? This track is such a killer. It simply stomps all over your face and smashes you to a pulp. Afterwards, you are glad of this. Dig the (very Adam and the Ants-sounding) dual drum attack, the rumbling, limber, almost menacing bass lines, the jangly, rusty-sounding guitar. And that voice, that phenomenal booming voice. A voice that could give Tom Jones a run for his money. I must admit, given Johnny Wakelin’s propensity to sing about black people, “Black Superman,” Ali, Africa, etc, I thought he must actually be a black man himself. The first time I saw a video of him, after loving this song for so many years, I will admit I was shocked to find that he was in fact, a goofy, fashion-challenged white guy with lamb-chop sideburns who dressed like a pimp!
Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace) and Rich Fulcher (The Mighty Boosh) discuss their dark BBC3 cult comedy series, Snuff Box, swearing, and how such an insane TV series ever got made in the first place. Snuff Box is now out on DVD in America from Severin Films with a bonus CD of Matt Berry’s excellent original soundtrack music.
