Back on track with this next one.
Boiling Point
Dir. Philip Barantini / Dur. 92 min
Strand:- Thrill
In A Nutshell:- A struggling chef navigates an evening’s work at a busy restaurant as personal and professional problems begin to collide…
The Good:- First off, it’s a technically impressive film with the whole film unfolding in a single 90 minute take but technical gimmickry is not enough; fortunately; the film has an energy and pace thanks to the talents of its cast and the urgency of the direction that keep you gripped from start to finish. In fact, I was so swept up in it that I stopped focussing on the fact that it was just the one take. Stephen Graham is, unsurprisingly, great as chef Andy whose personal life is falling apart and beginning to impact the day to day running of his restaurant but Vinette Robinson is just as impressive as his trusted senior who is supportive but at breaking point. The supporting cast all play their parts too from those who are there for the duration to smaller roles like the patronising food hygiene officer.
The Bad:- Honestly, not a lot springs to mind as I was genuinely swept along by this one.
The Verdict:- Definitely one of the highlights of the festival for me and another powerhouse performance from Stephen Graham.
Q&A Notes:- The director, Vinette Robinson and Ray Panthaki were on hand for the Q&A.
The film was based on an earlier short - the original plan was for the opening twenty minutes of the film to be the single shot and the rest of the film to be conventional quick cutting but that wasn’t working.
The film was rehearsed in stages with the front of house restaurant staff coming on first to get up to speed before the kitchen staff were then brought in. Shooting began in March 2020 with an original plan to shoot 8 takes over 4 nights; they managed 4 takes over 2 nights before the pandemic shut down production. The take used in the final film is Take 3.
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