This film blew my mind. It's about the life and family of Andrea Dunbar, a playwright who died in 1990 and who wrote autobiographically about life in the Yorkshire slum, Bradford.
What was so interesting about this documentary was that it used actors lip synching to original audio recordings of the family and characters in the film to fantastic affect. This photo above is a still from the film, where scenes from the play (produced in London to great acclaim when Dunbar was just 18) were filmed while residents of the famed housing project stood by and observed. Fascinating and oh so compelling. Wow.
Questions from the audience centered on how the film was received by the family, but mostly I was interested in hearing the Director, Clio Barnard talk about her process. Everything started with 90 hours of audio recordings and since I know that people open up a lot more without a camera rolling, it makes sense that her footage becomes so transformative once an actor speaks the "lines". Barnard's fantastic cast, then wore headphones and absorbed the dialogue and speech patterns of their characters. The story starts out slowly, dragging you into this world, so that at the end, you are emotionally drained from the 90 minute experience.
I was interested to see a clip from an Alan Clarke film, "Rita, Sue and Bob, Too" that was also a play by Dunbar. Clarke is another brilliant filmmaker who I have long admired, for his work in documentary and narrative films, particularly for "Made in Britain" starring a young Tim Roth and "Christine", which I saw at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley years ago that left me with an indelible impression for it's power in showing society's degradation.
It's playing a few more times at the festival so go see it if you're able. Know it won't be getting a hugely wide release for it's difficult subject matter, but it's one to look for. I spoke to the Director after the film, complimenting her on a job well done as it really was a fine achievement. Hope it gets some recognition at the Festival.
The real Dunbar is seen in the film in BBC clips and it's haunting to see early shots of her in her career walking along with her eldest daughter as an infant and then later ones where we can see her reality of alcoholism and abuse. The cycle of her life, replicated in her children's is the message. There doesn't seem to be an escape in some places it seems.......
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