Am I a film fan, a movie enthusiast, a silver screen aficionado? I’d like to say that I was a cinematic connoisseur but fear I could not support the claim. All I do know is that I invariably spoil a night out at the pictures by knowing far too much about the movie long before I sit down with a bucket of popcorn. I read all the movie mags, trawl through IMDB and scour the papers for reviews. I quite often pride myself with having a fully rounded and unshakable opinion of a film some considerable time before its release date.
So it is a rare and marvellous treat when a movie slips beneath the radar and you sit in the auditorium innocent and virginal, all agog with anticipation.
Thus it was the other night when the flicker club were invited to a special screening, at our beloved Lexi Cinema, of ‘Four Lions’.
Well, passing through the foyer I first encountered the film poster. I like a good film poster me, and this one really sparked my interest. It displayed a raven strapped to some explosives. (It might have been a crow but I hope it was a raven. It’s the latent Goth in me). And who doesn’t like explosives? In a movie I mean. Nothing like a big bang to help smooth over distracting plot and characters.
Safe and snug in my seat, the lights went down all around us, plummeting us into blissful darkness and the movie rolled.
Imagine my shock and delight to discover that I was witnessing a suicide bomber horror comedy. This is a genre that I have been previously unaware of, how very 21st Century.
If there were a comparison, or a point of reference, it would have to be the sublime “The Ladykillers”, pitch black in tone with a wonderful rogues gallery of witless villains on a journey of self-destruction.
When the credits concluded, onto the stage stepped the actor, Nigel Lindsay, and screenplay writer, and Lexi neighbour, Sam Bain. They provided a captivating, amusing and insightful look into the making of the film. No creature comforts for the stars, by all accounts, every penny of the tight budget went up onto the screen and we should all be very thankful of that. We should also be thankful, according to the deferential Sam and Nigel, to that tabloid tempting, “Media Terrorist” and creator of the, much missed, “Brass Eye”, Mr Christopher Morris.
‘Four Lions’ is a triumph, a British Film to be really proud of. It is a brave film too with the climax suitable, inevitably and appropriately grim.
Don’t let me say any more lest I spoil the experience for you. Go see this unique film and titter with terror at this macabre little gem. A bomb blast of fresh air.
Clive for the flicker club
