Saturday night at the movies with Kate

[nbc@inf.rl.ac.uk]

I have just got back from the premiere of Kate's film The Line, The Cross
and The Curve at the Odeon Leicester Square as part of the London Film
Festival. Kate was there (along with Miranda Richardson) just sitting in the
middle of the cinema - although I was quite close to her - I was to the side
so I am not sure who was with her. Before Kate's film was a short claymation
film
by Nick Park called The Wrong Trousers. This was very inventive and very funny
and received a great ovation from the crowd. After Nick had said a few
words to the audience Kate was invited up to the front just before
the start of her film and said a few words to introduce the film.  She thanked
all
the people who had helped her, said she was a bit nervous as it was her first
film, and said that the previous film was a hard act to follow.


After a standing ovation at the end of the film she was ushered through the 
crowd by the cinema staff without saying anything else.

The film was highly enjoyable though from a cinematic point of view it is
unlikely
to win any oscars. Having said that, it was definitely more than just a few
pop videos slung together. Miranda Richardson and Lindsay Kemp were excellent
but I have to admit that Kate does not really succeed as an actress. Her
singing
and dancing in the film were excellent and even her voice over bits were fine,
but
speaking to camera she shows her inexperience at acting.

The film begins with Kate and the dancer Stewart Arnold rehearsing in a studio
while the band plays Rubberband Girl. At the end of the song there is a power
cut and as the others leave Kate lights a candle and sings And So is Love
catching a bird that has flown into the studio. At the end of the song a
mysterious
woman appears throught the large mirror at the end of the studio. Her hands are
bandaged and on her feet are a pair of red shoes. The woman begs Kate's help in
returning to the other side. Because of her bandaged hands she asks Kate to
draw
three symbols - a line, a cross and a curve. Doing this, Kate unwittingly
hands over her soul and the woman then offers Kate the red shoes. 

Once the shoes are on Kate's feet she begins dancing and The Red Shoes is
played with
Richardson miming to the song. As the woman passes through the mirror, the red
shoes
take Kate there as well. At the end of the song the shoes continue to dance
and Kate begs for help. A guide (Kemp) comes to her and as Kate pleads for him
to cut
off the shoes he tells her that the only way to break the spell is to sing back
the
symbols. Kate is taken to see the healer Lily (herself) who tells her what
she must do as the song Lily begins. At the end of the song Lily tells Kate
that she can get help from ones she has loved. Kate sings Moments of Pleasure
and we see 
figures representing people in the song float past her.

The woman (Richardson) reappears and tells Kate that she will never break the
spell. But Kate senses that the woman is afraid of her and trys to get back the
pieces
of paper that the woman still has. Kate chases the woman and they pass through
a room where the floor is covered in fruit. Eat the Music plays as a group of
carribean
women appear carrying the symbols. At the end of the song Richardson is hurled
into the mirror which breaks and initially water pours through but then fires
start. The guide urges Kate to pass back before it is too late. Kate passes
back to her side as the power is restored in the studio.

The film contained many brilliant visual moments though there were a few old
chestnuts like the wave effects produced with a wind machine and billowing
material. I particularly like the fruit in Eat the Music, many of the scenes on
the
"other side" were very effective. The Moments of Pleasure scene was initally
very reminiscent of Don't Give Up without Gabrielwith just Kate spinning
round but developed more towards the end. The film made good use of colour
imagery (including white for Lily's scene) and did not go over the top with
special effects. There were a couple of occassions when the audience laughed
when I suspect Kate did not have that intention. In particular, the scene where
the shoes start thrashing Kate's legs about in all directions caused a few
titters.
This was because it was Kate's top half sticking out of the floor and someone
else's bottom half sticking up through the floor waving their legs about
frantically
(either that or Kate is a contortionist!). Most of the time though I thought
Kate
did a very good job of directing.

For me the combination of the music and the visuals was a tremendous experience
and hearing the music in this way certainly emphasised what a truely great
album The Red Shoes is. Every song came over tremendously powerfully. And that
includes Eat the Music which is fantastic. Buy the video when it comes out.

It will be interesting to see what other people thought - I looked out for
anyone
I might recognise from the last convention but did not spot anyone though I am
sure the Homeground crew must have been there somewhere.

Neil

P.S. Kate looked great

P.P.S. She really is!