TIFF Alumnus Peter Strickland's "The Len Continuum" is Available for Your Listening Pleasure!

Wc assume "The Len Continuum" looks something like this.

Did you sneak over to the Vanguard Program last TIFF and see Peter Strickland's tribute to Eurosleaze cinema, The Duke of Burgundy or maybe you saw his tribute to giallo and sound design, Berberian Sound Studio, which also premiered at the Vanguard? It's okay, we're tight with Vanguard. Well now  Strickland's radio drama "The Len Continuum" is airing on BBC Radio 4. It stars Toby Jones from Berberian Sound Studio and it sounds plenty promising.

The debut for radio by the critically acclaimed British filmmaker Peter Strickland, writer and director of cult films Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy.

Sometime in the early eighties, struggling actor Len is increasingly overshadowed by his wife Alice's successful career in local radio. As his bitterness grows, he comes by a chance to finally prove himself.

Surreal soundscapes and black humour with Toby Jones and Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

Will there be ladies with black leather gloves or mole crickets singing? Listen to find out.  You can listen to it on the Radio 4 site for another three weeks.

Mole cricket!

Midnight Madness at Trailers From Hell: Joe Dante

Director Joe Dante is not only one of the fiendish master mind behind Trailers from Hell, he's also a Midnight Madness alumnus. He directed a segment in the horror anthology, Trapped Ashes, which screened at Midnight Madness 2006.

As the first among TFH gurus, Dante comments on a lot of films, but one film, he commented on twice:  Mario Bava's classic giallo, Blood and Black Lace. and an excellent movie to watch in anticipation of Berberian Sound Studios, a movie that plays with giallo history and conventions.

James McNally has already covered giallo in depth at our Vanguard sister blog, so I'll just say that giallo is an Italian crime film genre that is generally more lurid than straight detective stories--and possibly more honest in its way. It often has weird or psychic phenomenon elements. And giallo influence the development of both slasher horror like John Carpenter's Halloween, sexy thrillers like Brian de Palma's Body Double and even artsy psychodramas like Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.

It's somehow fitting that a giallo film would get two slightly different takes.

Here's Dante's most recent commentary:



And here is the original commentary, if you are curious to hear if he says anything different and to see the transfer quality for yourself.



BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIOS screening times:
Mon., Sept. 10, 6:00PM:  The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Tues., Sept. 11, 2:45PM:  Cineplex Yonge & Dundas 3