A sleepy seaside town on the south coast of England. Young Robert Carmichael is a promising student with a gift for music. However, he feels estranged from his family and the violent world of war as shown through the media, his deepest feelings are suppressed or ignored. Falling in with a group of dispossessed teenagers, he falls under their influence and finds their drug-fuelled world offers him the escape route he needs.
A disturbing shocking debut from a new young British director, The Great Ecstacy of Robert Carmichael has both startled with its audacity and shocked with its voyeuristic brutality. Whilst Daniel Spencer makes his acting debut as Carmichael, the film includes familiar faces such as Danny Dyer (recently seen in Football Factory, The Business and Severance), Michael Howe (Hollyoaks/ Casualty), Rob Dixon (Emmerdale , Peak Practice) and Stuart Laing (Holby City; Rob Minter from Eastenders) Clay’s visual essay on the state of British Society from its dehumanising , colourless environment which drains Robert of any individual growth, turning his frustration into violent, explosive rage. All this happens against the backdrop of the Iraqi war, adding an angry commentary to events, questioning the moral judgements of the country’s politicians. The notorious brutality of the final scenes are comparable to A Clockwork Orange, making it one of Britain’s most controversial films of modern times.
Additionally, the film is infused with Clay’s passion for European cinema, carrying a bleakness shared by Michael Haneke, Von Trier and even Bergman’s The Virgin Spring. The distinctive look of the film is provided by renowned Greek cinematographer, Yorgos Arvanitis whose craftsmanlike skills have distinctly toned the work of Catherine Breillat (Anatomy of Hell/ A Ma Soeur!) and Theo Angelopoulos (The Beekeeper/ Ulysses’ Gate). The Great Ecstacy of Robert Carmichael is powerful and harrowing, but marks the emergence of a new enfant terrible of British cinema.
DVD extras include: documentary featurette; deleted scenes.
Anamorphic widescreen Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround; DTS Digital Surround 5.1; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
THE GREAT ECSTACY OF ROBERT CARMICHAEL is available on retail DVD only priced £19.99 on the 26th of February 2007
