Peeping Tom

Released by StudioCanal Michael Powell's derided upon release but now lauded 1960 masterpiece is issued with a new 4K restoration release.

Starring Bohm and a plethora of British acting talent from the late 1950s, this is a rich and lush film ripe for the technical upgrades a restoration will provide.

His tale of voyeurism and a sympathetic serial killer, the film was released the same year as Powell's countryman Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a film that shares similar DNA and has had a shared revisionism to them both.

Carl Boehm elicits such a depth of vulnerability to the killer Mark, his aloofness and foreign-ness playing into the hands of the viewer. A criticism that would be aimed at Anthony Perkins' performance, the appeal of finding something within somebody evil made it seem unseemly for filmgoers, but the 1960s was a dawn of a new era of film-making with colour everywhere and new horizons abounding.

Having watched the film years ago, one forgot that the mother of Helen (Anna Massey), the girl downstairs who Mark takes a shine to, is in fact blind therefore she cannot be a victim of Mark. It is such a clever narrative idea in terms of character growth, development and a layer of intrigue for all.

As ever with Powell, there is a richness in the cinematography and the detail of production polish is paramount to the film being so well admired by all comers especially Martin Scorsese.

Powell does wonderful tricks with editing, sound design and a use of location - he borrows from Hitchcock in terms of building up tension such as with Moira Shearer's death where he constant moving puts us on edge as Mark hovers around her creating a murder scene without her knowing.

Peeping Tom is out on Blu-Ray/DVD from StudiocanalUK. Special features include an essay by Sir Christopher Frayling, a featurette Restoring Peeping Tom, intro by Scorsese, interview with Thelma Schoonmaker (2007), Powell's wife and an audio commentary by Ian Christie.

Natatorium

 

This new Icelandic thriller from debut feature director Helena Stefansdottir is one of the tensest films viewed in the last few years - blending influences from a range of sub-genres (haunted house; familial drama; psychological thriller) with directorial flourishes from Bergman, and Lars Von Trier. Family dynamism creates a hotpot of emotion that lends itself to film treatments.

The story revolves around a young girl who visits her grandparents in a town whilst she auditions for a drama group nearby. From the outset, her arrival prompts a family reunion of sorts as her parents attend to see her and old wounds and secrets are revealed amidst this troubled situation.

Similar to the Pinter play The Homecoming the insertion of innocence or returning figure disrupts the status quo. Another film this viewer was reminded of was Thomas Vinterberg’s classic Festen (1995) which was part of the Dogme movement with compatriot Trier. That film similarly revolved around a family gathering where a dark secret is slowly revealed prompting paranoia and scrutiny resulting in an explosion of feelings that have been long hidden within people.

The strengths of Natatorium stem from the production design and the claustrophobic environment of the mise-en-scene with little details expressing larger notions exponentially; this along with the single location that entraps the characters cut off from the world - a key trope and strength of 21st century genre pictures Ex-Machina (2014) and The Menu (2022)- with the protagonists all trapped seemingly (one character, Kalli, the uncle is very much bedridden) in one place and strive to move and yet are anchored by this position due to the pull of family.

As well as the dysfuntional family element, there is the use of an indoor pool with water that serves as the device for rebirth and baptism, therefore, the connotations of religion and mystery are apparent adding to the enigmatic quality of the film in general. There is a repeating trend in the film for people seeking to purify themselves by holding their breathe under the water as a rite of passage as well as a physical endeavour of strength and control. 

The film does have that thread running through also with Elin Petersdottir’s matriarch Arora, attempting to illicit some sort of strangehold of control over her family no matter the cost; this has resulted in the children having addiction issues of their own which is laid out within the narrative.

Dark and brooding in equal measure but filmed with a quiet panache that is not overbearing, this is a film about the troubles of being a woman and the juxtapositions of beauty and ugliness and light with dark, and how darkness evades upon innocence.

Featuring a strong lead performance by youngster Ilmur Maria Arnarsdottir as Lilja and veteran Petersdottir as Arora, the matriarch of the family who cannot let go of her grip upon those she has born.

Technically astute due to cinematography and editing all firing on high cylinders of performance, Natatorium is a chilling tale that will garner attention due to the nature with which it presents its delicate subject matter.

Natatorium premieres at the Rotterdam Film Festival in the festival's Bright Future Category from 28th January.

Italian Doc Season - Pure Unknown

 

Screening as part of the Second Italian Doc House season at Bertha Doc House

A collaboration between contemporaries, screenwriter Valentina Cicogna and director Mattia Colombo; this true crime documentary stars protagonist and forensic pathologist Cristina Cattaneo; who is portrayed as a fiercely passionate activist for the dead.

Working in Milan and administering autopsies to those who have passed on; Cattaneo is a unique person with a singluar voice. As she works, many bodies arrive with no identification or name - from the homeless, to the young and old, to migrants who seek a better life and die tragically in the sea.

Cattaneo and her team are stringent in the belief that all people deserve the right to a burial no matter who that person may be and what life they may have led. The lack of dignity to some dead is startling as the people who may have known these unknown people adds to the grief, even more startling is the faith that the grieving put in a television show over the police in the search for answers.

Much like Colombo's last film A Steady Job (screened at first Italian Doc House), this is a document to a time that is changing amidst a global pandemic. Cattaneo wears a mask in her work but due to the crisis, she and everyone she encounters is wearing a mask all except those she treats in death.

The engaging character of Cattaneo is one that keeps you involved with the film that is as concise and precise as the doctor. Shot with clarity and accomplishment, this film serves as a reminder that life is too short and no matter how it ends, respectfully the life should be cherished in its conclusion. There is a care and attentiveness required for the dead that we have lost in the land of the living - Cattaneo strains to make that point clear to her peers and students.

Special mention to the music by Zeno Gabaglio which offers a touching sombre piece to this sensitive topic which handles its subject matter with such dignity.

Pure Unknown screens at BerthaDocHouse on Saturday 27th January 3pm with a filmmaker Q&A afterwards.

Home - Bertha DocHouse

My thanks to Stuart Haggas for the review opporunity.