Branchage: Tamara Drewe opens

This weekend Jersey hosts one of the most ambitious and varied cross-arts film festivals in Europe.

Over the four days I will be seeing dozens of films, musical performances and shows.

The first day's event was the opening night gala performance of Tamara Drewe.

Enter stage left, or was it stage right? It was stage somewhere - I wasn't really watching as I was anticipating speeches.

A woman with surprisingly good posture in a floral leotard pulling along what looks like a large children's toy train.

In the middle of the stage was a rope.

The good posture woman crossed the stage - slowly - to plinky plonky music - almost a live action scene from a silent movie.

Music changes, she returns and heads straight for the rope in the middle of the stage.

What followed was a captivating, sensational, edge of the seat performance that saw her climb to the top, hang, swing and fall - while on the rope.

Speech time - it's a captive and polite audience - these guys have put on a compelling, alternative and cultural program of entertainment.

I think they would get applause if they stood there insulting the audience one by one - they don't.

They thank sponsors, share funny stories and talk us through the next four days of events.

Feature time.

I resisted the urge to cheer the BBC films logo.

The film is Tamara Drewe, a Stephen Frears adaptation of the Posy Simmonds Guardian comic strip based on the Thomas Hardy novel, Far From the Madding Crowd.

This was a slightly strange choice for an opening gala performance at a festival that has previously had the documentary Man on Wire and the Werner Hertzog tale of cold people and penguins, Encounters at the End of the World.

It wasn't an awful film; in fact it was a very good film - in parts.

The characters were compelling, the soundtrack spot on, the performances perfectly engaging and Tamsin Greig captured the long suffering Beth brilliantly.

Then there were Stephen Frears shots, just simple throwaway shots you barely notice but which create laughs in their own right - like the dog waiting outside.

And Gemma Arterton..... ahhhh.

The two teenage girls carry most of the film though, putting adult language in a child's voice can go one of two ways - it can be brilliant or uncomfortable - this was brilliant.

But as a whole it felt a bit like an amazing picture, a brilliant collage with one fault - it was missing the glue.

All the parts were there but they hadn't quite been stuck together properly - however, as a couple of hours of escapism full of laughs - it was great.

So time for the Q&A, a first for Branchage, a fairly big name star in Roger Allam - fresh from a matinée performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV part one at the Globe.

Providing the Q part was Hannah Patterson, daughter of Jersey resident and thriller novelist, Harry Patterson (aka Jack Higgins).

Roger Allam is a compelling stage presence, supporting a full-bodied beard, he knows how to read and play a crowd - especially when asked to deliver a snippet of Falstaff on tap - which he does brilliantly.

Tamara Drewe was an odd choice for Branchage as an opening night film - something like Super Furry Animals star Gruff Rhys Latino-welsh comedy musical, Seperado - may have been more fitting of the 'ethos'.

But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself, I had an amazing time watching what is - despite a minor binding problem - a very good film - in parts.

And maybe opening with a film like Tamara Drewe is a sign of maturity for this boutique festival that is growing at an impressive pace, with the most challenging and compelling program to date.

A great start to what looks set to be a busy but fun weekend.

Tomorrow - I'll be live across New Jersey with Billy Jam, watching London River, Bo Ningen, The Bill Hicks Story and anything else I can fit in.