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  • Gail Pickering

  • Until Jul 27
    • Last Chance!
    • Recommended
  • This event has finished
  • Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London, SE11 5RH
  • Rating:

  • By Tony Pearson

    Posted: Fri Jun 20

  • I don’t have enough space here to list all the references that these two excellent short films draw from, but read Ian White’s programme notes and you’ll see how complicated it all is. ‘Dissident Sunset’ is the simpler of the two; moodily lit, angular cardboard mountains on wheels, backwards noises and the miserable English angst of five actors generate an atmosphere as heavy and awkward as German expressionism. Scene one sees the characters sitting around struggling for the words and ideas to express some kind of manifesto or art theory; it’s not good enough for the black-haired, mean-eyed, well-spoken bully (Jesus, clearly) who halts the debate with: ‘We’ll find out who we are by our actions!’ Hence scene two, a sequence of expressionistic dance moves ending in choreographed violence.

    By the way, don’t listen to an invigilator who tells you that because the second film, ‘Hungary! And Other Economies’, is an art film it doesn’t matter at which point you start watching it. It follows the shape of classic comedy like ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, reaching its climax with a feeling of total relief for the audience. The cast comprises two boys and two girls –  French, fit, dressed in ridiculous 60s visions of futuristic fashion – enacting a dirge-like play in baking heat in a ruin. Existential angst and disillusionment with the French Revolution’s grisly violence are juxtaposed with the relaxed sexy camaraderie of the players. Hence the line ‘I want all trace of my existence to be wiped out’ is followed by ‘Do you remember where we’re parked?’
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  • Details

  • Gasworks,155 Vauxhall Street, London, SE11 5RH
    , UK
    Geo: 51.485986, -0.116377
  • 020 7582 6848
  • Category: South Bank to Deptford
  • Times: Wed-Sun 12noon-6pm
  • Tube: Oval

  • Map

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