Donostia/San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain
19th - 28th September 2002
Report on the Festival: by
Steve Crook
I was first contacted by Alfonso C. López who told me that
they were planning a Michael Powell retrospective at the Donostia/San
Sebastian Film Festival, Spain in September 2002. He wanted some help
in getting clearance to screen the films and some other background
information, which I willingly supplied. When he told me that they
were planning on showing over 40 films by Michael Powell I knew
that I just had to attend.
Alfonso had given me the full timetable of
all the films that they planned to show
and I saw that it included some that I'd never seen before.
I'd missed Something Always Happens (1934) and Her Last
Affaire (1936) when they were shown at the NFT in March 2000.
I had also never seen The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1955) or
The Queen's Guards (1961).
Then I heard from Charles Doble
that he was working on a full restoration of Luna de Miel (1959)
and planned to show it at the festival along with a nice new print
of Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955). Charles also told me that Ludmilla
Tchérina and Rosita Segovia were expected to attend (but that
I wasn't to tell anyone). That settled it, I was definitely
going!
But the fates sometimes try to conspire against us. I was just beginning
to get everything sorted out, looking for accommodation in San
Sebastian, getting a new passport (it had been a while since I'd been
abroad, my old passport had expired in 1988) etc. Then my appendix
burst!!
I was laid up in hospital for a couple of weeks while the poisons cleared
from my bloodstream and then had to convalesce at home, getting the
unstitched wound dressed every day. But I was determined to go. I showed
the doctors I could dress the wound myself (half of one of my bags
was filled with medical dressings, iodine, tape etc) and rushed around
to get my passport, flight & accommodation sorted out.
So on Wednesday, September 18th 2002 I headed to Heathrow to board the
Iberia flight to Bilbao. The computers were down at the Ibria check in
desks and they had to check us in by hand, which added to the confusion,
but everyone managed. We boarded the plane and were then told there
would be a 25 min delay due to some other computer problems.
The plane coughed and spluttered its way into the air. By now it
was getting dark and as we turned and climbed I could see the lights
of Kingston upon Thames where I had been the day before buying all
the things I would need for the trip. I settled down to read my
book (The Small Back Room) and I happened to glance out of the
window at one point to see through a gap in the clouds that we
were crossing the coast - over Chesil Bank (the location of the bomb
disposal scene in the film of SBR). A good omen :)
During the flight I struck up a conversation with the man sitting
next to me. He asked if I was going on holiday so I told him I
was going to the festival. He said that he lives in San Sebastian
and offered me a lift from Bilbao. What a nice man, Javier Eguren.
We landed at Bilbao and picked up our luggage quite quickly.
Because of the delays at Heathrow it was now dark as we drove
to San Sebastian. Javier is a Basque and he was telling me about
the area (very hilly & lush green) and we spoke about many other
things from the films I was to see via mobile phone technologies
to life in general.
Javier dropped me off at the Hotel Codina in San Sebastian where
I was to stay. It was now about 11pm so I just checked in &
settled down for the night.
One thing I thought might be a problem was that I didn't have a
word of Spanish so I had brought along a Spanish/English dictionary.
San Sebastian is a nice town on the coast, a fishing port in a
big bay. Although they get some tourists there it is
nowhere near as "touristy" as the resorts in the South. So I
couldn't expect everyone to speak English - and they didn't.
But by using the few words of Spanish I had picked up, the few words
of English that most of them had plus lots of gestures, pointing, smiling
and a few references to the dictionary, we managed very well.
The people at the reception at the hotel and the main information
centres at the festival had very good English so that was no
trouble.
On the morning of the 19th I showered and dressed my appendix wound
(as I had to every day) I had breakfast and then caught the bus
into the centre of San Sebastian. As I said, it's on a bay and the
hotel I was at (booked at the last minute) was around the other
side of the bay from the town centre & the main festival sites.
I went into the main Kursaal Center which where the main offices
for the festival were (as well as the main theatres) and got my
press pass. This had been organised for me by Alfonso, for which
I thank him. As well as meaning I could see all the films for free
(they only charged 4 Euros per screening, but for 40+ screenings
that adds up) it also gave me access to special "press only" events
and screenings. I found I could also get a locker at the Kursaal
centre, which was useful for storage and to act as a postbox.
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Map of San Sebastian
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Then out to explore San Sebastian a bit. It wasn't too hot,
about 23 oC, but that was plenty hot
enough for me. I had prepared for some heat and brought my factor
30 sunscreen. I also had a panama hat (to protect the bald spot).
Because of the appendix wound I found a belt too uncomfortable so
I was wearing braces (suspenders for our American readers), red
ones. With that lot and the sunglasses I was aiming vaguely for the
"Lermontov in Monte Carlo" look but I don't have Anton's panache
so I just looked like an Englishman abroad :)
At the press centre I had picked up my catalogue listing all the
films being shown and a copy of Ian Christie's bilingual (Spanish /
English) version of "Arrows of Desire". I saw that every day the
films mainly started at about 4pm and went on until past midnight.
That gave lots of time for meeting people, eating & drinking,
exploring and other things, during the day and then settling down
to watch the 4-6 films per day.
San Sebastian is a nice town on a large bay with an island in the bay.
The main town seems to be centred around the "Almeda del Boulevard"
and the "Centro" area. The main Kursaal centre where the press offices,
main screening rooms and other facilities were was across the bridge
(how often we crossed that bridge) over the Rio Urumea. The Principe
theatre was up towards Monte Urgull at the eastern end of the bay.
There was a very nice church & nunnery just opposite the cinema.
There was a smaller bay the other side of the Rio Urumea where I
went for a paddle in the Atlantic. Hardier souls (& those without
recent operations) went sunbathing & swimming.
All of the people of San Sebastian seemed very friendly and quite
willing to wait until I had explained what I wanted in my faltering
Spanish (with lots of gestures). I did notice that the red hair
colouring sales team had been out in force. At least 1 in 10 of
the ladies had their hair dyed in various shades of red. It looked
good on most of them :)
I will give all the details of the films seen in
another document that will detail which
print was shown, quality of print, audience size & reaction to it etc.
Here I will just give my overall impressions of events & describe
some of the more special things that happened.
On the first day I saw that in the "Michael Powell Retrospective"
part of the program they were due to screen Rynox, Hotel
Splendide, His Lordship, The Fire Raisers & The
Night of the Party. Remember that the "Michael Powell Retrospective"
was just a small part of the overall festival. There were many hundreds
of films being screened all together, about 70-80 per day for the 10 days.
They were shown in different theatres all over San Sebastian, most of
which were multi-screen complexes. I noticed that the Powell films were
being shown one day at the Cines Principe and the same films
would be shown the next day at the Salas Astoria. But the
Astoria was a bus ride away from the main town centre so I thought
it would be better to stick to the Principe.
So at about 4pm I headed off to start my viewing marathon. I settled
down to watch the film, quite pleased at the large attendance - BUT
there was something wrong! That wasn't Rynox they were showing, but
John Malkovich's The Dancer Upstairs (2002). I was in the
wrong place!! I had gone to the Teatro Principal, not to
the Cines Principe. In the words of that great philosopher,
Homer Simpson "Doh!".
I quickly left & found the right cinema. But by then they had already
started the screening and didn't let me in. Even worst, it was a
double screening where they were showing Rynox & Hotel
Splendide back to back. Still, not too disastrous. I had seen
Hotel Splendide at the NFT & I had Rynox on tape.
So I wandered off for a drink for an hour or two. By the end of the
festival we got to know the people at the Principe so well they would
have let me in even though the film had started. But this was just
the first day.
When I returned to the Principe I saw His Lordship & The
Fire Raisers. There was an hour's wait before they showed the
last film of the day, The Night of the Party, and by then
I was feeling tired. More from all the rushing around I'd been
doing to get everything sorted out on that first day. I can't
really claim jet lag (there's an hour's time difference between
England and Spain) but the traveling had probably added to the
tiredness & I hadn't slept much because of the excitement.
So I headed back to the hotel and so to bed.
On my third day there (Thursday 20th September), I thought it would
be nice to see Rynox on the big screen so I planned to see
that at the Astoria and then come back into town to see the other
films at the Pincipe. That meant missing Red Ensign at the
Principe but I'd seen that on a big screen at the NFT.
I also got a phone call from
Charles Doble and arranged
to go & see him at his hotel during the day. We'd emailed & spoken
on the phone but we'd never met before. Charles is a Devon farmer
and breeder of Highland cattle (shaggy coats & long horns). He
had met Michael Powell a few times and is good friends with
Ludmilla Tchérina. He has also met quite a few other people that
worked with P&P, especially those involved in his favourite
films, Oh... Rosalinda!! and Luna de Miel.
When we met he had some bad news for me - he confirmed that Ludmilla
would NOT be coming. I had known that she was in two minds about this.
She had wanted to come and they were screening 4 films that she
was in (TRS, ToH, OR! & LdM) but the festival organisers had been
messing her about, changing the days they wanted her to come and
changing the hotel they were willing to put her up at. She didn't
like or need that sort of treatment, so she said "up yours" (or
words to that effect) and stayed in Paris. I don't blame her, she
deserves better treatment than that. For a long time she was a bit
dismissive of her work in films, regarding it as just a way of earning
some easy money. She thought that it distracted from her real
art, ballet and later her sculpting. But Charles had persuaded her
to take another look at the films and consider that if it wasn't
for those films then she wouldn't be known & admired by as many people
as she now is. It's a shame she couldn't come, but I hope to meet her
some time in the near future.
As he had brought over so many cans of film, Charles had come
on the ferry & driven to San Sebastian. He could only stay a few
days, as he had to get back to his farm to look after his beasts.
Ludmilla had been due to come on the 26th & Charles would have
flown back just to be there with her. But now that she wasn't
coming that meant it wasn't worth his flying back.
Rosita Segovia, the second female lead in Luna de Miel and
our old friend, Professor Ian Christie were coming on the 25th
and Jack Cardiff was invited but as he was only just back from
Hollywood he wasn't sure if he could make it.
With that news and a lot of things to show & ask Rosita, Charles
and I talked about various other things, getting to know each
other and exchanging information. I left Charles, having agreed
to meet him later at the Astoria to see Rynox and went
into town to do some shopping & have something to eat.
I took the bus down to the Astoria. It's some way from the town
centre, in a more residential district. A lovely old theatre.
Their screen 5 has quite a large screen (about 10ft high) and seats
about 100 people. Some of the other Powell films were shown in their
screen 6 which I presume is larger but I never went in there.
Charles & his wife Susan arrived just before the film started. Rynox is
an interesting film. A clever story quite well told. Why nobody
realises that Boswell Marsh is really F.X. Benedik must be considered
to be part of the mystery. His makeup & behaviour is so over the
top as to be unreal.
They were screening Hotel Splendide immediately after
Rynox in a double bill (as they had done yesterday at the
Principe), but I had to dash out as soon as Rynox finished
and catch the bus back into town to see Something Always Happens
at the Principe. This was essential as it was one of the films
I'd missed seeing when they showed it at the NFT.
As I was settling down at the Principe,
Natacha Thiery came in. I had
met Natacha before, first at the screening of AMOLAD in the presence
of Jack Cardiff that she had organised (as part of a larger event)
in Oxford, and then at the
NFT in London and at
Warwick University where she
was presenting a paper. Natacha is writing her PhD thesis on Powell
& Pressburger. She started it at Oxford and is finishing it at the
Sorbonne in Paris.
Natacha had managed to get a press pass as well as she was
reporting on the festival for Positif magazine. We spent a lot of
time together during the rest of the festival, which was a pleasure
with such a delightful companion.
As I said, I have made detailed reports about each film seen in
another document. I just want to finish
up this report with some overall impressions and a few special
events.
The festival staff and facilities were wonderful. As it's the first
film festival I've attended I can't really compare it to anything
but we were very well looked after (when we needed it). Because
there were so many films being screened and so many people there
it was impossible to see and do everything. Careful planning
was needed. Lots of the people attending were interesting but had
no P&P connection, so we didn't bother with them. People like
Wim Wenders, Jessica Lange, Mike Leigh, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper
etc. Some did have a P&P connection: We would have liked to
have met Bertrand Travernier but he was only there for a while
& was kept quite busy. Natacha has interviewed him before so that
is some sort of contact.
Jack Cardiff did get there. There was a "press only" screening of
Black Narcissus that I went to where Jack, Ian Christie
& Rosita Segovia were introduced as guests of honour. There weren't
too many people there and as it was in the main Kursaal theatre
it looked emptier than it probably was. Jack received a standing
ovation and another round of applause when his name appeared on
the credits. But they couldn't stay until the end of the film,
which was a shame or they'd have heard another round of applause
at the end. It was a very good print (despite it having the dreaded
"blue out" mistake).
It was a better print than the one we had seen a few days before
at the Principe. We arrived a bit late for that one and it was
already quite full. Natacha spotted some seats & I asked the man
at the end of the row if we could get past. It was only as he
stood that I realised it was Francis Ford Coppola! He is a known
admirer of the Archers and gave Powell a job at his Zoetrope studio.
As we left I gave him a card & I hope to get in touch with him
to talk about Powell & Pressburger.
A few words about other people we met there:
Llorenç Esteve, the man
who has written the
first book on P&P in Spanish.
A couple of German gentlemen, Günther Berbalk and Bodo Schönfelder,
who apparently make a habit of attending retrospectives like this one.
Bodo is a film journalist & critic - but they both seemed to enjoy
themselves and were interested to hear more about the films.
Natacha & I had both met Jack Cardiff a few times before but
we also managed to have a word with him at his hotel.
Charles Doble said a few words at the first screening of Luna de
Miel, which were then translated into Spanish by
Idoia, the very friendly and
helpful lady who was managing the Powell screenings at the Principe.
When Luna de Miel was shown for the second time, Ian Christie
and Rosita Segovia were present (Charles had gone home). Rosita
loved it and gave squeals of delight to see all her old friends
in their prime. Natacha & I took Ian & Rosita out to lunch the
next day. We had found a very nice fish restaurant a few days
before, but when we got there - they were closed for lunch!
Or rather, they didn't start serving until 2pm & Ian and Rosita
both had to be elsewhere by then. So we just had some Tapas (Pinchos
in Basque country) and chatted away merrily. Rosita is a lovely
lady, very open and complimentary about the people she used to
dance and act with. She had some lovely stories to tell us, a few
of which are repeatable (but not here).
So, to summarise, it was a lovely festival. A very tiring time but
a wonderful time. The weather was great (not too hot and it
even cooled down as the festival progressed), the people were
lovely, the food (& drink) was wonderful. We were quite sad as we said
our goodbyes to everyone.
On the plane home I spotted Bob Hoskins who had been awarded a prize
at the festival. While we were waiting for our luggage at Heathrow
I congratulated him on that, thanked him for all the wonderful
films he's made and then asked if I could shake the hand that throttled
Roger Rabbit. He laughed at that, a very nice man.
So a big thank you to everyone who helped organise the retrospective
(except for those who messed Ludmilla about). A big thank you to
all the festival personnel at the Kursall centre and at the Principe
(especially Idoia) and a big thank you to all the people of San
Sebastian who kept us fed, watered and entertained and put up
with that strange Englishman with the beard, red braces & panama
hat.
But most of all, a big hug and a kiss for Natacha, a lovely lady
who is due to become the first French Professor of P&P'ology.
People at the festival
Pictures from around San Sebastián
The San Sebastian Festival
