BFI Flare: Hit the road

We're into the second half of the 38th BFI Flare film fest, and I've been enjoying the wide range of films in the programme. The four highlights noted here are quite an eclectic bunch, very different styles of moviemaking from four countries — a comedy, drama, collage and documentary...

Drive Back Home
dir-scr Michael Clowater; with Alan Cumming, Charlie Creed-Miles 24/Can ****
Based on a true story that took place at a time in Canada when men were sent to prison for being gay, this film bristles with dark humour as it recounts a story involving brothers and entrenched societal homophobia. Writer-director Michael Clowalter and his cast fill the screen with sparky attitude and offbeat character touches that are both funny and honest. It's a lively, entertaining movie that cleverly uses its period to explore present-day attitudes.

The Pleasure Is Mine [El Placer Es Mío]
dir-scr Sacha Amaral; with Max Suen, Katja Alemann 24/Arg ***.
Like its central character, this drama from Argentina is a bit flippant and enigmatic, pulling us in with pure charm. Unfolding in fragments of scenes, this observant film follows a quick-thinking hustler who finds it easier to manipulate people than to make a meaningful connection. Writer-director Sacha Amaral shoots with offbeat wide-screen camerawork that sharply captures the characters, which makes it eerily easy to put ourselves in their shoes.

Memorabilia
dir-scr Charles Lum, Todd Verow; with JJ Bozeman, Justin Ivan Brown 24/US ****
Planned by filmmaker Charles Lum before his death and completed by his collaborator Todd Verow, this experimental film is a collage-style film memoir tracing a gay man's sexual journey, including things rarely spoken of on film. It's also unusually honest in its depiction of inner yearning, creating a gorgeously lusty vibe that runs through even in the more prosaic interludes. So the cumulative effect is dreamy and resonant.

Fatherhood 
[Tre Fedre]
dir-scr Even Benestad, August B Hanssen; with Kristopher, David, Sindre 25/Nor ***.
Warmly soft-spoken, this documentary presents three men in a relationship in a matter-of-fact way. Being gay in Norway has never been a problem for these guys, although being a throuple did catch people off guard, as did the way they planned to become parents. These are earthy, funny men who will clearly make good fathers, and the film knowingly traces their journey as they prepare for the birth.

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

Critical Week: Pretty in pink

Screenings are back in full swing now, alongside continuing awards-season events, so there's plenty to watch out there these days. As a voter, it was nice to have a link to watch the Golden Globes live on Sunday, even if it finished at 4am London time. I enjoyed seeing the results of the all-new voting base, journalists scattered across some 75 countries who don't follow the usual Hollywood script. And the feed I was watching kept running during the ad breaks, so it was cool to watch the astonishing array of stars schmoozing and playing around before being called back to their seats. Now I have three weeks to finalise plans for the London critics awards, where we hope to have plenty of big names in the room to celebrate.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Soul • Poor Things
ALL REVIEWS >

As for the movies, the big screening this week was for the musical remake of Mean Girls, which is essentially the same movie with added music video-style songs and references to social media. Some of this works nicely, but it feels a little uneven. Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia is a rather dry tale of rivalry between German and Italian car companies, livened up by a solid cast and a bit of racing action. The 90s-set New York drama You Can't Stay Here makes up for its low budget with some big underlying ideas and cool cinematic references. The British arthouse drama Silver Haze is relentlessly miserable, but shows some visual style. And the documentary Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer is fascinating for both fans and potential fans, but surprisingly straightforward.

This coming week I'll be watching Viggo Mortensen in Eureka, British thriller Jackdaw, award-winning British drama Gassed Up, Swedish refugee drama Opponent, Italian romance Fireworks and offbeat comedy The Civil Dead.

FLARE 3: Apples and oranges

On these mid-week days during the 28th BFI Flare film festival, I take a bit of a break from the festivities, watching films without indulging in the parties! I have to build my strength for the weekend that's coming, right? Here are some more programme highlights...

C.O.G.
dir-scr Kyle Patrick Alvarez; with Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare 13/US ***
Based on a David Sedaris essay, this isn't so much a coming-of-age story as an odyssey in which a young man takes himself apart and tries to reassemble himself into something new. It's warm and full of darkly suggestive shadows, but filmmaker Alvarez never gives us the puzzle pieces that would make it resonate... FULL REVIEW >

Age of Consent 
dir-scr Charles Lum, Todd Verow; with Kurt Striegler, Guy Patrick Irwin 14/UK ****
This hilariously deadpan doc opens the door on something most people would describe as obscene, exploring London's original fetish club The Hoist. But the filmmakers expand beyond the bar itself to grapple with legal issues in the UK and the impact of HIV and Aids on the gay subculture. And of course the bigger issue of a personal pursuit of happiness. Since 1996, The Hoist has offered Londoners a German-style industrial bar, and the filmmakers take us on a tour of the empty venue (with rather explicit cutaways showing us what goes on here). Each person interviewed talks in a matter-of-fact way about their job, their personal experiences and how society has slowly shifted around the venue, perhaps hinting that its days are numbered. The ultimate message is that we should enjoy our liberty while we have it. Which is a more provocative and far more important statement than we expect from a witty 88-minute documentary about a leather bar.

Big Words 
dir-scr Neil Drumming; with Dorian Missick, Gbenga Akinnagbe 13/US ***.
This sensitive, straight-talking drama is packed with strong comments on issues that are both deeply personal and hugely important in society. Without coming to any glib conclusions, filmmaker Drumming and his adept cast tackle the kinds of things most men are terrified to talk about. So while it's an engaging story, it's also pretty strong stuff. Set on election day in November 2008, the film follows three men who have lost touch with each other for 15 years. Formerly in a rap group together, they've never properly dealt with their feelings about what broke them apart. And it takes some outsiders to help them both confront each other and move on. Performances are raw and natural, with energetic spikiness (Yaya Alafia is particularly engaging as a brainy stripper who relentlessly challenges Missick's down-at-heel lyricist). All of this is perhaps a bit too on-the-nose, but the approach constantly challenges our preconceptions.

Rosie
dir Marcel Gisler; with Sibylle Brunner, Fabian Kruger 13/Swi ****
An intriguing exploration of past regrets and bad decisions in relationships, this Swiss drama drags on as it tells its story, but remains introspective and involving. And it has a lot to say about facing up to the truth and allowing yourself to move on with life. Rosie (Brunner) is a feisty woman who, after having a minor stroke, is suddenly back in the life of her busy children. Lorenz (Kruger) is a single gay novelist struggling to write something as brilliant as his debut, while Sophie (Judith Hoffmann) has a difficult husband and teen son to deal with. Most of Rosie's care falls to the 39-year-old Lorenz, who travels regularly to rural Switzerland from his home in Berlin. It takes quite a long time for each of these characters to realise what they really need to do to make their lives work, and the plot kind of meanders in circles before it finds focus in the final scenes. But it's thoughtful and introspective, with some surprisingly tough, darkly moving scenes along the way.

BEST OF YEAR:
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
dir Abdellatif Kechiche; with Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux 13/Fr ****.
Food, art and sex are the three elements of life in this evocative French drama, which takes a generous three hours to tell its story. This is an almost unnervingly honest film that holds us in rapt attention, shaking us even if we have nothing in common with the characters. Because it's about something much deeper than what's on screen... FULL REVIEW >