And so we come to the last day of the festival. It's been another interesting mix of films and as always, people have their own favourites. The Closing Gala was Wong Kar Wai's period piece, In The Mood For Love, and the Hong Kong director was in Edinburgh to talk about the film and his previous work. Sporting a pair of shades through the entire session, he looked almost gangster-like, although his wife and small child were touring Edinburgh Castle at the time.
It's certainly been a tiring festival for me, although I didn't see even half of the number of films I saw last year (and stayed sane as a result). Even now, the Festival team are thinking about the 55th Festival but to finish off, there's the traditional festival Closing Party. And, for one night only, I'll hand you over to guest diarist Neo to describe the scene. For me, it's farewell for now, and maybe I'll bump into you next year.
Neo writes: "The evening started with a bang, nay, t'was an alarm (sorry, mystery movie hangover). Yes, just in the door, with an elegant plastic glass full of appalling wine, and the fire alarm goes off. Typical. After half an hour huddled outside on the grass of the Edinburgh College of Art, those lovely men in their snazzy yellow helmets let us back in.
Apart from the amorous (and loud) couple in the male toilets and various members of Belle and Sebastian spinning the decks, it seemed, on the whole, a rather muted affair. Even Lizzie Francke's lovely tipsy dancing seemed half-hearted. A quiet ending to a quiet 54th Film Festival."
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