You won’t have as much chance of rubbing shoulders with the glitterati as you would at some other events, but the London Film Festival still has plenty to offer, writes Chris Sullivan.
And so the 54th BFI London Film Festival starts this week in slightly more subdued fashion than in recent years, as cuts to the BFI’s grant-in-aid looks likely later this year to follow fast on the heels of the British government’s abolition of the UK Film Council. Still, as far the festival itself is concerned, as usual the selectors have served up a veritable smorgasbord of cinematic delicacies.
The big-bang opening festival flick is Never Let Me Go, adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestseller about a gang of kids growing up in a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley (pictured together, above), backed by Sally Hawkins and Charlotte Rampling – all of whom are turning up on the red carpet – so expect a full-on, all-eyes-glued frock watch.
Conviction, chosen for the American Airlines Gala on Friday night, is one brilliant film. The story of a ‘trailer-trash’ sister of a convicted murderer who becomes a lawyer in order to prove her brother’s innocence, Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell – who play said siblings – are attending the Gala, and between you and me, if you want to see glamour in its purest sense, check out Swank. I interviewed her at 11am once and have never seen such finesse before lunchtime.
'The LFF is a people’s festival where the general public can get to screenings and enjoy the fruits'
Anton Corbijn makes a welcome return to the festival with his latest film, The American, based on Martin Booth’s 1990 novel A Very Private Gentleman, which stars George Clooney as a world-weary hitman hiding out in Italy. The original press screening was so full that they had to hold another.
There’s a brand new restoration of director G W Pabst's silent erotic masterpiece Pandora’s Box starring Louise Brooks, which is a must for lovers of the classics.
Other much-awaited highlights are The Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky’s ballet epic starring Natalie Portman, Olivier Assayas’ movie Carlos, which tells of the life and times of the so-called terrorist and hitman Carlos the Jackal, and The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth and Helen Bonham Carter, which is my opinion will win the top prize.
All in all, the LFF is a great festival – OK, you won’t catch glamorous porn stars larging it on the Croisette as in Cannes and you won’t be at risk of knocking Bobby De Niro into a canal as in Venice, and you will never freeze to death as at Sundance. Yet undeniably, the LFF is a people’s festival where the general public can get to screenings and enjoy the fruits. Last year, I was at a party, and within an arm’s reach stood Freida Pinto, Danny Boyle, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen and Eva Green, without a security man to be seen. In Cannes, there’d be about 20 heavies surrounding them…
The BFI London Film Festival runs from October 13–28. For more info, head to www.bfi.org.uk/lff
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