So here we are; after three weeks of screenings, press conferences, star spotting and pushing the boundaries of physical fitness with mad dashes up tube escalators, LFF has been brought to a close with a typical selection of mixed films. Glorious 39 kicked off the weeks proceedings in a surprisingly empty cinema, but what do you expect at 9.30am on a Monday morning?
Set on the eve of World War 2, the well off Keyes family led by matriarch Alexander (Bill Nighy) are trying to uphold their family traditions (whatever they are) until it all goes awry when his eldest adopted daughter Anne (Romola Garai) loses her mind in the process of discovering secret recordings of the pro-appeasement movement. Glorious 39 has no discernable flaws and is a perfectly fine film with a Hitchcockian element of drama and mystery but it all gets thrown out the window with a frankly baffling ending. It’s like they couldn’t be bothered to make a decent ending to justify the story (and the audience sitting there for two hours) and just wrapped it up in the most haphazard way. The only way it could’ve been more frustrating is it was was revealed to be all a dream…
Blessed was a late addition to the festival schedule and is the latest film from Ana Kokkinos. Adapted from the gloriously named play, Who’s Afraid of The Working Class? It focuses on the relationship between mothers and they’re children and is split in half to show both sides of the coin. Another one of those, “it’s alright” films which almost came across as an Aussie version of Crash with the recurring melodic theme tune and somewhat honest look at relationships.
The beginning of the week didn’t exactly set the world alight so leave it to the always reliable Coen brothers to swoop in and save the day. A Serious Man is the kind of 180 we’ve come to expect from the Coens as much like their last two features, it’s completely different to their previous work. Set in Minnesota 1967 (after a prologue entirely spoken in Yiddish), Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a physics professor and a family man whos life quickly falls apart due to one problem that leads to another. He seeks solace in his religion and amongst people in his life and as to be expected from the Coens, there’s plenty of randomness, musical interludes and funny characters. I enjoyed it immensly and as I left the cinema the conversation raged amongst a group jittery journos (too much caffeine – clearly) about the ending. Without giving anything away it ends rather abrupty which may understandably annoy some but I’m a fan of films that never aim to have anyone learn anything or change in any way.
And now for the final film of the fest, the directorial debut from artist Sam Taylor-Wood, Nowhere Boy which focuses on the troubled and painful teenage years of John Lennon. Much will be made of her direction and Aaron Johnson’s great performance which perfectly captures the rebellious and deeply sarcastic nature of the teenage Lennon but really a lot should be said of the two women he was torn between; his free spirited mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) who abandoned him but later introduced music into his life and the militant aunt that raised him, Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas). Kudos to the director and writer (the same man behind Control) for only having subtle nods to The Beatles and the parts of the city that inspired them e.g. the quick flash of Strawberry Fields and the young Lennon behind turned away from The Cavern Club. An accomplished debut and much like Carey Mulligan in An Education, a star making role for young Johnson.
And with that, the Times Bfi 53rd London Film Festival drew to a close. So until next year, take care of yourselves and each other.
