LFF 4: The boys of Rosewater

Jon Stewart (right, above, with actors Amir El-Masry, Dimitri Leonidas, Kim Bodnia and journalist Maziar Bahari) hit London this weekend for the gala screening of his directing debut Rosewater, the staggering story of Bihari's 118-day imprisonment in an Iranian prison. It's one of my favourites of the festival so far - a proper punchy political drama packed with wit and emotion. Another is 10,000 Km (also reviewed below), a bracingly realistic romance.

Meanwhile, I kept myself to one movie today - needed a bit of a break and some time to write! There's still a long way to go to catch up. And here are some more festival highlights...

Rosewater
dir Jon Stewart; with Gael Garcia Bernal, Kim Bodnia 14/US ****.
Based on London-based journalist Maziar Bahari's book Then They Came for Me, this film is a strikingly even-handed exploration of the situation in Iran, telling a harrowing story that never turns into a rant. The key here is a smart, knowing, mercifully witty screenplay, plus performances that dig far beneath the surface.

The Drop
dir Michael R Roskam; with Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini 14/US ****
A dark dramatic thriller, this film keeps the suspense intimate right to the heart-stopping climactic scene. It's an unusually internalised approach to a crime drama, and it pays off in fine performances from an excellent cast, plus moral dilemmas that properly draw in the audience. In the end, it kind of leaves the viewers in the dust, but it's been a great ride.

The Keeping Room

dir Daniel Barber; with Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld 14/UK ***.

Set at in the final onslaught of the American Civil War, this offbeat film combines a war movie with a horror thriller as three women make one last stand against encroaching violence. It's an unnerving, haunting film that isn't afraid to take eerily emotional punches without lessening the suspense for a second.

The Dead Lands

dir Toa Fraser; with James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, 14/NZ ***

What starts as an intriguing fable about early life in New Zealand spirals quickly into a rather dim-witted action movie. But the Maori setting and culture add plenty of intrigue, and the plot has the heft of an enduring legend. So even though it's all faintly ridiculous, it's easy to just sit back and go with it. And fans of the haka will love it. FULL REVIEW >

10,000 Km

dir Carlos Marques-Marcet; with Natalia Tena, David Verdaguer14/Spain ****.

Spanish filmmaker Marques-Marcet gives this film a disarming tone so realistic that it almost feels like a doc. From the intimate 24-minute opening take to a series of webcam chats, this seems like real people living out a long-distance relationship. Impeccably shot, edited and played, it's impossible to watch this film without seeing yourself on-screen.

Critical Week: Get out, girl!

London-based critics had a chance to catch a press screening of Effie Gray, the true story of a Victorian woman (Dakota Fanning) trying to get out of a sexless marriage so she can run off with a hot painter (Tom Sturridge). Written by and costarring Emma Thompson, it's refreshingly dark and female-focussed. Another bad marriage is at the centre of David Fincher's Gone Girl, although novelist Gillian Flynn's screenplay leaves no doubt who we're supposed to root for. At least both Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike give marvellously layered performances. Susan Sarandon stars in The Calling, a Fargo-style rural-cop mystery that gets surprisingly, and entertainingly, dark. And Steve Carell leads the family antics in the lively comedy Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. 

A little further afield, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are terrific as a long-time couple whose life takes a turn in the New York drama Love Is Strange; New Zealand comics Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are hilarious in the reality-TV style vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows; and the American indie comedy-drama Believe Me takes a knowing jab at organised religion.

I also had several screenings as part of the run-up to the London Film Festival (which begins on 8th October): The Keeping Room is an American Civil War horror drama starring Brit Marling and Hailee Stainfeld; Queen & Country is John Boorman's post-war comedy-drama; The Duke of Burgundy is Peter Strickland's astounding exploration of a relationship; the drug-running thriller El Nino is Luis Tosar and Daniel Monzon's followup to Cell 211; A Girl at My Door is a cleverly unnerving Korean drama; and Bjork: Biophilia Live (codirected by Strickland) is a film of the last night in the Icelandic musician's concert tour.

This coming week we'll be watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, Bill Murray in St Vincent, John Cusack in Drive Hard, and Joan Allen in A Good Marriage, plus LFF screenings for Bypass, Charlie's Country, Next to Her, Wild Life, Dear White People and more...