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Glasgow Film Festival · 2015

Glasgow Film Festival 2015

Galas and event films

The festival's gala premieres, plus a series of films accompanied by special events, from new live soundtracks to dedicated dance performances.

Programme

11 films · 9 reviews

Jump to a film

Boychoir

The tale of a troubled orphan boy with a beautiful voice.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Francois Girard; Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas)

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (La Chute De La Maison Usher)

Review preview for The Fall Of The House Of Usher

A visually masterful film that very much retains its power today, The Fall Of The House Of Usher introduced many of the tropes of the horror genre.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A loose adaptation of the Poe classic, with a lonely aristocrat obsessively painting his wife as she wastes away.

(Country: France; Year: 1928; Director: Jean Epstein; Writer: Luis Buñuel and Jean Epstein, based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe; Stars: Jean Debucourt, Marguerite Gance, Charles Lamy, Fournez-Goffard)

Full review

Love Is All: 100 Years Of Love And Courtship On Film

A celebration of romantic moments on film and the gradual victory of romance over the censors.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Kim Longinotto archive and Yorkshire)

Mildred Pierce

Review preview for Mildred Pierce

A sharp script full of camp and an emotional punch that knocks us over at the end.

Chris · 5 out of 5
When a murdered man gasps out her name, is our heroine's remarkable survival story finally at an end?

(Country: US; Year: 1945; Director: Michael Curtiz; Writer: Ranald MacDougall, from the book by James M. Cain.; Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett)

Full review

Rosewater

Review preview for Rosewater

A solid, and certainly heartfelt effort.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
The story of Maziar Bahari, the journalist who was detained for 188 days in Iran.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jon Stewart; Writer: Jon Stewart, Maziar Bahari, Aimee Molloy; Stars: Gael García Bernal, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Golshifteh Farahani, Kim Bodnia, Dimitri Leonidas, Jason Jones, Andrew Gower, Haluk Bilginer, Nasser Faris, Nazanin Nour, Numan Acar, Arian Moayed, Amir El-Masry, Zarif Kabier, Arash Mokhtar)

Full review

Strictly Ballroom

Review preview for Strictly Ballroom

Luhrmann combines an orgy of schmaltzy pastiche with satirical fireworks.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
An 'ugly duckling' dancer teams up with the champ in waiting for feelgood romp.

(Country: Australia; Year: 1992; Director: Baz Luhrmann; Writer: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce; Stars: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thompson, Gia Carides, Peter Whitford, Barry Otto, John Hannan, Sonia Kruger, Kris McQuade)

Full review See: Dance Film Festival introduction: celebrating dance in film

Still Alice

Review preview for Still Alice

Moore runs away with the film.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
A woman and her family struggle to cope after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland; Writer: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland, based on the novel by Lisa Genova; Stars: Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth, Shane McRae, Hunter Parrish, Alec Baldwin, Seth Gilliam, Kristen Stewart, Stephen Kunken, Erin Darke, Daniel Gerroll, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Maxine Prescott, Orlagh Cassidy, Rosa Arredondo, Zillah Glory)

Full review See: Wash Westmoreland in conversation on Still Alice part 2 , Wash Westmoreland in conversation on Still Alice part 1

The Voices

Review preview for The Voices

For a while, at least, The Voices rattles along like a charming slasher comedy of errors.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
A disturbed factory worker dreams of romance... but will he take advice from his dog or his cat?

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Marjane Satrapi; Writer: Michael R Perry; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Gemma Arterton, Ryan Reynolds, Jacki Weaver, Gulliver McGrath, Stephanie Vogt, Adi Shankar, Ella Smith, Crystal Nicole Marcano, Michael S. Ruscheinsky, Ricardia Bramley, Gretel Ashzinger, Denis Lyons, Helena Prince, Alessa Kordeck)

Full review See: Sundance Episode 2: Infinitely Polar Bear, Frank and The Voices

While We're Young

Review preview for While We're Young

This is Woody Allen territory, except not as funny

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Middle aged angst in the documentary film world of New York

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Noah Baumbach; Writer: Noah Baumbach; Stars: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin, Adam Horovitz, Matthew Maher, Peter Yarrow)

Full review See: Interview with Noah Baumbach about While We're Young

Opening night

Working Girl

Review preview for Working Girl

Its deft handling of feminist issues make it all the more ironic that it has been dismissed as trivial when in many ways it's the female equivalent of Wall Street.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A humble secretary, betrayed by her boss, makes the most of a brief time left in charge to pursue her own ambitions in the world of high finance.

(Country: US; Year: 1988; Director: Mike Nichols; Writer: Kevin Wade; Stars: Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver)

Full review See: Sigourney Weaver interview

X+Y

Review preview for X+Y

A strong film with an impressive central performance by up and coming star Asa Butterfield.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An autistic teenage prodigy travels from the English suburbs for a maths competition in Taipei, challenging his safely defined outlook.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Morgan Matthews; Writer: James Graham; Stars: Lewis Adams, Percelle Ascott, Edward Baker-Close, Lee Bolton, Jason Thomas Brown, Asa Butterfield, Tasha Connor, Colin Coombs, Alexa Davies, Jake Davies, Paul J. Dove, James Frost, Sally Hawkins, Alex Lawther, Orion Lee)

Full review