On the case... scene from Palimpsest, one of the films in competition at the Courmayeur Noir in festival
The Courmayeur Noir in festival, which takes place annually in early December in a picture-postcard ski resort in the shadow of Mont Blanc, is de facto the International Mystery Film festival and one of my annual highlights.
I was first invited as a guest speaker to its literary sidebar over 18 years ago when the festival took place in Cattolica on the Adriatic. It then moved on for two glorious years to Viareggio on the Tyrrhenian, where writers such as Derek Raymond, James Ellroy, Robert Bloch, JG Ballard and many others mingled freely between screenings and bars with film types such as Quentin Tarantino, Krzysztof Kieslowski and Nic Roeg. It was also where, as the solitary British representative one year, I was called upon on awards night to accept the best actor prize on behalf of my countryman Jeremy Irons (by the way, Jeremy, it's still safely in my care as you never arranged to pick it up!). I still recall the heavy collective sigh of disappointment as I walked on stage. It certainly puts a writer in his proper place in the pecking order of fame.
The festival has been run for years by the triumvirate of film critic and Hitchcock expert Giorgio Gosetti (who also recently became the director of the Rome film fest), literature expert and broadcaster Marina Fabbri and Emanuela Cascia. Having become by default its Brit representative, alongside my fellow Crime Scene organiser Adrian Wootton (who now heads Film London), I even managed a stint on the film jury four years ago, flanked by a French actress, an Italian author, Italian actor Luigi Lo Cascio and a bulky Serb best known as a Bond movie villain. Because I was late for breakfast one morning, they duly elected me president of the jury in my absence, which resulted in another humbling stage experience where I awarded the best film prize, known as the Leone Nero (Black Lion), and announced it as the Leone Rosso (Red Lion), which was also the name of one of the best restaurants in town. Did I mention that apart from movies and great company, Courmayeur has memorable food?
And so to the festival's 16th year. I'm not just a hanger-on yet again as the translation of my last novel has just been published in Italy and I'm officially here to plug it. Other crime authors present include Peter James, Andrew Taylor, James W Hall, Arnaldur Indridason from Iceland, Jo Nesbo from Norway, Harlan Coben and the crème de la crème of Italian mystery writing.
Adrian and I have managed to convince Elmore Leonard to come, and on Thursday night he will be given the life achievement Raymond Chandler award, while a retrospective of films adapted from his books is being screened throughout the week. This year's jury includes Brit director Mike Hodges; singer and author Davide Di Leo (aka Busta), who is, I'm told, the Italian equivalent to Nick Cave; the Manetti brothers (a directing duo whose film The 17th Floor won last year's public award); and Peter James, who in addition to his writing hat is also a film producer (Michael Radford's Merchant of Venice being one recent example). Lo and behold, Peter has just been nominated president of the jury, as the only beardless member of the group. As good a reason as any, I suppose.
I've made lasting friendships and contacts over the past years here, as the fairytale setting and the convivial atmosphere and welcoming hotel bars and local cafes bring people together in such close proximity. This year is likely to prove the same again, and I'm already on first name terms with an Icelandic actor and producer and a major Polish actor. And so far, the first four films in competition have been surprisingly strong. But more on that in a few days.
