Pianomania (E)
WHO’D have thought it? A documentary about a piano tuner that turns out to be an absolute joy.
Of course, he’s not just any piano tuner. He’s Stefan Knupfer, Master Tuner of the Steinway company and the man who deals with the neuroses of concert pianists across Europe on a daily basis.
Stefan’s is a world where a single speck of dust out of place inside a grand piano can change its tone, where his task is to turn “the colour” inside a pianist’s head into a reality. There’s a brilliant moment where Stefan is in despair because a part has arrived 0.7mm too big (yes less than 1mm), an error he spots instantly. We see the astonishing preparations for recordings and concerts, with Stefan answering the every whim of the pianists, sometimes more than a year ahead of the event. He is the technician who lets the genius of the musicians shine and he’s an absolute star. He’s wonderfully aware of how crazy his world is, submerged in sonic minutiae, but a smile and some very German-style humour is never far away. Adorned with some superb music, Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis’ film deserves its own standing ovation.
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Harry Hill’s TV Burp: The Best Bits (PG)
HARRY Hill presides over this compilation from his BAFTA award-winning comedy show, poking fun at the week’s television and spoofs some of our favourite programmes with the help of celebrity guests. Apart from the usual array of fights and winks to camera, we’re treated to Mr Blobby on Undercover Princesses and a girl with an unnatural fear of presenters Ant and Dec. The DVD includes exclusive and previously unseen extras.
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Come On Eileen (15)
FORMER dancer and recovering alcoholic Eileen enters into a new relationship with pothead former cricketer Bill. All seems well but her own insecurities see her lapse back into drinking, reviving past horrors for son Jimmy and daughter Gypsy.
Eileen’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and there are some horrible scenes to sit through as the drink takes hold, not least when she dances to her signature tune at the cricket club. The problem is you don’t really care very much. There’s little to recommend most of the characters and even cameos by Keith Allen as Eileen’s ex-husband and Noel Fielding as Gypsy’s rock star boyfriend fail to lift the drudgery. It’s all very well trying to create kitchen-sink dramas but this script should have been firmly placed in the waste disposal.
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