Timecode 2 For Figgis

Director Mike Figgis has announced that his next project will follow the mould of his current release, the experimental effort Timecode. Speaking at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Figgis - who was there with Timecode and his adaptation of August Strindberg's play Miss Julie - hopes to set the film in contemporary Venice, around a hotel. "The background is really with the desire to carry on exploring this technique, having learned a phenomenal amount from doing Time Code," he said. "Particularly in the period from the end of the shooting to now. The luxury of time allows you to observe what works and what doesn't work. I just want to do it again. My primary aim is to raise enough money, which is difficult when there is no script, based on the idea that 'If you liked Time Code, I could do that again - sort of.'" The unique nature of Time Code, released in the UK this week, sees the screen divided into quarters, each showing a narrative that interweaves with the others. To achieve this, each 'story' - featuring the likes of Salma Hayek, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Holly Hunter - was shot on digital video overthe course of ninety minutes, with not one cut. For his Venice-set effort, he hopes to repeat the feat of Time Code, while expanding upon the notion further. "I'll put an ensemble together, with a rough story line. The characters are Eastern European, American-English, Scandinavian, whatever. I'd love a mixed cast, and I'd love to use more than one language, and use subtitles in more than one area." But how would Americans - not known for their love of reading subtitles - take to this piece of experimentation? "Fuck it, if they can't take a joke, man... Americans have to be the laziest film audience of all time. But when I screened Timecode there, it got a fantastic reception. The film makes you concentrate, whether you like it or not."