REVIEWS
19 & 20 oct
2012
World Soundtrack Awards &Concert
Ghent Film Festival in Belgium
WSA CONCERT TO FEATURE James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games), Pino Donaggio (Dressed to Kill) and Alex Heffes (The First Grader)
Beyond The Walls Reviewed by Allan Hunter
Charting the rise and fall of a love affair from giddy begin- nings to rueful afterglow, Beyond The Walls (Hors Les Murs) marks an accomplished first feature from writer-director David Lambert. An intriguing storyline, confident execution and charismatic performances from the lead actors carry the film through some unexpected plot developments that push it towards more stereotypically anguished gay-movie romances. The first half comes closer to the tone of Andrew Haigh’s award-winning Weekend and might give the film a shot at a similar audience. Further festival appearances and interest from specialist gay distributors seems guaranteed. Beyond The Walls begins in similar fashion to Weekend
with the consequences of a drunken evening, when Paulo (Malliarakis) has caught the twinkling eye of bartender Ilir (Gouix), who winds up carrying him home over his shoul- der and giving him a bed for the night. Ilir avoids tempta- tion, but there is an obvious spark of attraction and the two see each other again. Once Paulo’s suspicious girlfriend has dumped him, he boldly arrives at Ilir’s flat with all his worldly goods. Matila Malliarakis’ Paulo is all Bambi eyes and puppy-
dog devotion as he clings to Ilir like a lifesaver in stormy seas. Initially, the character is as endearing as he is annoy- ing. The older Ilir is more guarded and wary of turning a few lighthearted encounters into something more meaningful. Over the course of the film, events conspire to reverse their early roles, with Paulo emerging as the stronger of the duo and Ilir the more needy. The first half of the film is easily the most charming. The
two actors make a cute couple, and there is a good deal of relaxed humour and warmth in the screenplay as the charac- ters open up to each other and a relationship develops. Shopping for supplies in a sex shop or belligerently demand- ing condoms from a corner shop are among the funniest moments in the film. The second half of Beyond The Walls is more melo-
dramatic and downbeat, with events placing the relation- ship under unbearable pressure. Lambert is economical in the way he prunes back the narrative, dispensing with the need for lengthy explanations of what happens to Ilir, and how this changes his life and his easygoing manner. It tells us just what we need to know to keep the focus on the ebb and flow of the ties that bind the central couple. Lambert’s greatest talent may lie in creating characters we
care about and developing a film that brings a few fresh twists to an old, familiar tale of whether love can conquer every obstacle in its path. On that basis, Beyond The Walls fulfils the promise of his previous work as a screenwriter and short film-maker.
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Ghent International Film Festival, Leeuwstraat 40b, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium tel +32(0)9 242 80 60 - fax +32(0)9 221 90 74 - info@fi
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www.worldsoundtrackacademy.com
PERFORMED BY the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé
CRITICS’ WEEK
Belg-Can-Fr. 2012. 98mins Director/screenplay David Lambert Production companies Frakas Productions, Boréal Films, Les Productions Balthazar Producers Jean-Yves Roubin, Daniel Morin, Jérome Dopffer International sales Films Boutique, www.
filmsboutique.com Screenplay David Lambert Cinematography Matthieu Poirot Delpech Editor Hélene Girard Production designer Sébastien Autphenne Music Valleys Main cast Matila Malliarakis, Guillaume Gouix, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, DavidSalles
WHAT’S INCLUDED? • transportation from Brussels Airport to the festival hotel and back • a 2-night stay at the festival hotel in the beautiful medieval centre of Ghent
• free admission to all the festival activities that weekend: - unique fi lm music concert on Friday 19/10 (programme TBC), - dinner with WSA nominees and festival guests on Friday 19/10, - meet & greet with the celebrated composers on Saturday 20/10, - World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert on Saturday 20/10, - walking dinner and after party on Saturday 20/10.
INTERESTED? Contact Sophie Joos (sophie@fi
lmfestival.be) for more information!
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May 22, 2012 Screen International at Cannes 19 n
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