LFF: Let's get lost

The 67th London Film Festival kicked off last night with a gala screening of Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, although due to the ongoing actors strike, Fennell was the only person representing the film on the red carpet. I had a great chat with her at the after party, which stretched late into the night. It's only Day 2 and I'm already hideously sleep-deprived. But that's how festivals work, so I'll hang in there for the next 10 days catching up with this year's big festival titles. Here are highlights from the first two days...

Saltburn
dir-scr Emerald Fennell; with Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi 23/UK ****
With a story that echoes The Talented Mr Ripley, Emerald Fennell dives into the dark side of Britain's class structure. Wonderfully heightened, the film's deranged vibe is instantly gripping. Vicious swipes are delivered with backhanded relish by an excellent cast in stiff-upper-lip mode. Where the story goes is vivid and unnerving, simply because the storytelling is so full-on. We may have seen it before, but never quite like this.

The Killer
dir David Fincher; with Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton 23/US ***.
Steely and clinical, this stylised hitman thriller plays out in a series of carefully planned set-pieces, reflecting the approach of both Michael Fassbender's eponymous killer and director David Fincher. It looks terrific, churning skilfully through action, intrigue and pitch-black drama, each scene infused with wry wit and icy violence. Yet while the artistry is first-rate, the film lacks an emotional connection that might have pulled us in deeper.

Fingernails
dir Christos Nikou; with Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed 23/US ****
With its understated fantastical premise and a delicate, observant pace, this offbeat romance plays out in beautifully unexpected ways that will reward viewers who can be patient with its hushed tone. Working in North America, Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou is grappling with the awkward impossibility of quantifying love. Sensitive writing and directing provide insight alongside adept, nuanced performances from Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed and Jeremy Allen White.

The Eternal Memory
dir-scr Maite Alberdi; with Augusto Gongora, Paulina Urrutia 23/Chl ****
This documentary about the nature of memory works on several powerfully moving layers, exploring the importance of maintaining a truthful account of history through the lens of a couple grappling with the effects of dementia. The film is also a ravishing real-life love story, shot largely by the couple themselves, with extensive new and archival footage. And gifted Chilean director Maite Alberdi assembles it to beautifully offbeat human rhythms.

All full festival reviews will be linked to Shadows' LFF PAGE >

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C R I T I C A L   W E E K

Movies I watched this week included the 50-years-later sequel The Exorcist: Believer, which started well then fell apart; the somewhat undercooked relational thriller Fair Play; the witty Dutch animated adventure Oink; and Wes Anderson's witty and stylish four shorts based on Roald Dahl stories, starting with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Films this coming week include Mind-Set and Cat Person. And at London Film Festival I'll be watching Bradley Cooper's Maestro, Todd Haynes' May December, Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers, Saoirse Ronan in Foe, Annette Bening in Nyad, Austin Butler in The Bikeriders and many more.

LFF: The usual suspects

The 66th London Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday night with the European premiere of Glass Onion, the Knives Out sequel. Most of the cast was on-stage to introduce the film and have a post-screening Q&A along with filmmaker Rian Johnson. This was follows by the first LFF closing party I've ever been invited to (thanks, Netflix!) - a huge event themed around the movie. In the end, I saw 40 festival films, which isn't bad at all for not being press accredited. And I have several more screening over the coming weeks. Here's a final list of highlights, plus the award winners and my favourites from the festival...

Glass Onion
dir-scr Rian Johnson; with Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae 22/US ****
After the gleeful chaos of Knives Out, writer-director Rian Johnson returns with another fiendishly well-constructed whodunit for Daniel Craig's lively sleuth Benoit Blanc. This film isn't quite as camp, but it's even funnier as the plot crashes through its crazy twists and turns, subverting the mystery genre itself before giving in to its more enjoyable pleasures: make everyone a suspect before unpeeling a satisfyingly thumping conclusion.

The Inspection
dir-scr Elegance Bratton; with Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union 22/US ****.
There's striking artistry in the way filmmaker Elegance Bratton recounts an autobiographical narrative about a Black gay man in US Marines boot camp during the "don't ask, don't tell" years. Never preachy, the film has an earthy, intensely internalised tone that puts its complex characters into a razor-sharp perspective. And its knowing authenticity adds both deep emotion and a textured, vital comment on the nature of bigotry

My Policeman
dir Michael Grandage; with Harry Styles, Emma Corrin 22/UK ***
Because there's such a compelling story at the centre of this British drama, it is packed with strikingly emotional and provocative moments. But the filmmaking is oddly timid, thinning the material in a way that makes it feel soapy. Set in two intriguing periods, the premise raises important issues that deserve attention. So more nuance in the characters and storytelling could have provided an even more potent kick... FULL REVIEW >

Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande
dir Tim MacKenzie-Smith; with Patrick Patterson, Sam Kelly 22/UK ***.
Unsung and hugely influential, the British group Cymande is overdue for a documentary, and this beautifully assembled film is a superb overview. Shot and edited with the same soulful groove the band injected into the music industry, the movie features an entertaining collection of interviews, music and archival film. Director Tim MacKenzie-Smith clearly has a lot of affection for the band. And so do we after watching his film.

A W A R D S

• Best Film: CORSAGE
• Audience Award: BLUE BAG LIFE
• Documentary: ALL THAT BREATHES
• First Feature: 1976
• Immersive: AS MINE EXACTLY
• Short Film: I HAVE NO LEGS AND I MUST RUN
• Audience Award - Short: DROP OUT
• Surprise film: THE MENU

R I C H ’ S   B E S T   O F   F E S T

1. NO BEARS
2. CAUSEWAY
3. DECISION TO LEAVE
4. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
5. LIVING
6. THE INSPECTION
7. ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
8. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
9. BLUE JEAN
   
10. GLASS ONION

As I have time, full reviews of London Film Festival films will be linked to SHADOWS' LFF PAGE >

Critical Week: Family matters

While covid continues to impact cinema on multiple layers, things are beginning to feel much more normal with an increasing number of films shown to the press in actual screening rooms. Seats are still distanced, but it's been nice to get used to seeing colleagues again regularly. And I've also had a bit of theatre to liven things up in between the movies. Films this week included The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to The Sopranos telling an involving story about the entwined mob families, including several familiar characters, and a few sharp new ones. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Sweetheart • The Green Knight
The Man Who Sold His Skin
ALL REVIEWS >

Dev Patel gives another knockout performance in David Lowery's ambitious The Green Knight, which unfolds as an ancient legend with all kinds of inventive touches. Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the quirky biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, which feels a bit over-done but is witty and clever. Ben Whishaw gives an outrageously physical performance in Surge, a London drama that shifts into a harrowing odyssey. The South African supernatural thriller Gaia is beautifully set in a lush forest where four people have a collision with nature itself. And the shorts collection Parental Guidance takes some knowing and often very dark looks at family life through a queer eye.

Screenings also started this week for the 65th London Film Festival (6-17 Oct), including the pandemic comedy 7 Days, Jacques Audiard's intertwined romance Paris 13th District, the beautifully animated refugee doc Flee, and the Finnish road movie Compartment No 6.

Coming up this next week, I have several more London Film Festival movies to watch, plus Daniel Craig's final Bond movie No Time to Die, Bill Nighy in Living and the British horror Shepherd.

LFF: Smile for the camera

Well, this is the point, about halfway in, when attending the BFI London Film Festival begins to feel exhausting. That backlog of reviews is growing, new films keep opening outside the festival, and real life responsibilities start slipping. And there's another movie to watch! At least normally I'm running around town chasing screenings and interviews - this year I'm just sheltering at home from the rain. But when the movies are as good as these, you don't mind much...

One Night in Miami...

dir Regina King; with Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree 20/US ****.

Based on the stage play that fictionalises a real friendshiop between four Civil Rights icons at the peak of their powers, this film is beautifully expanded by playwright Kemp Powers. It's also skilfully directed by Regina King, who has a terrific eye for finding issue-based resonance within the characters. She never pushes things too forcefully, drawing out moving observations about the transformative power of politics, music and art... FULL REVIEW >

Cicada

dir Matthew Fifer, Kieran Mulcare; with Matthew Fifer, Sheldon D Brown 20/US ****

Based on real events, this gentle drama is beautifully observed by actor-filmmaker Matt Fifer. Shot in a loose documentary style with dialog that feels improvised, the film's natural rhythms are powerfully engaging. Set in the balmy New York summer of 2013, the story has an intimate tone that's both confessional and nostalgic. It's a sensitive story about two men in their mid-20s coming to terms with their sexuality as well as past traumas.

Never Gonna Snow Again

dir Malgorzata Szumowska; with Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska 20/Pol ****.

Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska takes another deep dive into her nation's psyche. Like a meditative balm, the film cuts through the noise of modern life to give its characters peace at the hands of a gifted stranger. A parable about yearning to return to simpler times, the film is expertly written, directed and played by a gifted ensemble. And it cuts through the surface with wit, emotion and brutal honesty... FULL REVIEW >

If It Were Love

dir Patric Chiha; with Gisele Vienne, Philip Berlin 20/Fr ****

Much more than a concert film, this kinetic documentary captures Gisele Vienne's dance piece Crowd as it tours around France celebrating youthful energy and the body, connection and abandon. In addition to the elaborate interaction on-stage, filmmaker Patric Chiha is also exploring how these performers relate behind the scenes, skilfully finding the points where their characters blur with who they really are.

NB. My anchor page for the LFF is HERE and full reviews will appear in between these daily blog entries. Well, it'll happen eventually.

Critical Week: The room where it happens

The weather has taken a dark, cool turn in London, which is perhaps for the best as lockdown eases further, with pubs and restaurants now open. I had my first professional foray into central London this week, as a guest on a BBC Radio programme, but the West End still feels very odd.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Prince • Mucho Mucho Amor
Spaceship Earth • Guest of Honour
We Are Little Zombies • Seahorse
PERHAPS AVOID:
The Beach House
Inheritance • Parallax
FULL REVIEWS >

There's no word on when press screenings will start up again, so we're still watching links. The big movie this week was Hamilton, a filmed version of the Broadway musical with the original cast. It's utterly electric - timely, engaging, important. I'll resume attempts to get a ticket for the stage version once theatres reopen. This week's action movie is The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron as head of a group of immortal mercenaries. There's a surprising depth to it. And Burden is the true story of a klansman (Garrett Hedlund) caught between his racist mentor (Tom Wilkinson) and a patient woman (Andrea Riseborough). It's a bit obvious, but powerful.

As for offbeat films, there were the gentle comedy Saint Frances, a coming-of-age tale about a woman in her mid-30s; The Spy, the fascinating true story of a Norwegian woman caught between Nazis and Swedes during WW2; The Beach House, a deliberately vague horror thriller that's not easy to connect to; Parallax, an over-ambitious Inception-like brainbender; We Are Little Zombies, a bonkers Japanese musical romp with deep undercurrents about grief and pop culture; and the documentary Mucho Mucho Amor, which movingly explores the life of iconic fortune teller Walter Mercado. I also watched the Netflix pandemic collection Homemade, 17 shorts shot during lockdown by some very high-profile international filmmakers. It's of course hit and miss, with highlights from Paolo Sorrentino, Pablo Larrain, Rungano Nyoni, Johnny Ma and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Films to watch this next week include Tom Hanks in Greyhound, Andy Samberg in Palm Springs, the cycling drama The Climb, the romantic thriller Fatal Affair, the Italian drama The Players, the musical Divos and the doc In Bright Axiom.