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One critic has referred to Unmade Beds helmer Nicholas Barker as, 'A fly on the wall turned into a vulture,'' another as, "The most sadistic director in the UK." Strangely, the remarks were meant as praise but draw your attention to the fact that Barker is at his best when he is picking at the chinks in our everyday armour and exposing human foibles for what they are. Winner of Best Film at Stockholm Film Festival and an audience favourite at fests worldwide, Unmade Beds chronicles the joys and frustrations of the dating game.
"I'd say 90% of the script was based on the actual behaviour and language of the four principal characters,'' claims Barker, "The rest is a pack of lies." The director spent months with a research team delving into the New York singles scene, poring over personals columns, canvassing bars and cafes and recruiting subjects. Over 400 New Yorkers were interviewed to enlist the four central characters.
"Of the four 'actors' whose edited life stories make up the film, only one of them - the formidable Brenda Monte - has any previous acting experience, but all four are compelling story tellers. These monologues of hope and failure in search for the perfect partner - or simply some warm flesh - are by turns funny and pathetic. But what makes them compelling is the unsolved question of how far Barker has manipulated his subjects." - Screen International
One of the finest contemporary examples of the increasingly blurred demarcation between documentary and drama, and a engrossing and frequently extraordinarily humorous film.
Born in Basingstoke in 1955, Nicholas Barker trained as an Anthropologist before joining the BBC as a radio producer. He was a joint BAFTA Award winner for his work on the seminal Live Aid concert before going on to create three of the BBC's most popular series in recent times. In 1990 Barker directed Washes Whiter, a satirical portrait of post-War Britain as seen through old TV commercials, this was followed by comedy of manners Sign of the Times (1992) and it's sequel From A to Be: Tales of Modern Motoring (1994).