Salome review — trauma and incest in the Met Opera's immense Strauss
The production opens with a child Salome dismembering a doll to the sound of a music
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Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh International Film Festival reviews: Hysteria Concessions On the Sea
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hysteria ★★★★☆ Concessions ★★☆☆☆ On the Sea ★★☆☆☆ In Transit ★★★☆☆ Receiving its UK premiere at this year's EIFF, the provocative new German film Hysteria kicks off like a horror movie, specifically a found footage movie, even more specifically a Paranormal Activity film. There are static night vision cameras, sleeping inhabitants and malevolent intruders, only the intruders aren't spirits and the footage isn't trying to elicit jump scares. Instead it's security footage of a racist attack on a family of Turkish immigrants unaware of the fire burning white through the frame as they sleep. Except it's not that either. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As we cut to an exterior shot of a burning set we realise it's a recreation of the aforementioned atrocity for a movie based on a real arson attack that took place in Germany in 1993. Hysteria | Edinburgh International Film Festival It's an intriguingly slippery way to start — and indicative of Hysteria's modus operandi as German writer/director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay uses the behind-the-scenes conceit to make a film about the racial problems in his home country that also explores the complexities and ethics of making films that allow arthouse audiences to feel better about themselves for engaging with these themes from a safe distance. The catalyst for all this is the revelation that an actual copy of the Quran has been burned up during the filming of the aforementioned arson attack, an act of desecration that offends the Muslim extras that the film-within-the-film's Turkish-German director Yigit (Serkan Kaya) has hired to boost his project's authenticity. Whether this was a prop gaff or a deliberately incendiary move on Yigit's part to elicit the performances he's after is never disclosed, but the fall-out takes on a strange thriller dimension of its own when the footage of the scene subsequently goes missing after the production's lowly intern Elif (Devrim Lingnau) is tasked with looking after it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Büyükatalay keeps the focus on Elif initially, drawing us into her sense of panic and ratcheting up the tension as she loses the keys to Yigit's apartment en route to storing the footage, and then tries to cover up her mistake only to find herself stalked by a stranger who may or may not have some connection to the movie. The film uses this creeping sense of dread to tease out its larger thematic ideas, particularly as we start to learn more about Elif's own background as the white-passing daughter of a Turkish immigrant. But just as you're starting to get a handle on it, Büyükatalay switches gears again, letting the film veer into whodunnit territory with an extended, grimly ironic confrontation scene that may make slightly heavy satirical work of tying everything together, but also cleverly acknowledges the value and limitations of filmmaking when it comes to addressing hot-button issues. Sadly, the limitations of films about films are unintentionally exposed in another festival title, Concessions, which had its world premiere over the weekend and is one of ten films competing for the Sean Connery Prize for Filmmaking Excellence. It's notable mainly, if at all, as the last film of the late Michael Madsen, the Quentin Tarantino regular who broke through in Reservoir Dogs. Here Madsen plays a very Tarantino-lite character, that of a fading Hollywood stunt double called Rex Fuel, who shows up to see a movie he's worked on at a scheduled-for-closure independent cinema on its final day of business. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Madsen enters the film in a scene lifted directly from Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which ends up being less an act of homage than indicative of the depressing reality that this once-mighty actor should have to bow out with a groaning cameo in a fan-boyish movie devoid of a single original idea. The film isn't really a Tarantino knock off, though, and, despite its setting, nor is it really a riff on Peter Bogdanovich's New Hollywood Classic The Last Picture Show. Instead it's a Kevin Smith tribute, with the plot, structure, character types, story arcs, pop-culture diatribes about Star Wars, even the rhythms and intonations in the actors' line readings mimicking Smith's breakthrough movie Clerks so slavishly you start to wonder why Concessions' 23-year-old writer/director Mas Bouzidi didn't just use AI and be done with it. It's certainly odd that he'd want to subsume his own voice so completely so early in his career — and the film's pandering celebration of the power of the big screen experience in the age of streaming would have been more convincing if it had offered up something new. Fellow competition nominee On the Sea is also disappointing, a kind of glum, queer-themed unrequited love story that puts a May-December spin on Brokeback Mountain in its regressive plot about a closeted, middle-aged Welsh mussel picker (Barry Ward) who falls for a young, itinerant deckhand (Lorne MacFadyen) in a small village in Anglesey. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Novelist-turned-filmmaker Helen Walsh's sophomore feature isn't quite clear about when it's set; nobody seems to have a smart phone, or even a mobile, but there's nothing that specifically dates it to a late 20th century setting beyond the uproar homosexuality seems to inspire among the locals and Walsh's own groaningly obvious juxtaposition of her repressed protagonist hitting a local cruising spot in one scene and then listening to a church sermon about sin (with his wife and son in tow) in the next. She also piles on the misery, giving Ward's already tormented Jack a terminal illness diagnosis to add to the tragedy of being gay in a dated movie that doesn't seem to realise God's Own Country, Weekend, Passages and All of Us Strangers have shifted the needle in terms of the range and types of stories gay characters can front. A better version of this story is to be found in yet another competition entry, In Transit, an American indie about an unsure-of-herself 20-something who forms a curious bond with a older, successful female painter who's visiting her sleepy rural Maine hometown on an artist's retreat. Though it's pretty clear the direction their charged relationship is going to take from the moment Jennifer Ehle's Ilse asks Alex Sarrigeorgiou's soon-to-be-unemployed barmaid Lucy to pose for her, the film — which is directed by Jaclyn Bethany from script by Sarrigeorgiou — uses the artist/muse dynamic to subtly explore the rut both women have fallen in a realistic way without resorting to life-or-death melodrama. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edinburgh International Film Festival runs until 20 August. For more information and tickets visit:
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Fringe theatre reviews: Refuse The Players of Diadon + more
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Refuse ★★★★ Assembly George Square Studios (Venue 17) until 25 August You can tell a lot about people by what they throw away. So says Maks, a binman in a Ukrainian town. He seems content with his lot, with his wife Valentyna and their young son Andrej, and with his community, the characters he meets as he empties bins. And then there's Yelena, the lonely trophy wife who waits for him at the end of his round. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But just as Maks is negotiating the complexities of his personal life, Russia is building up troops on the borders of Ukraine. Ordinary life itself appears to be under threat; people pack emergency backpacks and talk about escape plans. Suddenly, everyone is facing tough decisions and Maks' love triangle is the least of his worries. Refuse | Ian McIlgorm Lucy McIlgorm's lively, heart-warming three-hander has an excellent central performance by Ukrainian actor Vasyl Sydorko as Maks. McIlgorm herself and Maria Shtofa complement him very ably, playing all the other characters, and Anastazie Toros' production is full of clever staging ideas. There is something of an awkward shift in tone about halfway through when the threat of invasion is introduced into what has felt like gentle observational comedy; perhaps it should have been foreshadowed more from the beginning? But the play captures well the way which ordinary Ukrainians struggled to continue with their lives under the shadow of an invasion which seemed increasingly inevitable. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When, in the final section of the play, the invasion does arrive, the devastation is palpable. Now, everything is about the fundamentals of life and death. These are ambitious shifts within an hour-long play which starts as a comedy and ends up revealing the ways in which the worst of times can call out the best in ordinary people. Susan Mansfield Tilly No-Body ★★★ Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower (Venue 140) until 24 August The name of Frank Wedekind, German playwright, actor and director best known for Spring Awakening and erstwhile teacher of Brecht, is well-known. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Less so Tilly Wedekind, his wife, and the actress who embodied many of his most important roles. Or, as she styled herself, Tilly Niemann - Tilly Nobody. Writer and performer Bella Merlin seeks to rescue Tilly from the shadows in this colourful play directed by her husband Miles Anderson. The story unfolds in a set which draws on the circus (a popular Wedekind motif). Wedekind was 22 years Tilly's senior and was - in today's language - controlling and abusive. She lost her sense of herself and attempted suicide. 'Where do your words end and mine begin?' she asks. The disjointed narrative spills from Tilly's mind as she blurs the boundaries between herself and the characters she plays. Yet, she never stops loving Wedekind; in all her conversations, he is the imaginary addressee. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Performed by Merlin with precision and pathos - and with a range of songs - it's not an easy show to watch, a reminder of how women can often be the ones to pay the costs for the careers of great men. Susan Mansfield The Players of Diadon ★★★ Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24) until 25 August In an unnamed fantasy world, seven amateur actors prepare to stage a play for the great and merciless King Diadon, a well-thumbed account of his incredible and unlikely triumphs over the years. Aside from new member Rick, Mr Porridge's troupe knows this story well, because a rotating cast have been performing it every night for the past fifty years. Except now, with over 18,000 performances to the Players' name and counting, King Diadon has announced he's bored, and that he wants to hear them make up a new story. Failure to please the King, portrayed here as an impatient disembodied voice, inevitably leads to a head-severing situation, so with this pressure looming over them the (fictional) cast's meagre improvisational skills are put to a severe test. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The sense of jeopardy in Ellis Green's play is diluted somewhat by the contrived fantastical setting, although the world-building is effective enough to get the point across and get us rooting for the group. What's most enjoyable about the piece, however, is the collection of fine performances director William Homer coaxes from the seven-strong cast, with particular standouts in Matt Wake and Jessica Enemokwu's feuding prima donnas Calvin and Camille, and Tijan Sarr's Polonius, the elderly poet who knows the Oz-like truth behind Diadon's life. Green also writes brisk dialogue full of satisfying interplay, with just a hint of satire on the real-life theatre world. David Pollock Timestamp ★★ Dovecot Studios (Venue 198) until 24 August What kind of expectations might be getting in the way of you feeling at ease or fully yourself? This is the question that organises Timestamp, a work that uses live sound, movement, and artmaking to explore one's experience of personhood. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Photographs of historical, inspirational figures flash in a moving gallery behind, and the audience can add to this for future performances. The script and movement sequences, however, are meandering and only semi-impactful in comparison to the drawings that are chalked onto the stage, relayed via video projection, and washed away in a small but significant ritual. Josephine Balfour-Oatts Going ★★ theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) until 23 August The lives of two passengers intertwine in Going, a play set on a London train that comes to a halt on the longest, hottest day of the year. Inspired by the works of Anton Chekov, Going contains themes of existentialism and climate consciousness, and the two characters – who apparently have nothing in common – swing between states of nihilism, cynicism, realism, and optimism. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The actors do well with the story that connects them, which is unfortunately both predictable and stereotypical. Scenes featuring high emotion and anxiety regarding the climate crisis are stimulating, however, holding the focus, and enriching the overarching narrative. Josephine Balfour-Oatts Elon Musk: Lost in Space ★★ theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall (Venue 53) until 23 August This misfiring comedy by David Morley starts brightly enough with Ben Whitehead successfully evoking — rather than imitating — Tesla's tiresome tech bro; high fiving the audience and enthusing about retro video games. However, what little plot this has is all in the title. Elon has little to do on his way to Mars other than field calls from a none-too-convincing Donald Trump and others. His only companions are a stray fly and Sarah Lawrie as the convincingly robotic, 'Mother' — a clear nod to Psycho, but if anything this is content to gently rib its subject rather than go for the jugular. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Shorn of 30 minutes this might make a halfway promising sitcom pilot, but Lawrie's android is the only character you'd look forward to seeing again. Rory Ford
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Love Island star Boris' unexpected connection to Man United football player revealed
Emma revealed where she stands with Boris now Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LOVE Island star Boris Vidovic has a surprise connection to a famous Manchester United football player. The Casa Amor star, 28 initially struck up a romance with Billykiss Azeez before moving on to Emma Munro. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Love Island's Boris is not the only family member in the spotlight Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 His sister Anita Vidovic is in a relationship with Manchester United star Benjamin Sesko Credit: Instagram @benjaminsesko 4 The towering striker has moved from German club RB Leipzig Credit: Getty But he and Emma were then dumped from the villa after the public voted them the least compatible couple. But Boris is not the only one in the spotlight. His stunning sister Anita Vidovic, 27, is a model and TikTok influencer and she's in a relationship with Slovenian footie star Benjamin Sesko, 22. The towering striker has moved from German club RB Leipzig. Anita has become a regular fixture in the stands since they started dating in 2022, often seen proudly sporting her man's jersey. The couple frequently share adorable snippets of their life online, including cosy date nights, holiday getaways, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of their relationship. Shortly after leaving the villa, Emma took a swipe at producers - as she revealed the fate of her romance with co-star Boris. The Casa bombshell left ex-boyfriend Harry Cooksley stunned upon arriving in the villa. Speaking to Maya Jama on Aftersun, Emma said: "I'm disappointed the viewers didn't get to see our story play out and I'm disappointed we didn't get more airtime". Meanwhile, she also revealed what the future holds for her and villa partner Boris. Emma takes HUGE dig at Love Island producers as she reveals fate of romance with Boris Emma said: "It's hard to date someone when they live in a different country. But I love Boris." At the finale, Emma and Boris admitted they weren't going to pursue a romantic relationship but were still enjoyed a flirty friendship. Viewers saw Harry's stunned reaction to Emma's Love Island entrance - as he could be heard saying: "Oh my god, it's my ex." It comes as Emma previously denied having gone on Love Island to win Harry back. Addressing fan speculation after leaving the villa, she said: "It's very easy when you've been with someone a long time, to fall back into that spot where you're comfortable. "When we were flirty it felt like everything was good and perfect, but then I very quickly snapped out of it when I saw his behaviour." She added: "I had to keep reminding myself that those were the same behaviours why I left in the first place and why I don't want to go back there." Emma also addressed fan theories of her and Harry having a "secret game plan" to win the show's £50,000 prize. She said: "I think they've just been proved wrong because he's still in there and I've now left the Villa so that definitely wasn't the game plan. "We hadn't spoken, I can confirm that is just a rumour."
