Category: BFI London Film Festival
55th BFI Film Festival: ‘She-Monkeys’ a budding lesbian romance that extends into psychological thriller territory
She-Monkeys Director: Lisa Aschan Writers: Lisa Aschan, Josefine Adolfsson In Spartacus, Crassus and Antoninus coyly discuss sexual preferences in terms of snails and oysters. When it comes to Sapphic teen dramas centred on the world of sport, it might simply … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘The Bird’ depicts life after loss with sensitivity
The Bird (L’Oiseau) Written by Yves Caumon Directed by Yves Caumon 2011, France A decade ago Sandrine Kiberlain starred in Claude Miller’s thriller Alias Betty, as the bereaved mother at the centre of a bizarre kidnap plot. Her character in … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival – ‘The Awakening’
The Awakening Written and Directed by Nick Murphy Starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West & Imelda Staunton UK, 2011 No, the horror remake strand hasn’t reached out to encompass the 1980 Charlton Heston horror The Awakening, where an archaeologist has a spot of … [Read the Rest]
BFI 55th London Film Festival: ‘Early One Morning’ builds slowly towards an inevitable but still shocking conclusion
Early One Morning / De Bon Matin Writer/Director: Jean-Marc Moutout 2010, France / Belgium Are work-related problems driving you over the edge? Just minutes into Jean-Marc Moutout’s Early One Morning, a middle-aged businessman starts his day by coolly gunning down … [Read the Rest]
BFI 55th London Film Festival: ‘Americano’ is a bit of an oddity
Americano Written by Mathieu Demy Directed by Mathieu Demy France, 2011 As a first-time director, the last thing you want to be is forgettable. One way to avoid that is to emulate Orson Welles by taking on the additional roles … [Read the Rest]
BFI 55th London Film Festival – Martha Marcy May Marlene’ one of the most assuredly original films of the year
Martha Marcy May Marlene Directed by Sean Durkin Written by Sean Durkin Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes Even from its title the film Martha Marcy May Marlene suggests a fracture of psyche, a yearning for identity … [Read the Rest]
BFI 55th London Film Festival ‘Like Crazy’ a passing infatuation rather than a timeless romance
Like Crazy Director: Drake Doremus Writers: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones 2011, USA Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Drake Doremus’s Like Crazy is the story of a transatlantic love affair that falls foul of the visa regulations. … [Read the Rest]
BFI 55th London Film Festival Award Nominees
LONDON FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS The 55th BFI London Film Festival announced the shortlists and juries for the 2011 Festival Awards this week, heralding a star studded extravaganza that is due to take place at the prestigious LSO St Luke’s on 26th October. … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Dark Horse’ finds Solondz at his least cruel
Dark Horse Written by Todd Solondz Directed by Todd Solondz USA, 2011 Todd Solondz doesn’t do feel-good comedies, but his latest tragicomedy, Dark Horse, does offer some hope to all those balding, paunchy guys who worry that they could never … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Poupoupidou (Nobody Else But You)’
Poupoupidou (Nobody Else But You) Director: Gérald Hustache-Mathieu Screenplay by Juliette Sales and Gérald Hustache-Mathieu In French with English subtitles How much do you really know about cinema’s most famous blonde? Director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu’s Poupoupidou isn’t a biopic of Marilyn … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975′ accessibly, powerfully catalogues black American struggle
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Director: Göran Hugo Olsson In English and Swedish with English subtitles The luxuriant afro and towering intellect of Angela Davis loom large over The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, a powerful documentary about a turbulent period … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Oslo, August 31st’
Oslo, August 31st Directed by Joachim Trier Screenplay by Joachim Trier Norway, 2011 “I always thought happy people were morons,” says Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie), the hero of Joachim Trier’s witty but inevitably rather downbeat drama, Oslo, August 31st. No … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Junkhearts’ paints by social-realist numbers
Junkhearts Directed by Tinge Krishnan Written by Simon Frank Starring; Eddie Marsan, Tom Sturridge, Romola Garri, Candese Reid Despite the London Film Festival’s global reach and cosmopolitan constitution, it also dedicates particular attention to indigenous product, providing a valuable outlet to low budget domestic … [Read the Rest]
55th BFI London Film Festival: Richard Linklater’s ‘Bernie’ is bright and breezy
Bernie Written by Richard Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth Directed by Richard Linklater 2011, USA In 1996, the sleepy East Texas town of Carthage awoke to find itself embroiled in controversy – the extremely popular and gregarious local civic leader Bernhardt … [Read the Rest]
BFI London Film Festival Preview
The double bill I’m most looking forward to features Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Shannon, who I first saw in the brilliant Shotgun Stories (2007). Take Shelter is his second collaboration with writer/director Jeff Nichols and finds Shannon in dark territory again … [Read the Rest]
