Pull quote: «a ‘gay' sensibility is not the thematic preoccupation but rather woven into the texture of the film, subordinated to a broader narrative» Constantine Giannaris
Three Steps to Heaven is a comedy of revenge and self-discovery. In the after hours demi-monde of contemporary London, three dissolute characters - city whizz-kid Angel Farnham, left-wing MP Harry Roberts and TV gameshow hostess Andrea Wallis - abandon a new friend, Sean, after a wild party. His body winds up in the river. Pretty soon four lives are spinning out of control towards disaster...
Writer and director Connie Giannaris' feature is a farcical tragedy, combining black comedy, social satire, violence and a dash of S&M. Most of Giannaris' previous work as a director and writer has been concerned with specifically gay themes, but with this film he sought to address a wider audience. For Three Steps, he intended that, «a ‘gay' sensibility would not be the thematic preoccupation but rather be woven into the texture of the film, subordinated to a broader narrative.» Not surprisingly, then, his new film invites comparison with the work of Spanish campmeister Pedro Almodovar.
Given the quality of the cast and the number of locations, the film was ludicsouly cheap. As executive producer Ben Gibson explains, «Three Steps to Heaven was the first in a series of films to be developed and co-produced at the BFI which have an absolute budget ceiling... For Connie Giannaris, (producer) Rebecca Dobbs and a superlative crew to have pulled off a project of this complexity and ambition within a £500,000 budget is truly remarkable.»
The film has been bought by Miramax for UK and North America, and the BFI are expecting considerable interest in the remaining territories. It stars Katrin Cartlidge,a winner of the European Press Prize for Best Actress for her work in Mike Leigh's Naked, and also features James Fleet, one of the stars of British cinema's most succesful export,Four Weddings and a Funeral,.
Three Steps to Heaven, for Gibson, serves as an antidote to the picture of Britain presented by Four Weddings. Interestingly, James Fleet, another of that film's stars, John Hannah, appears in the BFI's other film at this year's Cannes, Madagascar Skin. The cash-starved BFI's plans to sign up Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, admits Gibson, have yet to materialise. Nick Thomas
Production companies: British Film Institute, Channel 4, Maya Vision.
Producer: Rebecca Dobbs.
Executive producer: Ben Gibson.
Director/Screenplay: Constantine Giannaris.
Cinematography: James Welland.
Prod design: Stephen McCabe.
Editor: Budge Tremlett.
Cast: Katrin Cartlidge, Frances Barber, James Fleet, Con O'Neill.
Running time: 90 minutes.
Sales: BFI Production
