Dir.
Ed Blum, 2006, UK, 92mins
Ewan McGregor, Adrian Lester, Gina Mckee
Review by Emma Matthews
In the tranquil surroundings
of London’s
Hampstead Heath, on a hot Sunday afternoon in August, seven
couples discuss life, love and the pursuit of children. Winding
its way along the Heath, Scenes of a Sexual Nature eavesdrops
on a cornucopia of relationship issues; from a husband caught
staring at a young girl’s knickers, to a middle-aged
couple on an awkward blind date, and a man who would rather
pay for conversation than sex.
These days, the term "British comedy" tends to
conjure images of upper class excess, foppish Hugh-Grant-a-likes,
impossibly perfect surroundings and, of course, Richard Curtis.
Scenes of a Sexual Nature, by contrast, contains none of
the eccentricity of the upper classes, nor does it have even
the slightest whiff of Richard Curtiss; it does however,
take place entirely on the impossibly perfect stretch of
countryside that residents of Hampstead pay so much for the
privilege of calling home. Ridiculously beautiful locations
aside, Scenes is nonetheless British to the core. Written
by Catherine Tate co-scribe Aschlin Ditta, starring the best
acting talent Britain has to offer and made for less than £300K,
Scenes is an achievement that’s hard to beat. Made
up of seven short, often interwoven stories, first time director
Blum takes pleasure in the languid nature of the scenes.
Crediting the audience with an actual attention span, each
scene takes as long as it takes; no MTV style, nausea-inducing
editing, the final cut perfectly mirroring the lazy Sunday
afternoon portrayed on screen. The cast equip themselves
well, as you would expect from the likes of Ewan McGregor
and Adrian Lester; the surprises here are from the less well
known faces. Catherine Tate, playing blissful divorcee Sara
is beautifully restrained. Sara and ex husband Pete’s
(played by the always great value for money Lester) story
of a couple who are much better off single, is perhaps the
most emotionally resonant, and Tate proves that she is well
worth the praise that has been heaped on her in the last
year. However, the best performance accolade has to go to
Tom Hardy. Playing loveable fool Noel, a man so desperate
for sex that even the dogs aren’t safe, Hardy is indeed
foolish and loveable, if also slightly sick.
The script is lively enough, with
a good balance of pathos to humour, even if occasionally
it veers into the realms of smugness. Ditta clearly honed
his skills at the BBC, and at times Scenes does feel a
little like a Beeb production, the direction dips from
languid to plain flat occasionally, and a couple of the
stories perhaps go on a little too long, but these are
minor quibbles. Given the achievement on display here,
Scenes of a Sexual Nature is well worth 90 minutes of your
life, and you’ll be supporting British Talent
to boot. Richard Curtis take lots of notes.
SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE ON DVD!
Love. The four-letter word that makes the world go round.
Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it and some pay for
it, but it touches us all at one time. One summer's afternoon
on Hampstead Heath, seven different couples experience love
in its many guises.
First time British director ED BLUM presents Scenes of a
Sexual Nature, an intelligent, touching and very funny rom-com,
which is available to buy and rent on DVD from 12th March
2007, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
The stellar line up of British talent includes EWAN McGREGOR
(Big Fish, The Island, Moulin Rouge!), ADRIAN LESTER (Primary
Colors, TV's Hustle), CATHERINE TATE (Starter for 10, TV's
The Catherine Tate Show), ANDREW LINCOLN (Love Actually,
TV's Afterlife), SOPHIE OKONEDO (Stormbreaker, Aeon Flux),
HUGH BONNEVILLE (Notting Hill), GINA McKEE (MirrorMask, TV's
The Forsyte Saga), POLLY WALKER (Patriot Games, TV's Rome),
TOM HARDY, (Marie Antoinette, Layer Cake) and DAME EILEEN
ATKINS (Cold Mountain, The Hours).
Scenes of a Sexual Nature - DVD Trailer Links
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