Postcards from London

Newly arrived in London from Essex, Jim is broke, jobless and calling an intricately made cardboard box home when he catches the eye of four male escorts who specialise in erudite post-coital conversation. The Raconteurs, who boast an encyclopedic knowledge of the arts, work with a select clientele for whom they prepare Jim by schooling him in art history. Jim’s comic journey from escort to artist’s muse and art authenticator is made more complex by a rare psychosomatic condition called ‘Stendhal Syndrome’, which means that paintings by artists such as Caravaggio cause him to faint and hallucinate. 

 

Postcards from London is director Steve McLean’s second feature, and shares some themes with his first, Postcards from America (1994), which was adapted from autobiographical writings by David Wojnarowic.