Tomorrow I begin screening films that will be featured at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival and the first day will include Sam Mendes’ Away We Go, but more important is the film I will be watching immediately afterwards, Morris: A Life With Bells On.
Considering it is a film shot as a documentary focusing on Derecq Twist, the leader of Millsham Morris, one of the leading Morris teams in the country, it may not sound like much. However, when I tell you Morris dancing is in fact a rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers using items such as sticks, swords, and most importantly, handkerchiefs, I hope you begin to take me a little more seriously. And then when I tell you Derecq Twist does not only participate in Morris dancing, but in fact practices Extreme Morris with the goal of pulling off the mystical and legendary Threeple Hammer Damson, I hope you have enough self control to manage your excitement.
At the press launch for SIFF they showed a trailer reel as they do every year, and the trailer featured below for Morris A Life With Bells On had the audience rolling.
The film is directed by debut helmer Lucy Akhurst and was written by Charles Thomas Oldham who also stars as the main character Derecq. I would cite the rest of the synopsis, but watching the trailer does more than I could ever do with words. However, you can get the synopsis right here as well as a look at 70 images from the film right here including a look at the poster, which I featured directly below the trailer.
Morris does not yet have a release date, but if it lives up to the trailer below I expect we will hear something really soon.
Get a look at the hi-res poster as well as 69 more images from the film right here.
