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The Fame & Mixed Fortunes of...Christy Malry's Own Double Entry

By Stewart Home, 10 July 2001

A star vehicle for Nick Moran of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels fame with a script by ultra-hip playwright Simon Bent (Goldhawk Road, Shelter etc.) based on a cult novel of the same name by B. S. Johnson. The plot involves urban terrorism, perverse sex and the malign influence of the Italian renaissance on life in contemporary London.

“Malry has all the ingredients of a blockbuster, as well as a nifty line in art house tricks that add resonance and depth. Unfortunately, a national release date has yet to be set because the industry is dominated by people who lack the vision and the bottle to make a killing from the first great film of the twenty-first century. Since abandoning his training for the Jesuit priesthood, the career of director Paul Tickell has been dogged by controversy. His hard-hitting 1995 television mini-series, Zinky Boys Go Underground, about Afghan army veterans and drug running in Moscow is the only BAFTA award winning drama never to be repeated by the BBC. Tickell’s first feature, Crush Proof, wowed critics back in 1999, but his uncompromising portrayal of Dublin kids doing their own thing was still considered unsuitable for UK national release. This, despite Crush Proof doing brisk business in Europe and resurfacing recently on the Sky movie channel. Likewise, Tickell’s Arena documentary, Punk & The Pistols, didn’t enthral the BBC hierarchy, but Julian Temple was sufficiently impressed to rip it off wholesale in The Filth & The Fury. Fortunately there are other industry insiders who believe Tickell deserves more than backhanded compliments. Virgin has released Luke Haines’ stunning soundtrack for Malry, and with the help of PR firm Savage & Savidge they’ve been involved in organising private screenings at Soho House, as well as public ones at places like the ICA. Catch it if you can!

Stewart Home <www.stewarthomesociety.org> is, among other things, author of Neoism, Plagiarism & Praxis and The Assault on Culture: Utopian Currents from Lettrisme to Class War (both AK Press).

Christy Malry’s Own Double Entry // Paul TickellUntil now, the only UK screening has been at the ICA, London, 7th June.For more information, contact production company Vine International Pictures, T: +44 (0)1689 854123