Coffee-Table Notes

You won’t see Niall Greig Fulton’s face in the trailer for The Turning, Canadian maverick Floria Sigismondi’s new Steven Spielberg produced contemporary reboot of Henry James’ gothic thriller, The Turning of the Screw. Sigismondi’s film goes on general release next week after receiving its world premiere at legendary movie emporium the TLC Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Only then will Fulton will be revealed both onscreen and in person. Keen film and TV watchers will recognise Fulton already, however, whether from a few episodes of Outlander and an appearance in Terence Davies’ version of Sunset Song, to more culty stuff and low-budget horror flicks. More recently Fulton appeared in David Mackenzie’s Scottish history romp, Outlaw King, and in Muscle, directed by Gerard Johnson. He makes a very special cameo as Satan in Good Omens, Douglas Mackinnon’s mini-series based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s apocalyptic comedy. Given that his CGI-constructed ap

Joseph Summers wasn’t born when Derek Jarman’s film, The Last of England, was premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1987. Once the Berlin-based artist, musician and instrument builder saw Jarman’s impressionistic guerrilla-style portrait of Margaret Thatcher’s broken Britain, however, he was struck by how pertinent it seemed to today. Jarman’s backdrop of burning buildings, masked men with guns and young men seeking respite in the rubble gave way to one of the film’s most memorable scenes, in which regular Jarman collaborator Tilda Swinton claws at the wedding dress she’s wearing while rubbish burns beside her. All of this inspired Summers to compose a new live soundtrack for Jarman’s film following a commission from the Bristol-based Palace International Film Festival of queer cinema. Performed by Summers with his brother Thomas and fellow composer/musician Rosa Irwin-Clark, this aural reimagining of The Last of England can be heard accompanying a screening in Gla

Fifteen minutes into Lucy Parker’s film, Solidarity, what looks like some kind of rooftop reunion barbecue between long-term former colleagues takes a more serious turn. There is talk of family breakdowns and even suicide after those gathered lost their jobs and struggled to find another one. This was largely down to their names appearing in reports compiled by a body called the Consulting Association, who  pointed out various reasons why they shouldn’t be employed.  It’s a moving moment in Parker’s film, which receives its Scottish premiere in Stirling next week as part of the Central Scotland Documentary Festival. A Glasgow screening follows later this month care of Document Human Rights Film Festival. The moment is given extra poignancy by the fact that those gathered on the roof are victims of blacklisting, who have gathered to share experiences of having their livelihoods, relationships and in some cases their entire lives destroyed. These scenes are part of a remarkable pi