BFI Flare: Get the party started

The 39th BFI Flare kicked off last night on the Southbank, with the international premiere of the Sundance hit The Wedding Banquet, with the entire cast and crew on stage for an intro, then back for a hilarious Q&A. I also got a chance to talk to director Andrew Ahn at the party, which was nice. The next 10 days will be a flurry of excellent LGBTQIA+ films from all over the world. Here are comments on three films - full reviews will be posted on the site soon. And Critical Week is below...

The Wedding Banquet
dir Andrew Ahn; with Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone 25US ****
In reimagining of Ang Lee's breakthrough 1993 comedy, director-cowriter Andrew Ahn cleverly updates the topicality while also playing up the plot's farcical entanglements. The resulting film often feels very silly, but it is continually underscored by resonant themes and involving emotions. It's also thoroughly entertaining, with seven complex central characters who are beautifully played by an ensemble cast that's heavily stacked with adept scene-stealers.

Really Happy Someday
dir J Stevens; with Breton Lalama, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah 24/Can ****
Quietly observational, this warm drama follows a young trans man who is struggling to redefine both himself and who he wants to be. Director J Stevens takes an offhanded approach, shooting scenes like a fly-on-the-wall documentary to add a striking sense of authenticity. It's also infused with Broadway songs that contain huge emotionality, allowing us to see into the soul of the lead character, who is played beautifully by cowriter Breton Lalama.

We Are Faheem & Karun
dir Onir; with Tawseef Mir, Akash Unnimenon 25/Ind ****
From India, this is the first Kashmiri film to openly explore sexuality. As with his 2023 drama Pine Cone, filmmaker Onir uses a gently understated tone to focus on the internalised thoughts and feelings the characters are grappling with. The film is strikingly well shot in spectacular locations, while the actors deliver warm, honest performances. So without overstating anything, the film creates a vivid sense of how a culture can sometimes feel like a prison.

Full reviews will be linked on Shadows' BFI Flare page when published.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Flow • Layla
When Autumn Falls • Santosh
ALL REVIEWS >

Aside from Flare, this past week featured screenings of two films with Pedro Pascal. The multi-strand adventure Freaky Tales is clever and offbeat, while the comedy-drama The Uninvited is intriguing like an ensemble play. Disney's live-action Snow White was better than expected, although the animated dwarfs are all wrong. Robert De Niro gives two solid performances in The Alto Knights, which is otherwise a bit unremarkable. Alain Guiraudie's superb French drama Misericordia is complex and challenging. And the artificial intelligence doc The Thinking Game is brisk and eye-opening.

This coming week I'll be watching Jack Quaid in Novocaine, Jason Statham in A Working Man, Jason Isaacs in The Salt Path, the wartime drama Irena's Vow, the Andy Kaufman doc Thank You Very Much, and a lot more films at BFI Flare. Plus a few live stage performances.