Director Tom Hardiman on Buzzy Locarno Hairytale ‘Medusa Deluxe’
variety.comMarta Balaga Tom Hardiman becomes a director to track with “Medusa Deluxe,” a deliciously dark murder mystery set in the competitive hairdressing competition which is about to bow at Locarno.MUBI holds the rights to U.K./Ireland, France,Latin America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, India and Southeast Asia.
The film was developed and financed by the BFI and BBC Film.“I really care about hairdressing, it’s something I am really passionate about,” admits Hardiman, who “picked up their language” over time.“When they talk about Russian weaves [in the film], that came from a hairdresser in Peckham.
A lot of them say: ‘I am a hairdresser first, counsellor second.’ It’s a unique territory, but there is an acting side to it too.
They listen to someone’s problems and then bitch about them around the corner.” Hardiman, who tells the story of a broken community which finds its way back through their shared passion, worked with celebrity hairstylist Eugene Souleiman on the film’s elaborate hairdos.“He lets you peek behind the curtain, which is why I approached him – so many hairstyles are shown mid-style in the film,” he says, comparing Souleiman’s work to “modern sculpture.”“There is this cathartic moment at one point, two people genuinely caring about each other, and you have this hairstyle with a boat on the top.
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