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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The curtain came down on the 59th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) last Sunday, 18 October, with the Steve Jobs biopic closing the festival.
The event, which ran from 7 – 18 October, recorded attendance levels of 157,000 across film screenings and events, as well as an additional UK-wide audience of more than 10,000.
This year’s LFF screened a total 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 world premieres, eight international premieres, 40 European premieres and 11 archive films including five restoration world premieres. The line-up also included 182 live action and animated shorts.
LFF 2015 was branded “the year of the strong woman” and opened with Sarah Gavron’s period, political drama Suffragette. More than 10,000 people across the UK attended simultaneous screenings of Suffragette and Steve Jobs, and the opening night red carpet event was live streamed online, recording more than 6,000 viewers.
Several DCMers were also in attendance across the 12-day period, with some highlights and reviews of the films they saw featured below:
Suffragette
“This was a very tastefully handled issue-drama which balances each personal story, whilst shedding light on the larger history of the time. The fierce activism shown by members of suffragette movement, particularly by members of the working class, is vividly re-enacted with some particularly tough and visceral moments.
“Carey Mulligan turns in her best performance to date along with the ever brilliant Anne-Marie Duff, and Meryl Streep adds some prestige with the briefest of cameos.
“It certainly felt like an appropriate film to open this year's LFF with the programme including an increased number of films by female filmmakers and pushing the need for equal opportunities for women in the film industry”
Jack Jones, Content and Distribution Executive
Suffragette is in cinemas now and you can buy tickets for the film here.
A Bigger Splash
“I was pleasantly surprised with A Bigger Splash. A very vain and narcissistic comedy/drama, but you just can’t argue the cast.
“It was great to see Ralph Fiennes keep up his comedic roles and without a doubt he does the best Dad dancing in a film this year!”
Jack Jones, Content and Distribution Executive
A Bigger Splash is released in the UK on 12 February 2016.
When Marnie Was There
"In what might prove to be the last film from famed Japanese animators Studio Ghibli, When Marnie Was There is proof that their lyrical and wondrous filmmaking will remain undimmed.
"Much like Pixar's mega-hit Inside Out, When Marnie Was There follows the story of a 12 year old girl, Anna, and the inner emotional turmoil of her character. Feeling alone and behaving reclusively, Anna's health becomes a concern. To recuperate she leaves the city and spends time in a tranquil seaside town. Whilst there, Anna begins to dream of a new friend, Marnie.
"Gradually we come to learn that Anna is an orphan and feels her guardians, though loving, don't feel a true love for her. But as her relationship with Marnie takes every unexpected turn, Anna begins to express and come to terms with her anxieties. Maturity and adolescence are natural human experiences and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi (following up from his debut feature The Secret World of Arrietty) never appears tempted to tone down some of the film's emotionally rawer moments for comfort.
"Drifting in and out of dreamlike states and reality, Anna's imagination is magical and yet sometimes surreal. This blend of gentle and dreamlike imagery with something more haunting and troubling has been at the core of the best of Studio Ghibli's creations - and as with every great Ghibli film each shot is gloriously realised in their unique handcrafted 2D animation. When Marnie Was There is a worthy addition to the canon, rather than a last gasp imitation.
"For what is ostensibly a children's film, the film's narrative complexity is never reigned in. A trademark of many Studio Ghibli films and their faith that younger audiences are open to challenging and deeply emotional storytelling. If Pixar's Inside Out showed this on a more mainstream scale this year, then When Marnie Was There is proof that Studio Ghibli has been there all along and hopefully will continue to be."
Jack Jones, Content and Distribution Executive
Room
"Based on a novel of the same name, Room, is the remarkable story of a child’s journey through an unimaginably erroneous upbringing. Emma Donoghue's original novel was inspired by the events of the Josef Fritzl case in 2008 and the parallels become instantly apparent as we’re introduced to a dank, claustrophobic environment - the home of Joy Larson, and her four year old child, Jack.
"For Jack, Room is everything. Everything he has ever known, or believes he ever will know, is within these four walls. His only gateway to the outside world, a TV in the corner of the room, represents a totally fictitious and two dimensional realm, where a weatherman is no more real than Dora The Explorer. For Joy, Room is simply a prison.
"Despite the horrific circumstances of their captivity, the maternal potency of Joy's relationship with her son prevent ‘Room’ from descending into a totally hopeless and morbid environment. This hope, coupled with growing fear and desperation, provide the ingredients for a dramatic and emotional escape from Room, and the narrative is totally turned on its head. The true brilliance of the story is revealed at this point as we witness Joy and Jack's reintegration into the real world.
"Brie Larson provides a characteristically powerful performance as Joy. Her raw emotion gave the film a genuine sense of realism, amplifying the horrors and the delights of the story in an extremely affecting way. The real star of the show, however, is Jacob Tremblay who plays Jack. It's quite simply one of the best performances by a child actor you'll ever see. The believability and power of the performance is absolute. He is responsible for giving the film a real sense of innocence and optimism and provided countless tear-jerking moments.
"The spine of the entire film is built up of binary oppositions - captivity and freedom, despair and hope, corruption and innocence. All of these concepts are explored and balanced beautifully throughout the story, and the pace of narrative, fantastic performances and intelligent cinematography create a film which will move you in a momentous way."
David Woolford, Sales Account Executive
Room is released in UK cinemas on 15 January 2016.
The Lady In The Van
"‘Bigoted, blinkered, cantankerous, devious, unforgiving, self-centred, rank, rude car-mad cow’ are the words Alan Bennett uses to describe The Lady In The Van. This (predominantly) true story catalogues the period of Bennett's life when he became the un-consenting landlord of Mary Sheppard. Despite the apt description Bennett provides of Sheppard, as the film unfolds his fondness towards her grows and the focal point of the story the relationship of these two polar opposite characters.
"Very early on it becomes clear that despite Sheppard's aggressive and suspicious exterior, she is an intelligent and complex character who has motives of her own. Bennett, by comparison, is passive, amiable and tolerant to the point of absurdity.
"Director Nicholas Hytner is no stranger to adapting classic British theatre, having directed The Crucible (1996) and, in 2006, one of Bennett's own works - The History Boys. His experience pays dividends and the film brings the play to life in an authentic and loyal manner. Though there is little action to speak of, the pace of the narrative is consistent and the balance of comedy and drama is well executed.
"What transforms the film from good to great is the outstanding performance of Dame Maggie Smith. Though at this point in her illustrious career she has no points left to prove, her portrayal of Mary Sheppard as a flawed, erratic but likeable old woman is a triumph. Almost all of the great comedy moments which laced the entire film are from her - some straight from the script, others a product of Smith's superb comic timing. Alex Jennings also merits recognition for his precise impersonation of Bennett himself.
"The film is quirky, unpredictable, charming, and extremely British. If it doesn't receive acknowledgement at the BAFTAs, I’d be surprised, and if Dame Maggie Smith doesn't get an accolade for her performance it’d be a crime."
David Woolford, Sales Account Executive
The Lady In The Van is released in cinemas on 13 November 2015.