Looking back: BFI London Film Festival highlights with shots magazine

Following his review of week one, Digital Cinema Media's resident film specialist, Tom Linay, sums up the second installment for shots magazine.

The 57th BFI London Film Festival in association with American Express is over for another year and this year’s edition will go down as one of the best ever. Record equaling numbers attended the festival and some of the world’s biggest stars came and supported their films.

The festival started off at an incredibly high standard, with Captain Phillips, Gravity and Inside Llewyn Davis just three of the highlights from the opening week. There were also UK premieres for All Is Lost starring Robert Redford, Jonathan Glazer’s first film in nine years, Under The Skin and the Palme d’Or winning Blue Is The Warmest Colour. The final five days had a lot to live up to, but miraculously, it did.

Masterful McQueen

The stand-out gala of the final week was Steve McQueen’s extraordinary 12 Years A Slave. A soon-to-be Oscar nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup, a free black man from Saratoga, New York, who is lured by two men to Washington with the promise of a job he can't refuse. During dinner with the two men he is drugged and wakes up in shackles in a darkened room within sight of Washington's half-built Capitol building, where he’s informed that he’s to be transported south to live life as a slave. Adapted from Northup’s own memoir, what follows is an absolutely heartbreaking account of his time as a slave under two markedly different plantation owners, Benedict Cumberbatch’s relatively enlightened Ford, and Michael Fassbender’s considerably less enlightened, Edwin Epps.

British director, McQueen presents with great clarity the way the intelligent, erudite Northup is continuously dehumanized, having all vestiges of his identity, including his name, taken away from him. The performances throughout the film are of the highest rate but it is Ejiofor who deserves the most credit. Like the film he's certain to be a front-runner for every award going and it would be no less than he and the film deserve.

Dench, drama and The Spectacular

Another stand-out gala was Philomena from British director, Stephen Frears. Judi Dench stars as the titular character, who along with an investigative journalist, played by Steve Coogan, looks to locate her son who she was forced to give up for adoption by nuns at the convent where she lived fifty years previously. It’s an immensely satisfying film, with a strong, true life story, witty script and two terrific lead performances. Dench, in particular, is just wonderful as Philomena, conveying in utterly convincing fashion all the hope and conflict her character experiences. It’s out in the UK on 1 November and deserves to find a large audience.

On a smaller scale was James Ponsoldt's utterly beguiling comedy-drama The Spectacular Now. With a real break-out performance, Miles Teller plays Sutter Keely, a confident, popular 18-year-old high-school student on the rebound from his last girlfriend. After she wakes him up on someone's front lawn after a particularly heavy night, Sutter embarks upon a relationship with smart but shy classmate, Aimee (Shailene Woodley). It’s a set-up that’s been used in countless teen movies but this one stands out because it just feels real.

There’s an honesty to the characters and the screenplay that is hugely affecting. Director, Ponsoldt directs with great sensitivity, often allowing scenes to unfold in long unbroken takes. We witness the ebbs and flows of Miles and Aimee’s first conversations and it's a joy to watch. Woodley made a name for herself last year in The Descendants and she even surpasses her terrific work in that film here. Teller manages to capture Sutter’s bruised confidence and vulnerability perfectly, bringing to mind early John Cusack. The Spectacular Now recalls the best work of Cameron Crowe and John Hughes. Yes, it’s really that good.

Drinking and thinking in Chicago

Another small scale gem is Drinking Buddies. A semi-improvised comedy from Joe Swanberg, one of the creative talents behind the mumblecore movement, it’s set around a Chicago craft beer brewery and features a great cast. Olivia Wilde plays Kate, who is in a relationship with Chris (Ron Livingson) but you sense she secretly likes Luke (Jake Johnson). Luke is in a relationship with Jill (Anna Kendrick) but may also like Kate. Things get really complicated when on a weekend retreat, Jill and Chris discover a mutual attraction. It’s a well-worn set-up but the treatment of it sets it apart from your standard romantic comedy. Director Joe Swanberg’s gets up close with his actors giving the film a very intimate feel and the improvised dialogue, while taking a few minutes to get used to, feels genuine.  The performances are perfectly judged too with Olivia Wilde effortlessly exuding charm and wit. The improvised dialogue between her and Luke gives the film a surprising tension and although you may think you know exactly where the plot goes, it takes surprising turns that will confound expectations. It’s in UK cinemas from 1 November.

Driven by desire

Stranger By The Lake fully justified its status as this year’s Dare gala, which showcases films "that take you out of your comfort zone". Winner of the Un Certain Regard directing prize at Cannes, Pierre Deladonchamps plays Franck, a regular at a lakeside cruising spot for men. Over the course of a few hot summer days he falls hard for the handsome and enigmatic Michel (Christophe Paou). Their first encounters are passionate and physical but when Franck sees Michel drowning another man in the lake, instead of being turned off, he finds his attraction heighten. Directed by Alain Guiraudie, it's an extremely frank and slow moving thriller about the nature of desire and it builds to a breathlessly tense climax. It's in cinemas in March 2014 and one to look forward to.

Finally, the closing night gala saw Tom Hanks return to the festival with the world premiere of Saving Mr Banks. Hanks plays Walt Disney, who is trying to persuade author P.L.Travers (Emma Thompson) to allow him to film an adaptation of her beloved novel, Mary Poppins. Hanks and Thompson make a great pair with Thompson’s, prim and fastidious Travers, a spirited match for Hanks’ persuasive and seemingly cocksure Disney. Its historical accuracy can be called into question but there’s no doubting its charm and its November 29 release date is perfectly timed to warm the hearts of families in the run-up to Christmas. The star studded gala capped off a wonderful 12 days and I’m already counting down the 50 weeks until we get to do it all again.

To read Tom's full shots blog, click here.