February 17, 2004
YA in the independant
A good review of Young Adam in The Independant, one of the big UK papers.
“Perhaps it’s not entirely fair to say that the idea of art cinema is profoundly un-British. Un-English, perhaps. David Mackenzie’s Young Adam is a thoroughly Scottish film in subject and in mood; its steely poetry, and very European belief in letting images speak as much as words, can only be compared in recent British cinema with the work of another young Scottish director, Lynne Ramsay. Young Adam is based on a 1954 novel by Alexander Trocchi, the Glasgow-born writer affiliated to the Beats, whose life and work were very much a revolt against British insularity and staidness, and against Scotland itself. Suffice to say, Mackenzie’s dirty, damp, bone-chilling film is no tourist board advert for lochs and glens…”
Nice one. The film opens in America in April, and it’s nearly March. Not long to go. I’m getting a little nervous, as time marches on. I’m trying to tell everybody I can about the film, but I’m just one man with a wee blog. I’m not CBS, y’know?
Still, it’s a good movie, and with the internet being what it is, if folks like the film they’ll blog about it, and word-of-mouth will travel fast.
lynne ramsay is the shit. if young adam’s half as good as her stuff, it’s brilliant.