Features Line Up

Reviews by the curators.

Feature 1

Fallen Angels

Superbly shot and darkly humourous, Fallen Angels is one of Wong Kar-Wai’s finest pieces of work, capturing the visual uber-cool and after-hours chic of downtown Hong Kong and setting it to a soundtrack by the likes of Laurie Anderson, Massive Attack and The Flying Pickets.

Told through the seemingly disparate, yet ultimately overlapping lives of three nocturnal creatures – a hitman, his silent partner, and a mute – Fallen Angels at first seems a cold and heartless world of violence and disaffection. As we are drawn deeper into this neon underworld, we begin to see that at its centre Fallen Angels is, in fact, a love story.

I chose this film not just for its stunning cinematography and superb soundtrack, but because, like many of Wong’s films, it deals with love that doesn’t quite fit the mould.

In a film industry built around formulas and demographic equations, Fallen Angels remains as contemporary as when it was made and deserves to be loved by all.

CRS

Wong Kar-wai – 1995 – 90 mins – Cantonese (English Subs)

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Feature 2

Ex Drummer

Ex Drummer is the story of The Feminists, a three-piece punk band hailing from the recesses of a shit-hole town in darkest Belgium.

Their unique selling point is that all of the members suffer from real and not-so-real disabilities, ranging from a dodgy arm to deafness.

The members of said band, in fact, are mostly psychotic sociopaths, but don’t let that bother you: they have some real charm, and can hammer out an excellent Devo cover.

Ex Drummer is a rock and roll journey covers in puke, piss, blood, dirt and bile, following around the town’s Battle of the Bands competition and The Feminists’ search for a new drummer.

I chose this film because it captures the dark side of the human condition; because it forces us to re-examine our fascination with the sick and depraved world of rock and roll; and because music-making, disability, and dead-end towns all touch a personal chord.

RVR

Koen Mortier - 2007 – Belgium – 90 mins – Dutch (English Subs)