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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2017

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017

The Future Is History - Great Britain

Part of a three-strand retrospective. A timely reflection of British culture past, Great Britain will revisit the back catalogue of George Harrison’s HandMade Films.

Programme

21 films · 11 reviews

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Bellman and True

Story of a father and son embroiled in a bank robbery.

(Country: UK; Year: 1987; Director: Richard Loncraine; Writer: Richard Loncraine, Desmond Lowden, Desmond Lowden, Michael Wearing; Stars: Bernard Hill, Derek Newark, Richard Hope, Ken Bones, Frances Tomelty, Kieran O'Brien, John Kavanagh, Arthur Whybrow, Jim Dowdall, Peter Howell, Kate McEnery, Anne Carroll, Richard Strange, Peter Jonfield, Andrew Paul)

Britain

Review preview for Britain

As an artist, she certainly gets my vote.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Join a pair of armchairs who discuss the politics around Britain today.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Bexie Bush)

Full review

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

Britannia

Review preview for Britannia

Quinn cleverly mixes the natural playfulness of the animal with more sinister inclination.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Animation about British imperialism.

(Country: UK; Year: 1993; Director: Joanna Quinn; Writer: Joanna Quinn; Stars: Christine Pritchard, Ben Heneghan)

Full review

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

Dad's Dead

Review preview for Dad's Dead

Chris Shepherd... reflects history's distorted mirror particularly well.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Nostalgia for a working-class Liverpudlian childhood turns sour.

(Country: UK; Year: 2003; Director: Chris Shepherd; Writer: Chris Shepherd; Stars: Ian Hart)

Full review

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

The Emperor

Review preview for The Emperor

The style allows for a sense of movement, which Hobbs often exploits for its witty details.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The tale of a quest to free Napoleon Bonaparte from exile on the island of St Helena.

(Year: 2001; Director: Elizabeth Hobbs; Writer: Elizabeth Hobbs)

Full review

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

Great (Isambard Kingdom Brunel)

Animation about the British engineer.

(Country: UK; Year: 1975; Director: Bob Godfrey; Writer: Richard Taylor, Bob Godfrey, Joseph McGrath, Robin Smyth, Paul Weisser; Stars: Richard Briers, Harry Fowler, Barbara Moore, Angus Lennie, Peter Hawkins, Dick Graham, Imogen Claire, Cyril Shaps)

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

How to Get Ahead In Advertising

Review preview for How to Get Ahead In Advertising

Robinson makes careful use of movement and perspective to keep us guessing whether the boil is real or a product of Bagley's disordered imagination.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
An advertising executive suffering a crisis of conscience grows a boil on his shoulder - and then it starts talking.

(Country: UK; Year: 1989; Director: Bruce Robinson; Writer: Bruce Robinson; Stars: Richard E Grant, Rachel Ward, Richard Wilson, Jacqueline Tong, John Shrapnel, Susan Wooldridge, Hugh Armstrong, Mick Ford, Jacqueline Pearce, Christopher Simon)

Full review

Hyena

Review preview for Hyena

Bent copper. Check. A liking for the charlie. Check. Shady gangsters operating out of shady strip clubs. Check.

Robert Munro · 1 out of 5
The story of a corrupt cop caught up in the London crime scene.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Gerard Johnson; Writer: Gerard Johnson; Stars: Peter Ferdinando, Stephen Graham, Neil Maskell, Elisa Lasowski, MyAnna Buring, Richard Dormer, Gordon Brown, Tony Pitts, Orli Shuka, Gjevat Kelmendi, Thomas Craig, Lorenzo Camporese, Shaban Arifi, Alfred Doda, Mem Ferda)

Full review

The Inertia Variations

Documentary focusing on THE THE front man Matt Johnson’s life and work.

(Year: 2017; Director: Johanna St Michaels)

Know Your Europeans: The United Kingdom

Animation about the British character.

(Country: UK; Year: 1994; Director: Bob Godfrey; Writer: Colin Pearson; Stars: Chris Barrie, Sarah Connolly, Bob Godfrey, Frances Jellard)

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

The Long Good Friday

Review preview for The Long Good Friday

Nearly 30 years later and John Mackenzie’s classic is still the yard-stick for any new entry into the genre.

Stephen Carty · 5 out of 5
A London kingpin is attempting to broaden his empire... but soon finds his gang are a target.

(Country: UK; Year: 1980; Director: John Mackenzie; Writer: Barrie Keeffe; Stars: Bob Hoskins, Derek Thompson, Helen Mirren, Eddie Constantine, Bryan Marshall, Pierce Brosnan, Dexter Fletcher, Paul Barber, Kevin McNally, PH Moriarty, Gillian Taylforth, Karl Howman, Alan Ford)

Full review

Mona Lisa

Review preview for Mona Lisa

Packing a late-stage twist which unbalances everything that has gone before, Mona Lisa is a thriller that will really keep you guessing.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A driver gets in too deep when he agrees to help the high class call girl he works with search for a missing friend.

(Country: UK; Year: 1986; Director: Neil Jordan; Writer: Neil Jordan, David Leland; Stars: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane, Clarke Peters, Kate Hardie)

Full review

My Dad

A dad's influence on a youngster's life.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Marcus Armitage; Writer: Marcus Armitage; Stars: Divian Ladwa)

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

Polygamous Polonius Revisited

Short animation.

(Year: 1985; Director: Bob Godfrey)

Showing as part of short programme: Red White and Blue Animation

A Private Function

Review preview for A Private Function

Bennett's script gently mocks his characters, while also maintaining a level of understanding.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
In post-war Britain, a couple become involved in the bacon black market.

(Country: UK; Year: 1984; Director: Malcolm Mowbray; Writer: Alan Bennett, Malcolm Mowbray; Stars: Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Richard Griffiths, Tony Haygarth, John Normington, Bill Paterson, Liz Smith, Alison Steadman, Jim Carter, Pete Postlethwaite, Eileen O'Brien, Rachel Davies, Reece Dinsdale, Philip Wileman)

Full review

Scrubbers

Two girls escape from an open borstal.

(Country: UK; Year: 1982; Director: Mai Zetterling; Writer: Susannah Buxton, Roy Minton, Jeremy Watt, Mai Zetterling; Stars: Amanda York, Chrissie Cotterill, Elizabeth Edmonds, Kate Ingram, Amanda Symonds, Kathy Burke, Debby Bishop, Eva Mottley, Imogen Bain, Honey Bane, Camille Davis, Rachel Weaver, Dawn Archibald, Faith Tingle, Lilian Rostkowska)

A Sense Of Freedom

The life and imprisonment of Glasgow hard man and gangster Jimmy Boyle.

(Country: UK; Year: 1979; Director: John Mackenzie; Writer: Peter McDougall, Jimmy Boyle; Stars: David Hayman, Jake D'Arcy, Sean Scanlan, Alex Norton, John Murtagh, Roy Hanlon, Martin Black, Fulton Mackay, Hector Nicol, Bill Barclay, Alexander West, Lesley Mackie, Frank Welshman, Kate Gardiner, Jan Wilson)

THE THE: Infected - The Movie

Visual accompaniment to the album of the same name.

(Year: 1987; Director: Peter Christopherson, Mark Romanek)

Time Bandits

A young boy accidentally joins a group of time travelling dwarves on the hunt for treasure.

(Country: UK; Year: 1981; Director: Terry Gilliam; Writer: Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam; Stars: John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, David Warner, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Malcolm Dixon, Mike Edmonds, Jack Purvis, Tiny Ross)

Tony

Review preview for Tony

Peter Ferdinando is excellent as the titular character.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
A lonely oddball comes under scrutiny after a child goes missing.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Gerard Johnson; Writer: Gerard Johnson; Stars: Peter Ferdinando, Greg Kam, Ricky Grover, Kerryann White, Frank Boyce, Sam Kempster, George Russo, Neil Maskell, Francis Pope, Mark Mooney, Vicky Murdock, Cyrus Desir, Lorenzo Camporese, Ian Groombridge, Lucy Flack, Frank Mccauley, Ian Kilgannon)

Full review

Withnail And I (Withnail & I)

Review preview for Withnail And I

Richard E Grant's performance is a masterpiece in comic acting.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
The cult film about the adventures of two out-of-work actors on holiday in the Lake District gets a big screen re-issue.

(Country: UK; Year: 1986; Director: Bruce Robinson; Writer: Bruce Robinson; Stars: Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown, Michael Elphick, Daragh O'Malley) , Trailer

Full review See: I'll drink to that!