An aged art connoisseur (Beaumont) and his young female neighbour (Coles), who has a job posing naked in a club, meet and exist in fantasy and reality. Although this raises certain much-discussed questions about the nature of representation, and about the construction of narrative and daydreams in films, 'Phoelix' tends to treat these as just pretty and pertinent issues, opting instead for a mannered concentration on detail.
Direction
Ambrose's obsessive detail work turns every frame into argument.
Acting
Beaumont's aged longing meets Coles's opaque, deliberate presence.
Cinematography
Skin and shadow negotiate power in every carefully blocked shot.
Director
Anna Ambrose
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cosey Fanni Tutti was already legendary in industrial music; her casting blurs performance art boundaries. spoilerLevel: FREE
Made during 1970s UK experimental film's peak, when Arts Council funding let directors ask impossible questions slowly. spoilerLevel: FREE
GB
