Why we picked it – We showed Clio Barnard’s film Ali & Ava last year. This is one of her earlier films, also set in Bradford.
Synopsis – This dramatised documentary about the playwright Andrea Dunbar is a sad and sorry tale of terrible choices, not brightened by the brief flare of fame. It explores the difficult relationship between Dunbar and her daughter Lorraine. By the time she died – as she had lived, in the pub – at the tragically young age of 29, she had had three works performed at the Royal Court Theatre, with one made into a film, while producing three children by as many partners. Her first play, The Arbor (1980), is the autobiographical story of a pregnant teenager with a drunken father on a Bradford estate. The second, Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1982) explores similar themes and Dunbar disowned the film version which was rewritten with a happier ending. Her third and final play, Shirley (1986), depicts a girl’s relationship with her mother.
The film – The film is inspired by verbatim theatre, in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about particular events. Audio recordings of Lorraine Dunbar and other family members are lip-synched by professional actors in set-designed environments. Barnard used a similar technique in an earlier short film Random Acts of Intimacy. The film also includes scenes from The Arbor, Dunbar’s first play written when she was 15 which is performed outdoors by a mix of actors and estate residents, the 1986 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too as well as archive footage. Barnard’s original intention was to make a film about the changes that had come to Bradford’s Brafferton Arbor estate but, after speaking with, Lorraine, this is what emerged. If you would like to know more, watch the interview with Barnard below.
Director: Clio Barnard; Cinematography: Øle Birkeland; UK, 2010, 94 mins,15