Turns a political struggle into something thrillingly personal.
Bloody funny.
A toe-tapping indie that is, quite simply lovely.
An extraordinary true tale made disappointingly ordinary.
"Why does it hurt so much?" Because the rest of it felt so real.
 |
|
|
Director: Diego Rougier “You need to write with blood.” That’s what struggling Chilean writer Sergio (Martinez) is told by his friends when they read his movie script for a Western. “You write as if you’ve never been there,” says another. The solution? Head out to the Atacama Desert and do it for himself. The problem? Everyone there keeps thinking he’s Diego. 
Last Friday saw a particularly special Prom serenade film fans at the Royal Albert Hall. No, not the awesome David Arnold-endorsed medley of movie scores with a hefty dose of John Barry, but a smaller event dedicated to another iconic composer: Mr. Ennio Morricone, as performed by the Spaghetti Western Orchestra. As you've probably already worked out, the Spaghetti Western Orchestra are a group specialising in the music of Morricone. An ensemble of five talented Australians (Boris Conley, Jess Ciampa, Graeme Leak, Shannon Birchall, and Patrick Cronin), they spent the evening recreating the composer's best work through the medium of being very silly. Pantomime costumes, gruff narration, slapstick comedy - the SWO were happy playing improvised instruments like coat hangers and asthma pumps as well as the standard mix of strings and trumpet. At one point their percussionist picked up a tree and used it to bang the drums. It was closer to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival than the Proms, and all the better for it. To give you an idea of the inspired musical nonsense, here's their rendition of Chi Mai using bottles... |
