Cinecity Diary – 16th November – Sightseers Q&A

Friday night in Brighton. Tonight we were treated with a film I have been keen to see for a long time, Sightseers. Not only that but Brightonain, Ben Wheatley was actually in attendance for a Q&A. The film maker was humble and welcoming to questions and seemed very pleased with his home crowds reaction to his latest feature. Here are my thoughts on the film..

Sightseers

Ben Wheatley is a film maker that isn’t afraid to try something new. From Kitchen-Sink-Crime-Family Drama with ‘Down Terrace’ to Genre Smashing Horror-Hitman-Movie with ‘Kill List’ and now to Romantic-Serial-Killer-Road-Movie with ‘Sightseers’. His films may tend to stack up the kill count, but you can’t say that any of them are meaningless – every body counts for something.

Alice Lowe and Steve Oram play Tina and Chris, a couple that have been together for a few months and feel it is now time in their relationship to head out on a holiday, in true British style – Caravanning. They hit the road and set their route to take in the sights of Yorkshire – from Pencil Museums, to Caves to Tram Museums. For Tina, this holiday is a much-needed break from her Mum who cannot forgive her for the accidental death of their beloved Dog, Poppy.

“It was an accident!!”

“So were you!”

For Chris however the trip is filled with numb skulls, litter bugs and people who rub him up the wrong way. When they accidentally run over one such fellow, Tina and Chris take to murdering people simply for getting on their nerves, but it is never without meaning. The way they see it they are cleaning up the countryside, lowering the carbon footprint and therefore it is a GREEN initiative. When Chris asks a man to pick up is rubbish, it is futile. When a man asks Tina to pick up her dog poop, it is fatal.

The serene and beautiful English countryside seem to compliment and contrast perfectly against these sporadic fits of brutality. The more they murder, the more the pair learn about each other. They are crazy in love or are they just plain crazy? Lowe and Oram wrote the screenplay and it really shows, the couple are neurotic but their chemistry is evident for all to see and this makes it easy for us to root for their relationship, no matter how wrong their new-found habits are.

Wheatley almost seems to stay out of the couples way and lets the ad-libbed sections shine. The soundtrack is fantastic filled with classic songs, none as apt as ‘Tainted Love’. He fills the film with different types of humour from slapstick to surreal, and even seems to manage the over used pet-reaction shots to perfect effect. The cinematography throughout the film is stunning, if it wasn’t for the murderous nature of the film it would be a perfect film for the Yorkshire tourist board to showcase the sights in the County.

Towards the end of the film we almost feel like ‘Sightseers’ is going to  over stay its welcome, but the striking nature of the ending is a revelation. Not so much a twist as a confirmation of character.

‘Sightseers’ is a film that firmly builds on the foundation that Wheatley’s two previous movies laid and serves to confirm the film makers craft. I am very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

CINECITY BRIGHTON FILM FESTIVAL WILL RUN FROM 15TH NOVEMBER TO 2ND DECEMBER 2012 FOR MORE INFO VISIT THEHOMEPAGE HERE