Golden Bears

[imomus]

I'm living a pretty hectic social whirl at the moment, with my ex-wife Shazna and her boyfriend Ron in town, my Hong Kong friend Cheung Lik too, and Hisae's classmate Miya accompanying us to a host of Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) events.

The Golden Bear awards were announced last night, and we were pleased to see David Mackenzie honoured for best use of film music for his Domino Records and Franz Ferdinand-heavy soundtrack for Hallam Foe, which we saw on Friday night and enjoyed. Where else are you going to see the actor known for his role as the "little dancer" in Billy Elliot clambering over the rooftops of Edinburgh's old town, watching people having sex before he retreats to his home inside the clock face of the North British Hotel on Princes Street?



Here I am with director David Mackenzie at the after-screening party for Hallam Foe. When I asked him about the possibility of winning a Golden Bear he was modest and dismissive: "We're not really here to compete and win, just to get the film shown and see what other people have been up to." Congratulations anyway, David!

Although we didn't manage to see it, the Korean film I blogged about the other day, I Am A Cyborg, But That's OK won its director Park Chan-wook the Alfred Bauer Jury Prize, so we're happy about that too.

But the film which undoubtedly made the biggest impact on us -- we saw it last night -- was Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, the documentary about the legendary avant crooner directed by Stephen Kijak, who very kindly led a group of six of us, all holding hands like pixies, through the big knot of people waiting to get into the sold out screening of his film last night, and walked us in to a row of comp seats.

The documentary -- with Scott's songs being pumped through the big Dolby 5:1 speakers -- was powerful and fascinating, featuring the likes of Bowie, Eno, Jarvis, Damon Albarn and Marc Almond detailing their first impressions of Walker's work. Neil Hannon is featured only on the DVD extras section, and David Sylvian not at all, although he apparently offered to be interviewed. Walker's managers thought that Scott "wouldn't be comfortable" with Sylvian's presence in the film. Perhaps David Bowie's presence as Executive Producer also had something to do with it: as we noted here on Christmas day, Bowie's absence from the video for Forbidden Colours is very noticeable. Poor Sylvian seems to be somewhat unpopular with his heroes.

Comments

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

Sylvian seemed to be breaking up with all his lovers on that last disc with Burnt Friedmann. Has there been one since? Damon Albarn adds another notch to his cultural cache. The thought of Scott Walker in super sound in spaces with good acoustics makes me wet.

As for Hallam Foe, I have heard nothing of this in my twilight zone and Edinburgh usually blows its own horn real hard. Mind you I missed the free giveaway graphic novel of Stevenson's Kidnapped at the libraries. So thanks for the tip on this one.
"...clambering over the rooftops of Edinburgh's old town, watching people having sex " reminds me of an old Paul Gallico/Ray Bradbury story I keep recalling from school these days. Where the one lone pedestrian outside the "homes" watches the glow of TV lives inside the buildings.
Edinburgh was never noted for its rooftops, priviliged access I would say. It does have some great sidestreet fire escape stairs.
The best location I visited was the eyrie at the top of the Castle Trades Hotel in the Grassmarket a turret tower above the displaced and homeless. Oh wait I was once at a party in the loft of 17 Danube Street. The New Town brothel.

Sylvian

[(Anonymous)]

Sylvian recently released the "Money for All" EP, again with Burnt Friedman, and it includes a track called "Get the Hell Out".

So still breaking up with lovers, him and me both!

miles

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, they´re just jealous because he´s still prettier than all of them put together.

[(Anonymous)]

What did you think of Nine Horses' "Snow Borne Sorrow"?

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

I liked it, though I´ll always prefer Japan over anything else he´s done.

[nicepimmelkarl.livejournal.com]

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

I prefer to think of David Sylvian doing Japan in an entirely different meaning of that verb, but there you go.

[nicepimmelkarl.livejournal.com]

shit my wig's on fire.

[petit-paradis.livejournal.com]

is zanzibar your take on david sylvian style? it reminds of certain songs on gone to earth.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

It's Greensleeves, musically, so it's my take on King Henry VIII. Lyrically I'm chanelling Siegfriend Sassoon and the Thin White Duke.

[fishwithissues.livejournal.com]

, all holding hands like pixies,

cute!

[nicepimmelkarl.livejournal.com]

two ragged soldiers. my all time favourite. i knew this old tramp ken. he always offered me a can of special brew when i saw him on wandsworth common. neil hannon. didn't he write the theme tune for father ted?

[(Anonymous)]

Dave's take (from Mojo 1999):

Walker and Sylvian, oddly, once planned to collaborate. It was 1990, Sylvian had sent him a song he’d written "that I thought would suit his voice. He asked to meet up. We chatted and he said he didn’t want to record just the one song, how about recording an album together as two vocalists? It didn’t strike me as a wonderful idea and I didn’t think either of us believed for one second that anything was going to happen, and it didn’t. We tried. But Scott’s so evasive. After being in touch for a number of months I decided to get on with other work…I think we have very different mind-sets," he uses, gazing at the birds swooping down into the valley. "But we’re probably both damaged goods."

Scott's take (from The Wire 2006):
"Nothing really happened. I don't really remember. I was doing something else at the time..." He furrows his brow. "All those years of drinking have finally taken their toll!

"He did say that he felt his stuff could use a little more balls. He's much more of an ethereal merchant than I am. I'm a man who struggles with spirituality whereas he's given in to it. My album and the one before it is about struggle in a Dostoyevskian sense. It's a real fight for me in every line. Whereas he's given in to a state of grace.

"I wouldn't want someone to come along and suggest a collaboration with a record which they thought was like mine. You might as well make your own record. When you can get someone to finance you!"

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting! It does tend to confirm that these elder statesmen think of Sylvian as somewhat effete, or perhaps spiritually complacent. "Blemsh", though, strikes me as Walkeresque -- really the only record in remotely the same territory as "The Drift". But not so extreme, clearly. More domestic -- and more powerful, perhaps, for that. Because horror isn't always 9/11 and Dostoyevsky. Sometimes it's just a marriage that doesn't work.

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

I thought Snow Borne Sorrow had real bite.
It seemed like he had some bile to pour and had given up the flakiness he was prone to. Love divorce albums me!
Years ago on some Tv review show as Sandie Shaw gushed about Sylvian's Brilliant Trees, Gary Kemp of the Spands stated that Our Dave should "get down the pub a bit more often"
Who knows he might have met Mr Engel.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

You know, I saw that show and I think it was Bill Nelson who told David Sylvian to "get down the pub a bit more often". It was odd, because Nelson himself is a withdrawn, ascetic sort of character.

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.cyborg2006.co.kr/

-Marc