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Morris Perry enters a fantasy world which becomes increasingly threatening in Rodney Giesler's THE INSOMNIAC, an extra on the BFI Flipside release of SLEEPWALKER.
immaculately turned out, al- though the mirrored sunglasses they wear add a sinister aspect to their appearance) but he man- ages to befriend a beautiful young woman, played by Valerie
Van Ost (THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA). Still unsure of exactly where he is or what he is meant to be doing (is he simply dreaming, or has he really slipped through a crack in time?), he per- suades the woman to leave the party and accompany him into the lush countryside. The other guests are in pursuit, however, and the fantasy is brought to an abrupt end when reality intervenes. A genuine oddity, well acted by
Perry and Van Ost, THE INSOM- NIAC played as a supporting fea- ture to Robert Altman’s IMAGES (1972) and Michael Apted’s THE
TRIPLE ECHO (1972) on their British theatrical releases. Also included are a brace of interesting shorts by Saxon Lo- gan. “Stepping Out” (1977, 10m 16s) propped up Roman Polan- ski’s THE TENANT (1976) in some British cinemas, and it’s easy to see why with its smart depiction of a young couple who swap gen- der roles. Dedicated to Logan’s mentor Lindsay Anderson, “Work- ing Surface: A Short Study (With Actors) In ‘The Ways’ of a Bour- geois Writer” (1979, 14m 56s) finds Joanna David, Heather Page and Bill Douglas playing early versions of their characters in SLEEPWALKER, with Douglas as a writer struggling to give a convincing voice to his two female protagonists. The film criss- crosses Douglas’ chain-smoking,
typewriter-hammering reality with his fantasy (he is forced to par- ticipate at one point) in a like- able and intelligent manner. Rounding things off is “O Lucky Man: Saxon Logan in Conversa- tion” (69m 9s), a compelling and often emotional feature-length interview in which the director discusses his career.
All four films are here pre- sented in their original aspect ra-
tios (SLEEPWALKER at 1.85:1, THE INSOMNIAC and the two shorts at 1.33:1), and the image
quality is remarkably good (THE INSOMNIAC is an exceptionally rich transfer), although the shorts are softer in texture. The accom- panying 20-page illustrated booklet contains essays by Julian Grainger, Vic Pratt, Alex Davidson and Sam Dunn.
Video Watchdog 179 Digital Exclusive 65-B
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