The 63rd British Film Institute London Film Festival took place between the 2nd and 13th October this year. This annual film festival founded in 1953 is held in the UK, runs for two weeks in October with cooperation from the British Film Institute, and screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.
This years opening film was 'The Personal History of David Copperfield' in this UK Production Directed by Armando Iannucci. Starring Dev Patel in the title role with Ben Whishaw, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Tilda Swinton this film tells the classic Charles Dickens story following Copperfield from early youth through to middle age, tracing his social awakening and charting his huge personal ups and downs as he witnesses the best and worst of humanity in this Victorian England set epic.
The closing night film was Martin Scorsese's epic 'The Irishman' which by now I'm sure needs no introduction other than to say it unites an all star cast taking in Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Al Pacino, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Bobby Cannavale and Anna Paquin.
This year there were ten films in Official Competition, which were :
* 'FANNY LYE DELIVER'D' - this UK and German Co-Produced historical drama film set in 1657 England is Directed by Thomas Clay and stars Maxine Peake, Charles Dance and Freddie Fox.
* 'HONEY BOY' - this US Production is Directed by Alma Har'el and Written by Shia LaBeouf and starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe about a child Actor in Hollywood struggling with an unconventional and brutalising past.* 'LINGUA FRANCA' - is a US Production Directed by Isabel Sandoval and starring Eamon Farren, Lynn Cohen, Lev Gorn and Isabel Sandoval and is about an undocumented Filipino immigrant woman living in Brooklyn searching for safety and security in her chosen country.
* 'LA LLORONA' - not be confused with the recent supernatural horror film 'The Curse of La Llorona', this Guatemalan and French Co-Produced film by Director Jayro Bustamante tells the story of a retired general in failing health who witnesses spectres of his past which come back to haunt him as he his tried for genocide.
* 'MOFFIE' - is a UK and South African Co-Production Directed by Oliver Hermanus and stars Kai Luke Brummer, Ryan de Villiers, and Matthew Vey and tells the story of the violent persecution of gay men during their national service years under South Africa's 1981 Apartheid regime.
* 'MONOS' - a multi-national Co-Produced war drama film Directed by Alejandro Landes and starring Julianne Nicholson and Moises Arias in this hallucinogenic thriller about child soldiers high up in the South American mountains who are hiding an American Doctor prisoner.* 'THE OTHER LAMB' - here this Irish, Belgian and US Co-Produced film is Directed by Malgorzata Szumowska and stars Raffey Cassidy, Michael Huisman and Denise Gough and is about life in an otherworldly cult known as The Flock, a community of women and girls ruled over by Shepherd, the only male, and a seemingly benevolent but undisputed leader of the strictly regimented and isolated woodland settlement.
* 'THE PERFECT CANDIDATE' - this German and Saudi Arabian Co-Production is Directed by Haifaa Al Mansour and tells the story of a young Doctor who unexpectedly becomes an electoral candidate, challenging Saudi Arabia's strict social codes of what is expected of a young woman in that country.
* 'ROSE PLAYS JULIE' - this Irish and UK Co-Produced drama film is Directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor and stars Ann Skelly, Orla Brady and Aiden Gillen and is about a young woman seeking her biological mother ultimately taking us through longing and revenge to arrive at the darker places of power and its abuse.
* 'SAINT MAUD' - here this UK Produced psychological drama is Directed by first timer Rose Glass and stars Morfydd Clarke and Jennifer Ehle and tells the story of a young nurse with a mysterious past who becomes dangerously obsessed with a former and dying dancer, whom she is now looking after as her live in carer.In Official Competition, 'MONOS' took out the Award for Best Film. Special Commendations were also given by the Jury for 'Honey Boy' and 'Saint Maud'.
To get all the news on the years BFI London Film Festival, you can visit the official website at : https://www.whatson.bfi.org.uk
This week we have six new film releases to tease you out to your local Odeon. We start the week with a story of a gifted young, albeit bullied Pakistani poet growing up 50kms northwest of London in 1987, who who is given a new outlook on life through the music of 'The Boss'. We then have a comedy horror offering surrounding a newly wed bride who must survive an age old family ritual playing hide and seek with potentially deathly consequences. With weddings featuring heavily this week, we have next a story set in 1974 Melbourne involving a marriage between a couple who were promised to each other in their early childhood by their fathers, only now 21 years later feelings and attitudes have changed! Following on we have a tale of an Indian orphanage founder who travels to New York as the behest of a wealthy benefactor, only to be invited to her daughters wedding the next day from which ghosts from the past are unexpectedly resurrected. Then we have a horror offering in time for Halloween that sees a smartphone app able to predict with pinpoint accuracy exactly when you are going to die, and when a young nurse downloads the app to her dismay it seems she has only three days to live - it's a race against time then to stop the clock or stop the mystery figure haunting her. And we wrap up the week with a biography of perhaps the worlds greatest operatic tenor who died in 2007.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.
'BLINDED BY THE LIGHT' (Rated PG) - is a British comedy drama film Directed and Co-Produced by Gurinder Chadha whose previous Directorial credits include 'Bhaji on the Beach', 'Bend it Like Beckham', 'Bride and Prejudice', and 'Viceroy's House' most recently. Inspired by the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his love of the works of Bruce Springsteen, Manzoor co-wrote the script with Chadha. It is based on Manzoor's memoir 'Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll'. The film saw its Worldwide Premier screening at this years Sundance Film Festival, went on general release in the UK in early August, in the US in mid-August, has received generally positive critical acclaim, and has so far taken US$17M at the Box Office off the back of US$15M cost of production.
Javed Khan (Viveik Kalra) is a Pakistani teenager who experiences racial and economic turmoil while living in Luton, England, in 1987 in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. He writes poetry and lyrics for his best friend Matt's (Dean-Charles Chapman) band as a way to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the stubborn views of his traditional father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir). When a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteeen, Javed sees parallels between the singer's powerful lyrics and his own working-class environment. Springsteen's melodies soon inspire Javed to find his own voice and follow his dreams. Also starring Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon and Nell Williams.
'READY OR NOT' (Rated MA15+) - is an American comedy thriller horror offering Directed by the pairing of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film was released in the US in late August, has received generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$53M off the back of a US$6M production budget. And so the story here surrounds Grace Le Domas (Samara Weaving) who couldn't be happier after she marries the man of her dreams, Alex Le Domas (Mark O'Brien) at his family's luxurious country estate. There's just one catch - she must now hide from midnight until dawn while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns, crossbows and other weapons in a macabre game of Hide and Seek which is a generations long standing family ritual of playing a game at midnight on the wedding night with each new addition to the family. As Grace desperately tries to survive the night against seemingly overwhelming odds, she soon finds a way to turn the tables on her not-so-lovable relatives. Also starring Adam Brody, Henry Czerny and Andie MacDowell.
With six new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
