EXCLUSIVE!: FILM WEST EDITOR SLAMS FELLINI

Shamed former Film West editor Pat Collins yesterday hit out at Federico Fellini, claiming the late Italian film director was "pretentious and crap". In a no-holds-barred interview with the GFC blog, he also bared all with tales of drunken Film Board parties and talked frankly about his split personality.

Tempermental Director
I met Pat Collins in the foyer of the Savoy hotel in London on a cold January night. I had waited weeks for this interview, having set up numerous dates. The famously temperamental director and former Film West editor would agree and then finally cancel the interview at the last moment. So, here I find myself face to face with the man himself and I have to pinch myself and ask myself is this actually happening. He gets straight to the point:

Pretentious and Crap
"I have an old diary from 1989 and looking back at it now, I notice I had the habit of documenting which films I'd seen. I had a star system in place which I'm sure was really handy for readers other than myself. In the diary for 1989, I've given Dances with Wolves 9 out of 10 and thought it 'really excellent'", exudes Collins as he taps another Marlboro Light out of its packet, his fourth in as many minutes. Then he goes on to blast his one time friend Fellini: "One night later I saw Fellini's La Dolce Vita and considered it 'pretentious and crap' - 3 out of 10".

Split Personality
In person, I'd have to say Collins is not as handsome as his famously doctored publicity photos might suggest and his social graces leave much to be desired. Knocking back what must be his fifth double-scotch, he recalls his time at the Galway Film Centre: "My first contact with the Galway Film Centre was a seven weekend film foundation course. I was delighted and a little challenged when my script was one of the ones chosen to shoot. As is often the case with first scripts, it involved a young man who had a split personality. The young man in question had to stare into the mirror in utter turmoil and utter - 'Why don't you just get out of my f***ing head'?" Several clients are now staring at Collins as he repeats the phrase out loud, shouting out profanities for all to hear.

Bare Feet
"After some great years on the dole, I eventually ended up editing Film West magazine. I remember the office was always full of life. Celine in the middle directing traffic. There was one phone between everyone in the office and that was a payphone. In another corner, there was one Mac classic which everyone had to share. All the articles for Film West were sent in by post or fax so they all had to be retyped, very slowly - the 90s equivalent of "We went to school in our bare feet" muses a by now intoxicated Collins.

Scandal
He has the discomfiting habit of tapping one forecfully on the chest with his index finger to emphasise his points - not exactly the most endearing habit but such is the nature of genius and I don't complain. I'm hoping if I humour him, I might get him to talk about the 'cash for good reviews' scandal which plagued the Film West offices in the mid nineties and culminated in Collins' swift departure (though not without a generous golden handshake).

Hyphenating and Arguing
It's late in the day and Collins is slurring now: "Film West was a collective effort with other staff members suggesting and encouraging and sometimes typing too. And luckily I shared a house with four proof-readers who loved nothing more than staying up all night parsing and hyphenating and arguing the finer points of grammar till the sun came up - "i before e except after c", etc... He's beginning to not make sense and I try to wrap up the interview but he shouts me down.

Drunken Film Board Parties
"The GFC was in High Street at the time so due to its slap-bang location, it was always a great place for people dropping in and out", shouts Collins. "Dave Power, Johnny White, Nicky Fennell, Mick Ruane, James Finlan, Mike Brennan, Peter Meagher, Mark Byrne, Pat Lavelle, Donal Haughey, Paddy O'Connor, Barra de Bhaldraithe, and many many more, staff and members intertwined. And the weekday talk was usually extended to tipsy Saturday nights in Taylors on Dominic Street. Drunken film quizzes in the Warwick. And even more drunken Film Board parties every Christmas. Who remembers those?" "Plus ça change", I muse to myself.

Ancient Curse
"Looking back one of the great things about those times was the freedom from professionalism. Low expectations are always a great comfort", slurs Collins in a telling comment before finally slipping off into slumber and with that, I make my escape. They say you should never meet your heroes and for once I can say I know what they mean. The Chinese have an ancient curse which says: 'may you live in interesting times'. Perhaps it should read 'may you do an interview with Pat Collins'.

Pat Collins' memoir: Film West: The Lost Years is published by Picador and available in all good bookshops.