Director: Xiaolu Guo.
Certificate: TBA.
Running Time: 76 minutes.
Synopsis: Director Xiaolu Guo – not a British native – decides to go out on the streets and find the voices of ordinary people. She asks them about their take on London life, people and the hardships they have faced and overcome.
LATE AT NIGHT: VOICES OF ORDINARY MADNESS is essentially a visualized speakers’ corner. This is further reinforced in a segment where director Xiaolu Guo shows a diverse group speaking their mind at the speakers’ corner in Hyde Park. Essentially a collection of rants from the intrusive homeless we avoid on our way home, these tremendous, often overlooked people are given focus, attention and, in a bizarre way, even respect. It goes to show that most people do have an interesting story to tell and we just need to find a way to want to listen.
Despite the variety of interviews and everyone having very different backgrounds and lives, they all agree and dwell on one thing; things have changed and used to be better. As one woman laments, even the weather used to be better. A featured news reporter may criticise the importance of consumerism, but also serves to show how celebrity worship is better suited to a different documentary as the director’s message becomes muddled. At times, focusing on the homeless, the poor, the hardworking and immigrants can feel exploitative. Somebody says, “exploitation is good, the exploiter will keep you alive because he sees value in you.” This justifies Guo’s depiction, but doesn’t distract from the exploitative nature.
The direction in which the news reporter and visually grating quotes take the movie into in fact suggests that the documentary has no goal and would have been better appreciated with no narration, and no ironic newsreader. The crew working on the film consisted of no one but director Guo and editor Philippe Ciompi, and it is admirable that they still managed to produce such a thought-provoking and engaging film.
LATE AT NIGHT: VOICES OF ORDINARY MADNESS is a summary of what everyone seems to be feeling but not everyone is saying. Comments about David Cameron, immigration, poverty, benefits and more are all discussed and frankly dissected by the various contributors. Guo has made a lot of effort to show the diversity of London, and the film serves as a great tribute to the city and its people, making the documentary a perfect fit for the London Film Festival.
LATE AT NIGHT: VOICES OF ORDINARY MADNESS is showing at the LFF on the 10th and the 12th of October. Check out the rest of our LFF coverage here.
