NICE TIME

"Nice Time is a film about Piccadilly Circus in 1957 There are kiosks where hot dogs and porno magazines are sold, silent and patient lines in front the movie theaters and posters which flaunt the glories of war or the horrors of science fiction. There are solitary faces, inquisitive looks, the parade of amateur and professional street 'performers'. And lording over everything is the ironic symbol of Eros.
In size and variety, Piccadilly Circus and its surrounding streets holds a concentration of all that London has to offer in entertainment and diversion. So, the statue of Eros aptly rules over the Saturday night crowds in Nice Time. Some of them have come for the organized entertainment theaters, movie theaters, and dancing halls. Others have fun as part of the crowd itself. The street is their show. This is the way it is for us, the audience of Nice Time. The street shows its big neon signs, its peddlars of souvenirs and trinkets, and its barkers who shout out the prices of movie tickets. The young look for adventure. The others, old and young, look for company meet friends and make new friends.
The film was made by two young Swiss who had worked with the British Film Institute. It is a sometimes devastating and bitter presentation of London night life. But at the same time the film shows the various levels on which life is lived in Piccadilly the 'conflicts and contrasts' recalled by the filmmakers. These 'conflicts and contrasts' are captured in the film thanks to the splendid job done by cameraperson John Fletcher and to the sound track of a skiffle group. These two elements combine to define the atmosphere of the Circus very precisely as they are seen by the two directors. In the montage, the mismatching of the images and the sound produces ironic effects, as during the playing of the national anthem during the shot of a big advertisement for Coca Cola." (Catalogue of the British Film Institute Productions 19511976, London, BFI 1977)

Director and screenplay: Claude Goretta, Alain Tanner.
Fotografia e suono: John Fletcher.
Music: Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group.
Production company: Experimental Film Production Fund.