Glasgow Film Fest Review: The Forest

---

Published by The Strathclyde Telegraph.

In typical horror films, the daylight offers a safe haven, free from scares and frights and bumps in the night. The Forest, however, set in the real life Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mount Fuji, famously known as Japan’s ‘suicide forest’, manages to make the natural, the sublime, and even the harmless, terrifying.

Director Jason Zada creates a world in The Forest with its own amplified pulse; a world that throbs with its own presence from every flicker of movement in a blade of grass to every creak of twigs snapping under hiking boots. With stunning, crisp cinematography and micro close-ups of the fine details of the forest, suddenly even canopies and snails take on an all new sinister and threatening persona.

Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) stars primarily as Sara Price, an American woman, and as her complicated, troublemaking identical twin sister Jess, who Sara has been bailing out and protecting since they were little girls living with grandma. Straddling the line between supernatural horror and psychological thriller, The Forest follows Sara as she journeys across the world to Japan where Jess was last seen before she went missing.

Warned by the locals to ‘never leave the path’, Sara hires Aiden (Taylor Kinney), an American journalist living in Japan, and park guide Michi to accompany her into Aokigahara to find her sister, who she can feel and ‘hear’ is still alive.

Throughout the film, we are given many classic foreboding horror movie hints that Sara isn’t making sensible decisions: from her disregard of Michi’s advice that she shouldn’t go into the forest because she has a ‘sadness inside her’ which the legendary forest feeds on and ‘makes you see bad things’, to her refusal to leave the forest as night falls when they find Jess’s distinctive yellow tent, filled with her belongings, deep within the forest.

As the plot progresses, Sara becomes more detached from the world outside Aokigahara; she falls for the beautifully haunting forest’s irrevocable hypnotism, cabin fever sets in, and the line between reality and fantasy blurs. Convinced that Aiden has kidnapped her sister and plans to kill them both – a seed of doubt that leaves the audience, too, unsure if Aiden is to be trusted – and without help from Michi, Sara’s quest to find her sister becomes an obsession as the forest curls around her ankles, grips onto her legs and – quite literally – pulls her under.

The concept behind The Forest is fascinating and enthralling from the outset, and the addition of the real life macabre, ritualistic destination for the suicidal only adds to the drama and potency of the film. I did jump, gasp, and get ‘the creeps’ from this film. But, like many horrors before, The Forest, too, is touched with traces of the exaggerated and the implausible. I was able to sleep after seeing The Forest, but not quite as easily as usual.

★★★

What do you think about The Forest? Let me know in the comment section below.

How Copyright Law is Failing Artists and Creatives

---

Published by The Strathclyde Telegraph.

It’s no secret that having a career in the arts can be difficult and competitive work, especially when copyright law continually fails to protect creatives and their property. One artist who knows this all too well is Mark Wardel, who was astonished to see his photograph of one of his custom-made David Bowie masks on the cover of Shortlist magazine’s January 2016 issue as a tribute to the late musician.

hey @ShortList that’s my photograph of my mask you’ve used…looks great but it’s copyright infringement! pic.twitter.com/Is9DdQAOgp

— Mark Wardel (@TradeMarkArt) January 20, 2016

Wardel told me: ‘I was totally shocked to see a picture I had taken in my studio with my iPhone on a magazine cover.’

Wardel said that Splash PR Agency approached him last March to enquire if they could syndicate the story about David Bowie buying Wardel’s masks. But when the project didn’t go ahead, Wardel heard no more from the agency.

Wardel added: ‘Somehow, without me being aware, my images got passed on to Corbis Images, where Shortlist and others, including Glamour Italy, bought and published them without crediting me.’

‘I do think it is was genuine mistake, and that Corbis Images were unaware that I hadn’t given permission. However, after speaking with a copyright lawyer, it seems that things are weighted very much in favour of big companies who know that, if challenged, they can offer the artist the fee they would have received anyway, and that any legal action would be expensive for an artist. There needs to be some standard practice for artists who find themselves in these situations. The legal aspects seem uncertain to say the least.’

Shortlist are now taking steps to rectify this mistake, and plan to run a feature on Wardel’s work next issue.

Unfortunately, these type of situations seem to be becoming commonplace, as last year artist Danny Quirk found out that his medical illustrations were posted online by Madonna, with her face pasted onto his artwork. As Quirk hadn’t given permission for his work to be used by the popstar, he initiated legal proceedings. But, sadly, as Quirk’s work had been edited by collage artist BessNYC4, the art was considered ‘transformative’ under the Fair Use doctrine and, therefore, was legally allowed to be used without any recognition awarded to Quirk.

While large companies and media labels have teams of lawyers with expertise on copyright infringement, even established creatives largely work alone without extended legal knowledge or aid. And, sadly, it seems that many are willing to take advantage.

Ironically, the companies who use creative works without permission are in a comfortable position to pay for said property. Yet creatives – who have a much harder time making the money they deserve and usually have to do a lot of unpaid work – would most likely be happy to work with large enterprises if they were transparent with their intentions, recognised the artist, and gave them a fair fee.

While copyright law continues to fail artists, it seems that large organisations will continue to take advantage until those in the arts take steps to educate themselves, spread the word, and stand up to those who plagiarise the work created by talented and often underappreciated artists.

What do you think of cases like Wardel and Quirk’s? Let me know in the comment section below.

moon child // ‘Sonder’ Published by Quotidian Literary Magazine

---

I’m so excited to have my short story ‘Sonder’ (definition: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own…) published online by Quotidian literary magazine!

I had a lot of fun writing this piece as it is quite different from the kind of fiction I usually write (horror, absurdist, fantasy, historical fiction, sci-fi etc.), but I wrote this piece especially to fit the magazine’s theme of quotidian – ‘the everyday’ – and it looks like it’s paid off! (I would really recommend getting to know a publication really well and reading what they’ve published previously to get an idea of the sort of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction they’re looking for. It helps a lot!) The story is only around 1,000 words – a nice quick read – so if you have a few minutes to spare, please do have a nosy!

Here is an extract from ‘Sonder’:

The subway rolled into the dingy platform, glowing peach and bringing with it a gust of city air that made everyone’s hair fly above their heads. I jumped on, settling down on a lumpy seat in the middle of the carriage.

As the train rumbled into the tunnel – shoving me into the elbows of the old man in the next seat – I stuffed the ticket into my jacket pocket and tried to get my breath back. My stomach was in knots, and for good reason: I was going on a blind date.

It’s a bit of a long story. But after my 24th birthday, I’d given in to societal pressure – and when I say ‘societal’, I mean my grandmother who had ‘two bairns n’ wan mare oan thu way’ when she was my age…

Click here to read the full version of my short story ‘Sonder’ exclusively on the Quotidian website.

You can follow Quotidian on Facebook and Twitter.

What did you think of ‘Sonder’? Let me know in the comment section below.

Image courtesy of Quotidian editor Melissa Reid. You can find her blog here.

Film Review: Victor Frankenstein

---

Published by The Strathclyde Telegraph.

Victor Frankenstein is an outlandish and, at times, implausible but thoroughly enjoyable twist on the legendary tale of the man who created a monster. With a rather exaggerated but electrified performance from James McAvoy as Doctor Victor Frankenstein, and Daniel Radcliffe as obedient side-kick Igor, this film tells the story of the man people often forget: the doctor himself.

The narrative of the story is driven by Igor who we find as a hunchback circus clown with an improbably wide knowledge on medical science. The film is very much centred on Victor through the eyes of Igor who narrates throughout – an appropriate choice considering that Shelley’s novel also has a framed narrative.

As the doctor arrives at the circus on the prowl for animals to steal and experiment on (he even creates a terrifyingly dangerous chimp-human hybrid), he stumbles across Igor who miraculously resets the broken collar bone of a fallen trapeze artist. Realising Igor’s talents, the doctor decides to free this circus-hunchback-turned-impromptu-physician to be his accomplice.

Throughout the film, Igor makes several references to the Frankenstein legend: ‘You know the story, a mad genius, an unholy creation’. And while critics have slammed the film’s technical flaws and McAvoy’s crazed performance (mirroring his portrayal of Bruce Robertson in Filth), it is in this spirit of subtext and nods to the viewer that creates an almost satirical, self-aware, fresh adaptation of one of the most adapted stories ever told.

It may not beat Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – the acclaimed 1994 adaptation – but overall, with visual spectaculars, and authentic, rustic costume and set that drops the audience in the heart of 18^th century London during a time of unthinkable progress and religious anxiety, Victor Frankenstein is a messy creation much like the original monster himself; with skin barely and clumsily covering the workings of the body underneath. But at its heart, we can still see goodness.

★★★

 

What did you think of Victor Frankenstein? Let me know in the comment section below.

 

Why I Love Glasgow: Anti-Rape Protest at George Square

---

Published by The Huffington Post.

I could probably list a hundred reasons why I love Glasgow, with everything from the culture, music, architecture, nightlife, and countless restaurants, to buskers and bagpipers on Buchanan Street, the Clyde, the Duke of Wellington with his ever-stylish traffic cone hat, and, of course, the people of Glasgow themselves.

One thing, however, that might just surpass everything else on this long list is Glasgow’s progressive attitude. When it comes to social issues – whether it be politics, the refugee crisis, homophobia, racism, xenophobia and everything in between – Glaswegians never shy away from making their views known, and continuously step up to champion worthy causes, and to defend groups facing unlawful persecution.

So, it was no surprise to see such a huge public reaction from Glasgow, Edinburgh and further throughout the country when controversial pro-rape pick-up artist known as Roosh V planned neo-masculinist meetings in Glasgow and Edinburgh in an attempt to spread his militant misogynistic views in Scotland. But after tens of thousands signed petitions against the meet-ups for heterosexual men only and Roosh V received more backlash from Glasgow than ‘anywhere else combined’, the rape advocate was forced to cancel the events as he was no longer able to guarantee safety for his supporters.

As a side note: amongst many other, shall we say, ‘negative personality traits’, it also seems that Roosh V is irony impaired considering that he couldn’t see anything strange about worrying over non-consensual violence against his supporters, while, paradoxically, advocating for the private legalisation of non-consensual sexual violence against women. Apparently, he doesn’t seem to see how he is undermining his own argument.

Following the cancellation of said meetings where Roosh V was not anticipated to attend in person but through a video-chat instead, many started to speculate that the announcement was, in fact, a false publicity stunt designed to make the protesters think they had won while secretly allowing the meet-ups to go ahead. These suspicions were quashed, however, on Saturday, February 6 (the day that the Glasgow event was scheduled to take place), when Glasgow’s famous George Square, affectionately nicknamed ‘Freedom Square‘, played host to an anti-rape protest that spread throughout the city centre.

Marching on Sauchiehall Street now #glasgow4equality #glasgowkiss pic.twitter.com/0ARAjVKcEn

— Jon Brady (@jonbradyphoto) February 6, 2016

Quickly generating the #glasgow4equality hashtag on Twitter, protestors held signs branded with the messages including: ‘Scotland for gender equality’, ‘Try picking up some ethics’, ‘Men are not predators, women are not prey’, ‘No means no’, and more. Many also captured videos and images of the demonstrators who peacefully marched through Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street to stand up for women’s rights, protest against misogyny, rape, and gender inequality, and to show that Scotland will never support or condone views that objectify and disrespect women.

Many have argued that writing, reading, tweeting and talking about Roosh V merely plays into the militant misogynist’s hands as it provides him with free publicity and a wider reach. While I agree that Roosh V, as an individual, should not necessarily receive media coverage or online exposure, I think that allowing him and his supporters to spout their poisonous and backwards views would only condone their damaging, sexist behaviour.

Glasgow’s reaction to this story is not merely about one man. The backlash created by the people of Glasgow – and throughout Scotland – is about supporting gender equality and the significance of consent, refusing to condone rape advocates, and tackling the larger issues of rape culture and societal sexism.

While people like Roosh V continue to spread their dangerous anti-feminist views, the people of Glasgow will continue to take a stand.

What do you think of Roosh V and Glasgow’s reaction to him? Let me know in the comment section below.

Follow Sophie McNaughton on Twitter: www.twitter.com/__soooophie

moon child // Burns Window Project

---

In commemoration of Scottish poet Robert Burns and in celebration of Burns Night (January 25th), The Globe Inn in Dumfries, said to be Burns favourite pub, held their annual Burns Window Project last month.

To take part in the project, Burns fans and poets were asked to write their entry on white paper with a black marker, scan their poem and email it in, or post it to The Globe Inn. The poems were then transferred onto cellophane and placed in the window panes of the pub – some visible from inside, some visible from outside – for punters to read during the Burns festival.

---

Sadly, some of the submissions had faded a little bit by the time I went to see them, but I did manage to get a copy of this picture of my entry before the condensation melted it away. Here is my poem, ‘Glaze’:

Glaze

Could I float into the pane? Would I melt

into the glass? Would it bubble, blubber

and break; crumble into fine ash,

or speckles of sucrose sand in my palms?

Or stay crystal, tangible, and tap-tap-tapable?

 

Painted with kaleidoscopic hues in the day,

filled with filigree shadow ghosts by dark –

it is liquid, gas, and solid in one.

 

I see your reversed image, my distorted

reflection at one, but split, sliced apart.

Two delicate wisps of marble caught, frozen,

between the beaded glaze.

 

Mirror, water, looking glass? I can hardly tell,

never mind bear to meet its gaze.

---

I loved the idea of the Window Project because I think melding the worlds of literature and physical art is a really interesting concept, so having poems in windows – as if they had been physically scribbled onto the pane – is something I immediately liked the sound of. If you know of any other projects similar to this that mixes contemporary literature/poetry with art, let me know in the comment section below.

The poems will be on display at The Globe Inn until February 20th.

What do you think of the Burns Window Project, and ‘Glaze’? Let me know in the comment section below!

Theatre Review: Beckett’s Endgame at Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

---

Published by the Strathclyde Telegraph.

‘There’s something dripping in my head. A heart. A heart in my head.’

The stage for the opening night of Endgame at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre is set with muted, washed out hues – mirroring the colour gradually draining from the play’s enigmatic characters. And looking down at the stage, its convex shape exaggerated from our high seats, the set is softly lit with a hazy grey spotlight.

Endgame consists of a bare room with a wooden floor, two murky green windows, one door leading off stage, a painting on the wall, Clov standing in the corner and his blind and crippled father Hamm sitting in a wheeled-armchair, and two dustbins, which are home to old legless Nagg and Nell. And when I say ‘legless’, I don’t mean they’ve had one too many drinks and ‘needed put in the bin’. I mean literally legless. And so, the stage is set, like the inside of a hollow skull, and Beckett’s one-act tragicomedy begins with Clov’s ironic opening line: ‘Finished, it’s finished’.

Directed by Dominic Hill, this renewed interpretation of Beckett’s modern classic sees David Neilson (Roy Cropper) as Hamm, and Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow) as Clov. The duo, most commonly known from the cobbles of Coronation Street, adapt into Beckett’s absurdist and morbid alternative reality with ease. Gascoyne, known for being the Corrie bad boy, effortlessly morphs into a hunched over, stiff, pained Clov who laboriously hobbles around after the father he loathes but, for some reason, can’t bring himself to leave. Similarly, Neilson, who we know as Corrie’s incomparably sweet and gentle cafe-owner, embodies the character of the snarling, cruel and commanding, yet helpless, Hamm like he was the character Neilson was born to play.

With theatre and TV actor Peter Kelly, and Barbara Rafferty (Ella from Rab C Nesbitt) as the macabre but borderline adorable Nagg and Nell, Endgame comes to life (or perhaps ‘death’ would be a more appropriate word) as the festering couple with sore stumps where their legs used to be talk about over-told funny stories that don’t make them laugh anymore, try to kiss but can never reach each other over the rim of their dustbins, and, surprisingly, give the audience many sadistic but thorough laughs before they crumple into their squalid bins to die.

The existential, self-reflective, receding circular (lack of) plot of Beckett’s post-modern masterpiece has kept audiences confused, disturbed, entertained and gripped for decades, with its momentum showing no signs of letting up. Many literary critics have tried to decode Beckett’s cryptic work, with some interpreting it as a tale of deterioration and death in the form of a chess game as the title suggests, and others arguing that the characters in fact represent the dying cells of a demented brain. The answer to Beckett’s obscure formula is yet to be found, but the mystery only seems to be bringing more punters to the box office, and the play’s cult following is continually growing.

Hill’s fresh adaptation of the play is funnier, better paced, more thoughtful, and strangely beautiful compared to previous interpretations. While the classic grim play finds light in the dark and inspires numerous belly laughs, Endgame has also left this Glasgow audience with an overthinking-induced sore head as well as a sore heart.

What do you think of Endgame? Let me know in the comment section below.