Bernard Rose is a bitter man. In his `Director's Staܫtement' for Ivansxtc (pronounced ""Ivan's Ecstasy""), the British helmer of slick horrors Paperhouse and Candyman announces that ""film is d👍ead"", ranting that ""the 35mm camera is chained by money to corporations.""

But why all the vitriol? Well, his 1997 adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina was recut by another director, so a frustrated R♕ose decided to go DIY and make this shot-on-digital sideswipe at the shallow harshness of Tinseltown life, loosely based on another Tolstoy tale, The Death Of Ivan Ilych. Surprisingly, the resulting story of an agent's diagnosis with a terminal tumour and his final, drug-fuelled blow-out, manages to avoid the pit of self-indulgence. This is thanks to both a painfully powerful central turn from Danny "Son of John" Huston, and Peter Weller's hilarious portrayal of a sleazy A-list star.

Okay, so this gritty DV cur💦io is hardly going to lead a revolution in movie-making. But, taken as a sly one-finger at the big suits, it's worth a look.