The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo & Kenneth Anger

Apologies for my late update. Closing weekend…what a bad time to have computer-based disasters.

Yesterday was the most exciting day of the festival for me because the event I had been anticipating like a crazy person had finally arrived. Kenneth Anger’s Q&A!

I guess, for the sake of chronology, I should start at the start though and talk a little bit about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It never fails to amaze me how many people show up for these 11am screenings in the Savoy. Last week, Accident was damn near sold out and yesterday morning’s screening of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was pandemonium. The popularity of Stieg Larsson’s series of books (the film is based on the first of these books, in case you’ve been living in a hole for the past year) is something I’m aware of but only from having seen the books all over the place. I haven’t read them and I have never spoken to anyone who has. So, I went into the film with no expectations. What followed was an impressive mystery drama which covered a LOT of ground with its intricate plot and parade of characters but always flowed seamlessly, keeping the storytelling tight and the tension mounting. Generally murder mysteries aren’t my thing. I’m one of those annoying people who thinks that if you’ve seen one episode of Moonlighting you’ve seen all the murder mystery dramas you need to see. However, this was one hell of an impressive and entertaining thriller. Unfortunately the tallest person in the world sat in front of me so I was constantly straining to read the subtitles, but apart from that it was a very pleasant watch. And from the euphoric reactions of my fellow audience members, I think it’s safe to say the fans were pleased!

Directly after that I made my way across to the IFI with my gold hardcover 1975 first edition Hollywood Babylon (my prized possession) under my arm with the hope that Mr. Kenneth Anger might sign it for me. The third and final part of the JDIFF & IFI retrospective of the experimental film director’s work included one of the few of his shorts that I haven’t seen, Rabbit’s Moon. This charming tale of a mime who falls in love with the moon and everything on which its light falls (my own interpretation, I could be completely wrong) is sandwiched between two of his more typical works, which feature blasting rock music, images of satanic ritual, vivid colours, thumping lights and even a member of the Manson family.

After the screening an extremely spry 83-year old Kenneth Anger made his way to the front of the room wearing a red knitted jumper that ha the word ANGER emblazoned across it…No seriously! A fascinating character, Mr. Anger ably handled the questions from the crowd. No stranger to festivals, he knew how to please the audiences with stories about famous people he has worked with. When you’re in a room with the author of the most notoriously trashy novel in the history of, well, history, you’ll hang on every word he has to say on the subject of celebrities. My personal favourite story is how he’s currently working on a video with The Jonas Brothers. You heard me! And seemingly Kevin Jonas gave Mr. Anger his purity ring, now that he’s married. How cool is that? There’s something quite perverse about teenagers who sell sex to other teenagers wearing purity rings. This face did not seem lost on Kenneth Anger as he seemed proud as punch to be in possession of such an odd object.

After the Q&A, Mr. Anger hung around outside for photos and autographs and made my dream come true by signing my copy of Hollywood Babylon. He was very impressed with how rare it is and told me to look after it well. I will Mr. Anger, I will!

Charlene

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