Critical Week: On the road again

Hello from Rome! I'm here for a few days this week, my first-ever visit to the city, so I plan to do a lot of walking. I've also caught up with a London Film Fest movie here at the Rome Film Festival, namely Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident, a riveting comical romp with dark undertones that surge to the surface in the haunting final act. Panahi was on hand to accept a special award before the screening last night, then today I attended a conversation with him about his extraordinary career. Before coming to Italy, I watched several films during London Film Fest's closing weekend, including Paolo Sorrentino's Venice festival opener La Grazia, another outrageously gorgeous odyssey starring Toni Servillo as a wry, reflective Italian president.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Bugonia • Hedda
Love+War
ALL REVIEWS >

Also at LFF: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere offers Jeremy Allen White another wonderfully textured role as the Boss, so the film is entertaining even if it never surprises us. Richard Linklater brought his second film this year, Nouvelle Vague, a French comedy-drama about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, shot completely in period style. It looks amazing and is a lot of fun. There was also a lavish premiere for Annemarie Jacir's historical drama Palestine 36, beautifully dramatising a pivotal moment in time. The vast ensemble cast is excellent. From UAE, the psychological horror The Vile is a superbly unnerving thriller about a woman confronting her male-dominated culture. And the photography doc Love+War profiles top conflict photographer Lynsey Addario as she balances work with a lively family life.

My favourites from the London Film Festival:

1. 
   Is This Thing On? (Cooper, US)
2. Hamnet (Zhao, UK)
3. Rental Family (Hikari, Japan)
4. La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy)
5. Wake Up Dead Man (Rian Johnson, UK)
6. Palestine 36 (Annemarie Jacir, Palestine)
7. Lurker (Alex Ross, US)
8. The History of Sound (Oliver Hermanus, UK)
9. Train Dreams (Clint Bentley, US)
10. Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, US)

All festival film reviews are linked here: SHADOWS @ LFF >

Back in London this next week I'll see the horror thriller Shelby Oaks and the Argentine drama Belen, and I want to catch up on a couple of films that I missed because I was unable to attend screenings, including The Mastermind and Tron: Ares. I also have a live performances of Thikra: Night of Remembering.