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Book Review: Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

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In this literary coming-of-age debut set against the height of the AIDS epidemic, we follow 14 year-old June, a refreshingly under-self-aware protagonist tasked with discovering her beloved, recently-departed uncle Finn’s past. The once-famous artist’s final portrait of June and sister Greta becomes the still centrepiece of her emotionally tumultuous life: petrified yet ever-changing to the beholder.

Brunt captures sibling rivalry with almost terrifying aplomb to paint the picture of a weird wee sister striving for approval. Self-doubt mars June’s attempts to read the complex portrait of her family’s conflicted grief; meanwhile Brunt lays subtle hints to gather beyond June’s first-person narration.

Unspoken tensions and a gradual uncovering of characters’ secret pasts build, making the novel an intriguing slow-burner with enough substance to back it up. At times too keen for big resolutions, this is nonetheless a solid effort that elevates the bildungsroman beyond today’s love-triangle-filled world of YA fiction.

Buy Tell the Wolves I’m Home at The Book Depository | Amazon.

Review originally published by The List magazine.

Robot & Frank: Real Steal

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Robot & Frank sees old film school friends, first-time feature director Jake Shreier, and writer Christopher D. Ford, team up with Frank Langella on a one-of-a-kind project of digital versus paper and motherboard versus heart.
Set in a near but undefined future, ageing retired thief Frank (Langella) lives a solitary life as he slips slowly into the grips of dementia. At first it may seem like your typical crotchety Grandad finds love story, but Frank has a darker past, and his fondness for visiting the library – and its last remaining human librarian, Jennifer (Susan Sarandon) – is more than a simple subplot. This is a film about being put out to pasture and the loss of tangible things.
Tired of dealing with Frank’s foul temper, son Hunter (James Marsden) installs a caretaker robot in his father’s home, much to the chagrin of Frank and distant daughter Madison (Liv Tyler). The machine voiced by Peter Sarsgaard, what follows is a sweet, subtle tale of friendship. Wry wit and a twist on the old buddy caper formula veers this away from a treatise on ethics, though the subject is used to comic effect, as one man and his selfless robot find their feet in a mutually agreeable friendship. As Frank revives past loves, thievery and otherwise, the story develops into a heartfelt exploration of memory and time.
Lead actor Frank Langella has spoken about working with first-time directors, Robot & Frank being the latest of his six collaborations with new filmmakers in the past ten years. “There is something terrific when you get to be my age to be gained by thinking you don’t know anything. I was once a 26 year-old actor… I like to give young people a piece of rope. If they hang themselves, they hang themselves. But none of them have.”
In fact, Langella worked closely with the filmmakers on the script forRobot & Frank. “It was one of the most original scripts I’ve been offered, [but] it still needed to go somewhere and relate to a man of my age, so I sat down with the writer and the director and we talked about what a 70 year-old man is feeling – because they couldn’t possibly know. They incorporated a lot of that into the movie.”
“I thought the premise, the characters, and that sort of sad, sweet, funny goal of the picture was so original. They just don’t come along that often.”

Robot & Frank is released in UK cinemas 8th March 2013.

Glasgow Film Festival Review – IndieGame: The Movie

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IndieGame: The Movie – as the title suggests – an indie movie for indie video game addicts. While teams of hundreds toil away on big-name releases like Call of Duty and L.A. Noire, a team of two sacrificed their social lives to create Super Meat Boy. Meanwhile Phil Fish, creator of the much-anticipated video game Fez, spent 4 years designing, re-designing, and lawsuit-battling to retain creative control and a timely release of his personal indie playpen. Braid creator Jonathan Blow also chips in with tales of success and internet comment evisceration.

 Made possible through crowd funding, the film, directed by Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, is comprised of interviews interspersed with gameplay. Capitalising on simplicity, they capture the influences and passions of these sometimes life-long creators. Driven by the desire to make something deeply personal, the film aptly demonstrates just how much they are willing sacrifice to that end, bearing hardship and lives on pause to reach that goal of a completed game.

IndieGame: The Movie screens at Glasgow Film Festival on 19 and 22 February. Buy your tickets here.