Edinburgh - Day One

Chris Tilly attends the opening night premiere,'Wah-Wah', and checks out Werner Herzog's 'Grizzly Man'.

Aug 18 2005

Edinburgh is the strangest of film festivals. Set amidst the madness of the Fringe, when comedy, theatre, dance and the like truly turn the town on its head, it's as unpredictable an 11 days as you are ever likely to experience.

Good films rub shoulders with bad, and day to day you are never sure what to expect.

Mercifully, Time Out's first few hours at the fest are good ones, in which we manage to attend not one but two excellent screenings.

First up is 'Grizzly Man', Werner Herzog's account of the life and death of environmentalist Timothy Treadwell.

An uncompromising individual who lived life on his own terms (much like Herzog himself), Treadwell all but gave up on the human race many years ago, preferring instead to spend his time with the grizzly bears of Alaska.

However, in an effort to observe, understand and protect the animals, he crossed a line in late 2003, and one of the creatures attacked and devoured him.

Drawing on more than 100 hours of footage that Timothy filmed himself, Herzog's documentary features simply stunning material of the bears in their natural habitat, and for that reason alone it is worthy of praise.

However, knowing the terrible outcome from the start of the film makes these same scenes disconcertingly chilling throughout, and sometimes seriously uncomfortable viewing.

The film also seems somewhat stagey at certain points, and Herzog's own voiceover can at times be intrusive to the detriment of the film.

Nevertheless, 'Grizzly Man' remains a gripping account of an extraordinary individual, and a testament to both the breathtaking beauty and destructive power of nature.

Next up is the festival's opening night premiere - a star-studded screening of Richard E Grant's directorial debut, 'Wah-Wah'.

The semi-autobiographical tale of his eventful youth spent in Swaziland, the film stars Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson and Nicholas Hoult ('About a Boy'), who gives a quite marvellous central performance as Withnail junior.

A coming-of-age tale set against the end of British rule in the country, the film is a joy to behold, proving Grant to be a helmer with real visual flair.

And although the political backdrop is somewhat clumsily handled, the young boy's tale is at once happy, sad, heart-warming and painful; indeed everything you remember youth being yourself, making the film a resounding success and a fine way to kick off the fest.

After that we are bussed to the Corn Exchange for a party with the cast and crew, and a whisky-fuelled good time was definitely had by all before Time Out trots off to bed in preparation for a film frenzy over the next few days.