From Elephant, Alan Clarke, 1988
A friend writes,
“Dear Glenn,
I was reading Armond White’s review of Fish Tank and I came upon a passage that confused me more than usual. White is of the opinion that Tank director Andrea Arnold’s brand of realism lacks compared with that of her forbears, so naturally he brings up her forbears, among them the late great Alan Clarke. Like so: ‘Arnold introduces Mia…in a single shot that instantly recalls Alan Clarke’s truth-hunting technique in the 1989 film Elephant (about a sullen overweight black girl misunderstood by family and social workers).’ Okay, I was with White all the way up to the plot description. Clarke’s Elephant depicts a series of separatist killings in Northern Ireland, one by one, without a sullen overweight black girl in sight. So I’m like, ‘Well, maybe White is thinking about Gus Van Sant’s Elephant.’ But that’s a Columbine riff; lotsa pretty white teenagers, no sullen black girl. At least for any length of time. Compounding the confusion is the fact that White alludes to Precious…which is about a…well, you know, just before bringing up Clarke and Elephant. I know you’re foresworn taking White to task these days, but I have to know: is this just a particularly bad cut-and-paste gaffe, or is something else going on here?
Thanks, Corn-fused”
Dear Corn-fused,
I think White has got Elephant mixed up with R.H.I.N.O.. And no, that’s not a bad joke. I mean it is, but not just that. Let me explain. Alan Clarke never made a film about a sullen overweight black girl; white Brit males with violent tendencies was more his speed. One of the most memorable of such types was played by Tim Roth in Clarke’s 1982 Made In Britain. Britain was written by David Leland, who would later go on to write and direct Wish You Were Here, which White also believes Fish Tank compares poorly to. And back when Leland wrote Made in Britain for Clarke, he also wrote something of a companion piece to it: R.H.I.N.O./Really Here In Name Only, focusing on a disenfranchised character who’s the opposite number of Britain’s racist yob: yes, you guessed it, a sullen, overweight black girl misunderstood by family and social workers. It’s not as if Precious invented such a characterization, right? Directed by Jane Howell, R.H.I.N.O., which I’ve never seen, looks to be a pretty inaccessible-in-the‑U.S. piece, so I’m impressed that White knows it. Sort of. Any further elucidation on it from readers would be most welcome.
It was part of a short-lived ITV series of one-off dramas called “Tales out of School” all written by Leland, which included “Made In Britain” , “Flyng Into the Wind”, and Mike Newell’s “Birth of a Nation”. I vaguely remember the controversy they all stirred up – I was a little kid at the time – but R.H.I.N.O. has never been available on VHS or DVD in the UK. “Made In Britain” is the only one which has really remained in circulation. Chris Menges photography, Google tells me, on R.H.I.N.O. How anybody could mistake Clarke’s incredible “Elephant” for anything else I can’t fathom.
Leland was a great writer back then and it seems like his work as a Director almost ruined him – he wrote nothing of note for a decade between 1987 and 1998, but he directed two mediocre films; “The Big Man” with Liam Neeson and “Checking Out” with Jeff Daniels. “The Land Girls” which he wrote and directed in 1998, is surprisingly good, though.
The most surprising aspect of all this is that these films were on ITV, not BBC or Channel 4. ITV is now most famous as home of Pop Idol, Britains Got Talent and Hell’s Kitchen. Its Drama output for much of the last decade has been execrable.
Other weirdnesses in the White piece – comparing Alan Clarke (deadpan, minimalist, extreme) to Shane Meadows (Godardian, third-wall-breaking, cuddly/vicious/hip). Also, the big musical number in Rita, Sue and Bob Too was provided by teethgrindingly horrible novelty act Black Lace, doing their remarkable tune Gang Bang (no relation to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band track of the same name). I can’t recall any Bananarama in there, though I am quite prepared to be told I’m mistaken.
Now, can you explain the point of his recent Variety piece? At this point, I’d just be happy if someone translated it to English.
They actually discuss the lack of availability, obliquely, in Blue Underground’s Alan Clarke boxed set (which I own and you should too: “Scum” (both versions), “The Firm” and “Elephant” are all classics, while “Made in Britain” is superbly acted but stagy as all hell). If I remember correctly (and I might not), the demand wasn’t there except for “Made in Britain”, which is one of those movies that the people it’s talking about miss the point and think it’s brilliant praise of their lifestyle. Ah, commerce.