Kate, Dame Maggie & Benedict too
If you’ve never had the pleasure of attending the London Film Festival (LFF ), the 58th event, beginning next month, would be the ideal time to start. This year, casting directors have really been on their game, with many new films boasting exceptional ensemble casts. Many classics also feature – highlights include Guys And Dolls with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, Far From The Madding Crowd with Julie Christie and Terence Stamp, and a restoration of Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales Of Hoffmann.
Of the new films, we’ve chosen five that are well worth keeping an eye out for at the festival, or, if you can’t make it to London, to bear in mind for the months ahead.
My Old Lady
Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas and Kevin Kline make a bid for the ‘classiest cast’ prize in the directorial debut of American playwright Israel Horovitz, who also wrote the screenplay. The impoverished Kline inherits an apartment from his estranged father, but discovers a mother and daughter (Smith and Scott Thomas) living there in accordance with the viager system, under which he has to pay them a monthly fee until Smith dies. Comedy, romance and Smith’s tart way with words ensue.
The Imitation Game
Fresh from taking the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, this biopic about Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing opens this year’s LFF . Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley are electrifying as Turing and his protégée Joan Clarke, and it is surely time that Turing’s achievements gained greater recognition. His success with the Enigma machine is followed by the tragedy of his suicide after his prosecution for homosexual acts, for which he was posthumously pardoned last year.
The 58th BFI London Film Festival runs from 8 to 19 October: www.bfi.org.uk/lff
Of the new films, we’ve chosen five that are well worth keeping an eye out for at the festival, or, if you can’t make it to London, to bear in mind for the months ahead.
A Little Chaos
I could applaud the combination of Stanley Tucci, Rust And Bone’s Matthias Schoenaerts, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman; the last is also on directing duty for his second feature. Schoenaerts and Winslet play landcape gardeners designing a rather sexy water feature at Versailles for Louis XIV (Rickman). Unsurprisingly, love blooms – and other gardening metaphors blossom.Madame Bovary
The excellent actress Mia Wasikowska takes the lead in the latest adaptation of Flaubert’s novel about a bored wife who seeks excitement in a series of affairs, and finds only destruction – well, after a not inconsiderable amount of fun. She is joined by a phalanx of talent, including Paul Giamatti (always terrific), young up-andcomer Ezra Miller as her lover Léon, Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael, and Rhys Ifans as her intensely dodgy nemesis, Monsieur Lheureux.My Old Lady
Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas and Kevin Kline make a bid for the ‘classiest cast’ prize in the directorial debut of American playwright Israel Horovitz, who also wrote the screenplay. The impoverished Kline inherits an apartment from his estranged father, but discovers a mother and daughter (Smith and Scott Thomas) living there in accordance with the viager system, under which he has to pay them a monthly fee until Smith dies. Comedy, romance and Smith’s tart way with words ensue.
Testament Of Youth
The BBC has already adapted Vera Brittain’s celebrated memoir about her harrowing experiences during the First World War for radio and television, and now scores a hat-trick with a cinematic version, which gets its world premiere at LFF . Swedish actress Alicia Vikander plays Brittain, with Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington as her doomed beau Roland Leighton. Quality support is provided by Anna Chancellor and Hayley Atwell, with Dominic West and Emily Watson as Brittain’s parents.The Imitation Game
Fresh from taking the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, this biopic about Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing opens this year’s LFF . Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley are electrifying as Turing and his protégée Joan Clarke, and it is surely time that Turing’s achievements gained greater recognition. His success with the Enigma machine is followed by the tragedy of his suicide after his prosecution for homosexual acts, for which he was posthumously pardoned last year.The 58th BFI London Film Festival runs from 8 to 19 October: www.bfi.org.uk/lff