Curated by Richard Wolstencroft
Join us at MUFF XI for the first ever Bret Easton Ellis cinema
retrospective to celebrate Bret coming to our shores. At MUFF XI
we present a focus on the films adapted from Ellis' literary work.
When he burst on the scene at 21 with his debut novel Less Than Zero,
Ellis told it how it was ... and the news was not good. Over the last
25 years he has documented the lifestyle of the rich and vacuous with
the skill of a post modern F. Scott Fitzgerald. Producing such exemplary
works as The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama, Lunar Park
and The Informers, Ellis is considered by many to be the quintessential
literary voice of our time. His oeuvre explores and critiques the dark
essence of our age like no other, and for me and many others he is the
prime spokesman of our era; its dark literary prince. We present four
feature films from Ellis' work at MUFF XI, and invite you to immerse
yourself in the Ellis experience, rediscover his vision and learn how
the surface of things is all that really matters anymore.
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American Psycho
Dir. Mary Harron
9PM > Thu 26 Aug > Shed4
Ellis' most disturbing book and possibly finest film is American Psycho, a psychotic tour de force examination of Capitalism in ALL its ugliness. Anti-hero serial killer Patrick Bateman embodies everything that is wrong with the world as a charismatic Wall Street sociopath. Harron's adaptation launched the adult career of Christian Bale and provides a startling portrait of contemporary nihilism. Bateman's era has not gone away – indeed it has only become more entrenched, more total, and its evil growing ever stronger.
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The Informers
Dir. Gregor Jordan
9PM > Sun 22 Aug > Classic
The most recent adaptation of Ellis' work, The Informers adapts the masterful short story collection from 1992 charting the intersecting lives and desperation of youth in early 80's LA. Director Gregor Jordan does the Australian art film take on Ellis' work to create a compelling and interconnected puzzle-box of nihilism. I personally love this film and think it is the best thing Jordan has done, showing great maturity and fair artistic vision. The film is bleak, empty,
dark ... and without hope. Therefore it is a pretty decent adaptation.
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Less Than Zero
Dir. Marek Kanievska
9PM > TUE 24 Aug > 1000 £ BEND
Ellis' first novel was quickly adapted by Hollywood in the late 80's. Though taking a more cautious and moral view than its source novel (as protagonist Clay points out in Ellis' recent literary sequel Imperial Bedrooms), the film still yields a sense of power and undeniable charm. It sums up a time and place perfectly, and Robert Downey Jr. excels as the drugged out Julian – a role Downey Jr., was to take up in his private life also – while James Spader delivers in spades as a menacing Rip.
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THE Rules of Attraction
Dir. Roger Avary
9PM > Mon 23 Aug > 1000 £ BEND4
Pulp Fiction writer and Killing Zoe director creates what Ellis feels is the most accomplished cinema adaptation of his novels. Avery has a natural affinity for the material and attacks it with the resources of a creative and inventive filmmaker, bringing something new to the work that enhances the original story. Time lapse photography, looping backwards sequences, eschewed narrative; Avery experiments the way Ellis did with the book and somehow they both gel rather well, particularly given the excellent performances by
a well-chosen cast.
