E-Paper
Brit film premiered on cell
Rage, which toplines Judy Dench and Jude Law, is about a schoolboy who goes behind the scenes at a New York fashion show and interviews characters on his mobile. Their confessions give it a reality TV show format.
She is known to be experimental. And her film,
Rage
, which is being screened, on Monday, in Mumbai, as part of the
From Blighty With Love
Festival, is no exception. Written and directed by Sally Potter,
Rage
saw its world premiere on mobile phones in the west — for free.
“It was the first feature film ever to premiered on mobiles,” Potter says, on the telephone from London. “Viewers just downloaded it from a site called
babelgum.com
. The idea was to compete with piracy and whet people’s appetites, so they would like to own it as a DVD. It was my way of using new technology to my advantage,” she explains. Her choice of an unusual premiere has fetched her emails from people from more than 50 counties. The recession and piracy has caused many small independent production houses in the UK to close down, she adds.
Fashion world
Rage
, which toplines Judy Dench and Jude Law, is about a schoolboy who goes behind the scenes at a New York fashion show and interviews characters on his mobile. Their confessions give it a reality TV show format.
Similar to Madhur Bhandarkar’s
Fashion
,
Rage
depicts the dark side of the industry. But expect no catwalk here…just watch the characters in front of the camera talking.
“
Rage
is not really about fashion, it’s more about individuals in crisis… and new technology,” Potter claims. “It’s about people taking off your masks. This is real barefoot cinema, which is the reason I used great actors capable of such monologues.”
Epic emotions
The film was nominated for a Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Potter, who is a fan of Bollywood monochrome era as well as veteran filmmaker Satyajit Ray, is the only director coming to India to do a question and answer session with the audience, as part of the festival. “I’m fascinated by the epic nature of Bollywood and the way it covers the entire gamut of emotions,” she says.
About the first British film fest here, she says, “Let’s wait and watch. India is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of technology, so I’m sure
Rage
will resonate,”she adds.
