By Adrian Smith
The
BFI Flipside range have brought some interesting and occasionally downright
bizarre lost British films to a wider public audience since it's inception in
2009. Private Road is a followup, and in some sense a spiritual sequel,
to a previous Flipside relase, Bronco Bullfrog. That film was
Platts-Mills' debut as a feature director, and was notable for its performances
from non-professional actors. Private Road follows some of the themes
first explored in that film, and the naturalistic story-tellingl also comes
through, although Private Road is clearly more tightly constructed and
directed.
The
story follows Bruce Robinson (best known for writing and directing Withnail
and I) as a “gifted†young writer who seems to enjoy the boho lifestyle of
a London in the last thralls of the Swinging Sixties. We're told he's
brilliant, although he very rarely touches his typewriter. He gets together
with a young secretary played by Susan Penhaligon. They fall in love and start
a life together, but his old life can't quite let him go. Private Road
tackles the problems of growing up, of responsibility, of the divide between
generations. The drug-fueled hippy of the decade may have some of the answers,
but not all of them.
The
film seems both dated and totally fresh at the same time. It feels like a late
1960s piece, with its references to Vietnam and Maoist revolution. Bruce
Robinson is a dead ringer for Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and the soundtrack
consists mainly of Nick Drake-style whimsical acoustic guitar numbers. Yet the
film deals very frankly with issues such as heroin, abortion and relationships.
Susan Penhaligon is a revelation in this film. Her character is sometimes
naïve, sometimes outspoken and adult. Her performance feels truthful, in part
because of the improvised feel of the dialogue.
Private Road is a terrific film
which sheds further light on Barney Platts-Mills, a director whose work is all but
forgotten. The BFI have put together another great package. Alongside the film
itself are two short films. One is a moving documentary by Platts-Mills on a
school for children with special needs. The second is The Last Chapter,
a short film starring Susan Penhaligon alongside that stalwart British
character actor, Denholm Elliott, based on a story by the novelist John Fowles.
He plays a successful author of badly-written but popular thrillers (he appears
to be a spoof of Ian Fleming), who is interrupted in his work by a young
schoolgirl who claims to want an interview for her school magazine. Initially
reluctant, Elliott eventually agrees, but things take an interesting and uneasy
turn when her motivations begin to seem suspect. Does she want to seduce him or
ruin him? It's a great little film and a superb extra to be included here.
The
BFI Flipside range are available in a dual-format package, meaning you can have
it on DVD and if you upgrade to Blu-ray later, you'll already have one to put
in your new machine. This is a great idea and should help encourage people to
try it out. The extras are the same on both discs.
Click here to order from Amazon UK (This is a Region 2 disc)