Having recently discovered the work of Cosmo Jarvis after being impressed recently by his made for television first full length feature film The Naughty Room. I was reminded of the highpoints of British television drama and it brought back memories of classic series like The Wednesday Play, Armchair Theatre and other drama slots on the BBC and the early comercial stations from the late 1950s and into the 70s.
This era saw the coming and going of kitchen sink drama which helped to 'democratise' what had been hitherto, a medium strictly reserved for received pronounciation
It is not possible to post The Naughty Room here, but this short film about a homeless man who loves to ride on the bus is a taste of Mr Jarvis's work.
Written, Directed, Shot,
Edited and scored by Cosmo Jarvis, Starring Mr. Black and J.J.
Filmed entirely in Plymouth southwest England. No Thanks says Cosmo to CityBus. The film was published on YouTube on 25 May 2012 by CosmoJarvis.
The story is a morality tale. One I can identify with as it happens. If anyone is unsure what a Dayrider is you will have no doubt deduced that it is a ticket that allows the lucky holder to travel on buses all day long to their hearts content.
In my teens and again in my 20s I had several periods of homelessness.
In 1972 I survived for 6 months without any income at all, much of that time sleeping in the incinerater room in a block of flats in Birmingham, writing my unpublished and now lost book on the The Midlands During English Civil Wars 1642-1651 - at night by streetlight and during the day in the library.
I sometimes hitchhiked to the seaside where the holidaymaking ambiance added to the contributions bestowed upon beggers like me by the feelgood factor and unparalleled economic growth of the 'Affluent Society' letting its hair down.
I survived on begging and being fed by friends and kindly people, occasionally doing odd jobs for cash. The thing that really struck me at the time though was how very little things gain much greater significance in those circumstances, a sandwich for example becomes an object of joy.
That is what I think this film is about as well as the message that sympathy and empathy overcomes violence and injustice.....it is a hopeful, sad, happy and I think a moving llittle film that says more about Austerity Britain in less than eleven minutes than some films do in two hours. I hope you like it.
I love the fact that I have "known" you for five years and I am still learning new things about you. The fact that you were homeless (I was also for a few months) and that you have written a book are two things I didn't know. Maybe after another five years I can write a book about YOU !! You are a fascinating aardvark :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL thanks for the comment, my book is lost in the mists of time, but it was well researched and there wasn't another book on the subject at the time that I could find anyway. My life has been a lengthy one really compared with almost everyone I knew when I was young, so I suppose there are various twists and turns yet to be revealed in its course, I suspect you are the same yourself Ms Perfect (except obviously not as old of course). Thanks for your very generous comments, not everyone warms to anteaters :-)
DeleteI love the film. It made me cry, yet it made me smile. You know my heart for the homeless since you have read some of the things I have written. Thank you for sharing this AA. Hugs
ReplyDeleteI do indeed know of your feelings for homeless people and your kindness to them. I'm sure your period of homelessness was an inteesting episode in your life, whether its one you wish to talk about is another thing of course.
DeleteI'm glad you liked the film, it is very poignant, but what a happy ending it had :-D
Everything worked out just fine and he had someone to share the ecstacy of being on a bus with. That's nice isn't it?
great little film, Cosmo Jarvis was a good find. One thing I noticed, Plymouth buses charge £3.20 for a day rider ticket, our buses charge £6.50..............big difference. Not that it effects me personally any more .. cos I've got my bus pass :-) which makes me very happy indeed because I also like riding the buses
ReplyDeleteThats a lot of money for a day ticket on the bus Loretta, here in the West Midlands an N-bus Adult One-Day Ticket: £3.60, valid for 1 day on most bus operators in the West Midlands.
ReplyDeleteOr better still Centro Day Tripper Valid on all bus, train and Metro services within the Centro area after 09:30, weekends and bank holidays. Cost: Adult £4.20, Child £3.20, Family (2 adults and 4 children, must include at least 1 child) £8.50
HOWEVER, I think the equivalent ticket to the one you are talking about is the Centrocard:
Valid for 1 day on all bus, train and Metro services within the Centro area.
Includes peak times - Cost: £6.50.
This gives unrestricted all travel on bus, metro and local train services so total happiness.
But if you lived in England you wouldn't have a free bus pass until you are 65. Different rules in Scotland, so lucky you Loretta, if i were you I'd be hitting the road on my free pass quite soon :-)
I really like this film,AA. It has a basic story-line and the qualities of a excellent silent film. The story moves on a visual and expressive basis. I think all film-makers should have to make films without words for their first projects. Once they understand visual story-telling,only then can they be masters of the art form.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked the film too Doug. I take your point entirely about the value of wordless films for honing the film-makers art.
DeleteI hadn't thought of that before but unlike you Doug I never was an authority on films and film-making... so thanks for giving your perspective on this short film. This adding of other dimensions of appreciation I think must be the a sign of an artist having broken through and demonstrates the 'recognition'of a major talent.
I was well impressed with Cosmo Jarvis'first full length feature for television 'The Naughty Room' made on a budget of £8,000 (so 'green')....it was for me a new high point in television drama. I hit upon it by accident on the BBC4 website shortly after it was first shown on 20th August.
If I was going to give the genre a name I might call it 'post-realism'....a style that in Mr Javis' hands blends adult themes with childlike charm to produce a kitchen sink drama on magic mushrooms that really lifts the heart.
Austerity cinema at its best I think.
"Austerity Cinema" or "Post Realism" may be the very names for a new wave of film-making, AA.
DeleteIt would be similar to the UK "free cinema" or "New Wave" movement that Lindsey Anderson, Karel Reiez, Tony Richardson and others promoted in the late 50's and early 60's to draw attention often to the dearth of culture available to the working and lower-middle classes and their lack of serious presence as subjects for plays and films. Richardson took the style abroad to make one of the best satires of life in Los Angeles ever made, a film called 'The Loved One" (1965) loosely based on the Evelyn Waugh novel. Satire was suddenly "in" for a time. This was new.
This had an even bigger impact in American cinema, of course, along with what some of the story-telling minimalism of the younger French directors.
I doubt movies like 1969's "Easy Rider" or "Midnight Cowboy" (69)--John Schlesinger's "valentine" to life on the sordid side of New York City-- or Robeert Altman's "MASH" (69) could have been made, and so influenced the 1970's style of changing times reflected in films.
Who knows? Such work as Mr. Javis is doing may start a trend--all these other film-makers started with little documentaries and films with little exposure. I will look for "The Naughty Room" online or at BBC-America.
Sorry its taken so long to respond Doug. I am finding it difficult to keep up with posts and comments on different bits of my blogosphere. Its not like it was on Multiply with alerts and all the stuff we had to ease communication. This is more the manual gear box version than the Multiply 'automatic' type blog, but it's somewhere to lay my weary index fingers at this tumultuous time.
ReplyDeleteI think Cosmo Jarvis is a new phenomenon, if only in that he can make a full length feature film for the BBC on a budget of £8,000.....he is a multi-talented performer and writer, I think we will hear more of him in the future.