The best of the 55th BFI London Film Festival
From 13th October
17 Girls
Based on a true story of teenagers in Massachusetts who greeted the news of their pregnancy with high-fives, this French film is the story of a gourp of girls who decide to support their poor knocked-up friend by getting pregnant too so they can raise their kids communally.
From 20th October
Rebellion
The action thriller of the year, be warned this is very French but epic in nature. Think hostages, taut negotiations, hostile terrain and a satisfyingly political core. Over a ten-day countdown, Mathieu Kassovitz plays a captain in France’s Gendarmarie Naionale, struggling to keep his troops in check and deliver the practical measures the politicians are demanding.
From 20th October
The Future
Miranda July is undeniably weird. Not quirky like Ellen Page, not kooky like Kristen Schaal, no just plain weird. But delightfully so. The Future is her take on a romantic comedy and as you'd expect from July, it challenges all convention. The first noticeable two fingers up to Hollywood is the stray cat with renal failure who acts as narrator. It’s a surprisingly mature but fantastical take on the geeky love between two painfully ordinary people whose story is relentlessly surprising.
From 20th October
Sarah Palin – You Betcha!
While Nick Broomfield doesn’t really paint a new picture of Palin, his particular style of confirming what we knew for the most part to be true still manages to send a chill up the spine as he shows us just how close she came to office, and how huge her following is.
From 21st October
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Elizabeth Olsen forewent the cutesy teen movies her sisters seemed to enjoy so much and has jumped straight into a heavy, feature-length thriller. She plays a girl trying to assimilate into her sister's 'normal' family after escaping a cult in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
From 23rd October
Into the Abyss by Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog returns with another controversial documentary that runs on the strength of his interview style. This time he looks into the aftermath of violent crime and talks to the perpetrators, their families and those of the victims.
From 21st October
Junkhearts
Tinge Krishnan’s gloriously ugly look at loneliness and hope stars the utterly fantastic Eddie Marsan in one of his most subtle and gripping performances yet. Junkhearts brings together people on the fringes of society and sends them off into a world of increasing darkness and yet somehow manages a happy ending. If you don’t count the slightly pointless Romola Garai, this is a stunning debut feature, fearlessly indulgent in its unsettling cinematography.
25th October
Trishna
A love story set in modern India based on Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Yeah, it sounds supremely cheesy and melodramatic but it’s been adapted by Michael Winterbottom whose previous Hardy adaptations, especially Jude, were compellingly tragic. So as long as there’s no clichéd arranged marriage scene, this should be excellent. Oh and we have tickets to the gala opening if you fancy it.
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