Francine Stock and star guests on the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV. Friday 4.30pm - 5pm
This week
Friday 20th October 2006
Paul McGann on his roles in Gypo and Withnail and I; Roger Graef on the father of documentary, Robert Flaherty; and the Battle of the Somme on film.
On The Film Programme this week:
Paul McGann Chris Tookey talks to Paul McGann about his role in Gypo, a mainly improvised drama set among the refugee communities of Margate. He talks about the unusual demands of shooting under the regulations of Dogme, and looks back at his most famous film, Withnail and I, twenty years after it was made.
Gypo (15) is out now. Dogme 95 and British film In 1995 a group of European directors founded Dogme 95, an organisation looking for a return to more naturalistic means of storytelling. Their "Vow of Chastity" was a set of stylistic rules to which filmmakers should adhere. British directors were a big influence on the group, yet it's taken a decade for a British Dogme film (Gypo) to appear. Richard Kelly, author of the first book on Dogme, joins Chris Tookey to discuss why.
The Battle of the Somme In 1916 two cameramen were allowed access to the British forces preparing for the offensive in Northern France. The footage they shot both before and during the Battle of the Somme was widely shown inn August, while the battle was still raging, and seen by approximately half the British population. As a digitally remastered print is screened to mark the battle's sixtieth anniversary, Chris talks to David Walsh of the Imperial War Museum about the film and its impact.
The Battle of the Somme will be shown at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on Sunday 22nd October.
Man of Aran Chris is joined by documentary maker Roger Graef to discuss Man of Aran, one of documentary pioneer Robert Flaherty's masterpieces. An atmospheric evocation of the difficult lives of an island community off the West coast of Ireland, the film is notable for outstanding cinematography and a questionable attitude to historical accuracy.
