After last year’s Alternative Christmas Film Advent Calendar’s globetrotting venture this year things settle in to spend Christmas at home. There are a good deal of classic British Christmas films, and plenty of festive features which love to pitch a rom-com in London or a castle in the country, but this year the Calendar grabs a mince pie and takes a look at some lesser known or thought of British Christmas films.
In terms of food, the festive season may bring to mind thoughts of warmer comfort foods and snacking, alongside the obvious thought of Christmas dinner. What it might not create thoughts of is ice cream, even something as luxurious as Viennetta. However, as the season to be jolly unfolds local radio presenter Alan ‘Dickie’ Bird (Bill Paterson) finds himself caught up in a battle between rival ice cream van groups. Neither particularly capturing the title of Comfort And Joy.
Alan finds himself feeling particularly un-festive, even if his jovial radio persona says otherwise to his dedicated fans, after his girlfriend (Eleanor David) leaves him, taking most of the items in their home. Unable to concentrate properly on his job – ad reads just aren’t the same in the wake of this turn in his life – he finds himself pulled into trying to stop the rivalry between two mob-like (one much more than the other) ice cream van groups before people get covered in blood over raspberry sauce, or his car gets even more beaten up. With the big day approaching it seems as if Alan, and everything around him, will be particularly broken and at odds with the spirit of the season.
While he broadcasts messages between ‘Mr Bunny’ (Alex Norton) and ‘Mr McCool’ (Roberto Bernardi) on his early morning radio show throughout the film, perhaps the best moment of presenting comes towards the end as Alan summarises his position at the end of the narrative in rather relaxed, and relaxing fashion. Raising a glass to himself and the listener/ viewer. Because, isn’t Christmas widely seen as a time for reflection and bringing people together, putting differences aside? Comfort And Joy certainly embraces this within its Bill Forsyth written (to BAFTA-nominated extent) and directed narrative.
As an actual event Christmas may be lightly scattered throughout, the odd decoration and festive track can be heard here and there but this is a film void of snow and seasonal knitwear, but with its handful of elements and the themes of the narrative it wraps itself up as a fitting film for the countdown to the big day. Particularly within the alternative frame which the Calendar focuses on. There’s a coldness to some of the environments – not just because of the freezers – and certain interactions with characters. Getting across the humour, particularly with Paterson’s charmingly performed outsider to the whole situation, only involved because he wanted to talk to the girl in the ice cream van he saw in traffic (Clare Grogan’s Charlotte). By the end of Alan’s venture, during the aforementioned lookback broadcast in the film’s closing stages, there’s a good deal of warm comfort to be found, and hints of joy scattered throughout the proceedings leading up to it.
Comfort And Joy can be watched in the following places:
Amazon
Apple TV/ iTunes
BFI Player
ITVX
If you don’t have a copy of the film on one of the various home entertainment mediums currently and formerly available on the market JustWatch should have a list of places where you can buy, rent and stream it in whichever country you find yourself in.
Just A Little Bit Random 