Tusind sole

Tusind sole er en filmvisningsrække i København. Hver måned præsenterer vi én international premierefilm og ét genopdaget historisk værk, der på forskellig vis udvider filmmediets mulighedsrum og vores fælleshorisont.

Billetpris: 50 kroner (medmindre andet er angivet).

Tilmeld nyhedsbrev

nightshift

Robina Rose
1981
68 min.
England
Digital
Engelsk tale

En nyrestaureret og genopdaget punkfilm om en hotelreceptionists natarbejde og de sjæle, der befolker hotellet. Vises i kælderbiografen Posthus Teatret, der er lige så enigmatisk som hotellet på lærredet.

Tiden strækker sig i flere retninger i Robina Roses Nightshift. Punkikonet Jordan spiller en hotelreceptionist, der i løbet af en enkelt nattevagt veksler mellem at udføre rutineopgaver og iagttage de divaer, punks, rastafarier og gentlemen, som vader ind og ud af lobbyen med hver deres energi og luner. Filmen er et lille, eksplosivt værk, der viser, hvordan forskellige filmiske sensibiliteter (formalistisk stringens, deadpan-komik, drømmeagtige fantasier, rock’n’roll og betragtninger over kvinders natarbejde) sagtens kan sameksistere – som var de gæster på et hotel med hver deres værelse.

Nightshift blev indspillet over fem nætter på Portobello Hotel i det vestlige London. Blandt de medvirkende er digteren og skuespilleren Heathcote Williams samt eksperimentalfilmskaberen Anne Rees-Mogg. Den amerikanske formalist Jon Jost var fotograf på filmen, og det sfæriske soundtrack blev komponeret af Simon Jeffes fra Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Filmen havde premiere på Edinburgh Film Festival i 1981, men i modsætning til flere samtidige værker, som den åndeligt er beslægtet med – f.eks. Chantal Akermans Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), Marie-Claude Treilhous Simone Barbès or Virtue (1980) og Bette Gordons Variety (1983) – har Roses film været længere tid om at nå ud til et bredere publikum. Men takket være et enestående restaureringsarbejde er filmen nu endelig tilgængelig og fortjener samme grad af genopdagelse som sine åndsfæller.

Robina Rose blev født i 1951 af danske og tyske forældre og voksede op i Notting Hill i London. Som ung arbejdede hun som filmoperatør, og i 1977 dimitterede hun fra Royal College of Art. Med et stipendium fra the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) flyttede hun til Berlin, hvor hun boede op gennem 1980’erne. Da hun flyttede tilbage til England, arbejdede hun for BBC’s Community Programme Unit. Robina Rose døde den 26. januar 2025.

Præsenteres i samarbejde med Posthus Teatret
Kopi: Cinenova

“The World Doesn’t Know Shinji Somai”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2023

“The world doesn’t know Shinji Somai”. That was the catchphrase coming with the book Yomigaeru Somai Shinji (Shinji Somai Renaissance) published in 2011, 10 years after the director’s death. Now that 10 years has passed again, does the world finally met Shinji Somai? Yes and no. Of course, several retrospectives of his films have been organized in festivals, where he found a new audience. He is still far from achieving the widespread recognition that all Somai lovers feel is his due. This is a thing that I’ve felt precisely while speaking with those involved in cinema around the world. The world still doesn’t know Shinji Somai.

Since his debut in 1980, Shinji Somai is held in the highest esteem by Japanese film fans, just as it is, let's face it, impossible for anyone making cinema in Japan today not to have Somai in mind. Of course, it is easy to imagine the difficulty of mulling over the atmosphere of early Somai films if one is not familiar with the specific context of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. At a time when, with the dismantling of the major studio production system many films were being made by parasitising other industries such as television or music Somai launched his filmography by making "idol films" relying on the popularity of the teenage girls who played the leading roles (which is reminiscent of Hou Hsiao Hsien's debut at the same period).

We often speak of the "sequence shot" or the "long shot" to characterise the stylistic feature he acquired during this period. However, nothing could be more misleading than to regard this as his 'auteurism'. Simply comparing Somai Shinji's long takes with those of Welles, Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos and others will only make his technical coarseness stand out. This could be understood as a reflection of the poor production conditions of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. But no. What he was really aiming for was first and foremost the 'sparkle of life' of the actors. In his work, the long shot allows these young women, seen as "idols", to burst through the frame from within, the better to escape. This inspires the crew, who grew up in studios, to break through the limited circumstances of the time. This 'long shot', which is a by-product of his deep trust in the vitality of the actors' and crew's bodies, is not just a directorial technique, but rather a reflection of his 'attitude to life'.

Moving (selected in Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section in 1993) is, amongst all of Somai’s films, the one which first created a contact between international audience and his entire oeuvre. However, the film did not simply end up unawarded, nor did it receive the same critical favours as Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, which was screened in the same year and in the same section. Here again, the world and Somai replayed their failed encounter. Watching the film again today, it seems unbelievable. Especially because of the presence of the lead actress, Tomoko Tabata. Her ability to move, the expression on her face, her eyes - everything is incredible; but it is her voice that I find most captivating. This voice, which alone manages to express her whole being, which plays with distance and time as if it were breaking down all boundaries, to touch and shake the adults who play the other characters, right up to the audience. As a filmmaker, it's hard to believe that such a being could exist in a film. The images are like so much evidence of her vital energy. We are led to reflect on the fact that the life force residing there may also be in us, and we may not be making full use of it. Life, here reinstilled.

There can be no doubt that Moving is still the best gateway for "the World" and Shinji Somai to meet. You don't need to know anything about the history of Japanese cinema to understand this film, which marks a period of the highest refinement in his career, as well as having been brought to life through Tomoko Tabata’s character. But if, thanks to this film, viewers ever become interested in Shinji Somai, I would like them to see his twelve other films. Because in each of them, you will see bodies and hear voices that surprise you. Again and again. There's nothing to be surprised about. We have not yet met Somai Shinji enough.

We still don't know Somai!
Essay udgivet i pressebooklet i forbindelse med den nyrestaurede udgave af Moving.

26 januar
18.00
POSTHUS TEATRET (Rådhusstræde 1, 1466 København)

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