Little White Lies is a monthly, British Independent film magazine that features writing, photography and illustration related to cinema. It is published in London and the first issue was released in 2005. Each issue features a cover illustration of the feature film. Previous covers have featured films such as ‘Man on Wire’ (Marsh) 2008, ‘An Education’ (Scherfig) 2009, ‘Black Swan’ (Aronofsky) 2010, and the 2010 American crime drama ‘Drive’ (Refn).

Little White Lies would be an appropriate magazine to feature our film ‘Malice in Manhattan’ as film noir is no longer as popular as it once was, and therefore film noir’s made today are aimed at a niche audience. This being an independent magazine, the content is focused on independent, low budget films as well as bigger releases such as ‘Black Swan’, but compared to the other existing film magazines such as ‘Total Film’ and ‘Empire’, which tend to focus on the blockbuster releases, our film fits better into the arty, independent side of film.

Little White Lies tend to feature reviews of older, classic films such as ‘Chinatown’ (Polanski) 1974 and ‘A Place In The Sun’ (Stevens) 1951. By doing this, they are aiming their magazine at an audience who have a keen interest in film or are students. This is a magazine for people who understand genre conventions, inter-textual references, and have watched a lot of films. Little White Lies is similar to ‘Sight & Sound’, a film magazine with more intellectual content and reads further into the films it reviews.

This is a cover I have designed for our film that would feature on the cover of the magazine, by using a posturized effect, the style fits in with previous covers, and also works well in showing the modern style noir we were going for.

Malice In Manhattan’ opens with New York traffic,

accompanied with a brooding American narration setting the scene. This film noir is different, managing to incorporate elements of neo noir, yet still in keeping with the classic genre conventions such as the dominant femme fatale and the classic 1930’s style typewriter.

The main protagonist, Gerald Lloyd is your typical 1930’s American male. Dressed in a fedora hat and braces, he sits at an office desk on the phone showing signs of the famous Noir character Walter Neff. He is calm, cool and collected, yet by use of suggestive cinematography there is a cloud of guilt hanging over his head, making a very interesting opening scene.

Directed by Abbie Loosemore, and starring Jason Garside, who has also appeared in several art house films, and the 2010 award winning thriller ‘Sorry’ elements of modern film making are clearly going to be found. Subtle references to gambling, theft and gangs, “I only took what they asked” suggest certain elements of neo noir are being carefully crafted into a classic Noir era full of liquor and seductive women.

I should also mention the stunning debut performance from up and coming star Anya Gritsenko as the manipulative and sexy femme fatale, Lola Odell. Throughout the film she remains the independent, attractive, gun wielding temptress, capturing the attention of the men in the audience, as well as Gerald himself.

This striking attempt at traditional film noir is a must see. Showing from 21.03.13 at ‘Arts Picturehouse’ cinemas across the country, ‘Malice in Manhattan’ is dark, sexy and tragic, everything a film noir should be.

Anticipation: The first black and white film noir to reach cinemas in a while, but haven’t we seen it

all before – 3

Enjoyment: gripping, and dark, Garside’s

performance as the troubled lead is outstanding – 4

In Retrospect: A must see, thrilling and

captivating from start to finish - 4

THAT PROMISCOUS SMILE WOULD BE THE Anya Gritsenko stars at the

beautiful and seductive Lola Odell. We spoke to her about her time working on the film and what it was like taking on the role of a femme fatale.

Gritsenko: Working on ‘Malice in Manhattan’ was such a great opportunity. I have always loved film noir so having the chance to be a part of one was amazing.

“What was it like working with your co-star, Jason Garside?”

Gritsenko: Being able to star alongside Jason was so much fun, he is great to work with and he is very talented. He captures the essence of an anti-hero so well, so yeah, it was really great.

“What was it about this film that made you agree to be a part of it?”

Gritsenko: The era of film noir is just beautiful, and the fashion aspect of course! I love the idea of having a dominant woman in a film. It is something that has always interested me. I’m just so lucky to have been a part of something like this!

“How would you describe your character of Lola?”

Gritsenko: Lola is everything a femme fatale should be, seductive, manipulative, independent, malicious. She uses Gerald, and when she finds out he has betrayed her, she gets her revenge.

She is as Enigmatic as Gerald, which is what makes this such a captivating relationship.

“What is the message of the film?”

Gritsenko: It’s about trust and how people are like dominos and it only takes one person to start a chain reaction, causing them all to fall down.

“And finally, what can we expect from you in the future?”

Gritsenko: Well I’m currently working on a short film in the US and then im coming back to London to start work on a new crime thriller, but I can’t tell you about that yet!

‘Malice in Manhattan’ is showing at ‘Arts Picturehouse’ cinemas across the country from 21.03.13.