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Glasgow Film Festival · 2017

Glasgow Film Festival 2017

Galas

Programme

12 films · 11 reviews

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Berlin Syndrome

Review preview for Berlin Syndrome

The sex element, while erotically shot, is almost exclusively reserved for the moment in which Clare was enjoying the experience, thus stripping away the usual voyeuristic downside that often accompanies this genre.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A passionate holiday romance leads to an obsessive relationship, when an tourist wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment and is unable to leave.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Cate Shortland; Writer: Shaun Grant, Melanie Joosten; Stars: Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt, Matthias Habich, Lucie Aron, Emma Bading, Cem Tuncay, Kristina Kostiv, Claude Heinrich, Malin Steffen, Lara Marie Müller, Thuso Lekwape, Charly Thorn, Elias Esser, Mariella Josephine Aumann, Morgane Ferru)

Full review

Catfight

Review preview for Catfight

The make-up team have clearly been told not to stint on the blood.

Jane Fae · 2.5 out of 5
When two old college friends spend time together, their resentment of one another comes to the surface - and gets physical.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Onur Tukel; Writer: Onur Tukel; Stars: Sandra Oh, Anne Heche, Alicia Silverstone)

Full review

Free Fire

Review preview for Free Fire

The director resembles a sniper who remains unseen, but whose presence can nonetheless be felt.

Paul Risker · 3.5 out of 5
A meeting between two gangs in a deserted warehouse turns into a shootout.

(Country: France, UK; Year: 2016; Director: Ben Wheatley; Writer: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley; Stars: Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Babou Ceesay, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Mark Monero, Patrick Bergin, Sara Dee, Tom Davis)

Full review

Goldstone

Review preview for Goldstone

This is psychogeography, a place outback and beyond, where licit and illicit and moral and immoral are buried in shades of grey.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
An indigenous detective arrives in a frontier town on the hunt for a missing person.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2016; Director: Ivan Sen; Writer: Ivan Sen; Stars: Kate Beahan, Pei-Pei Cheng, Linda Chien, Max Cullen, Michelle Lim Davidson, Michael Dorman, Aaron Fa'aoso, David Gulpilil, Lark Lee, Tommy Lewis, Aaron Pedersen, Steve Rodgers, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham)

Full review

Handsome Devil

Review preview for Handsome Devil

A stylish and heartwarming tale of triumph against adversity that is somewhat undermined by its predictable story and lack of guts in its final third.

Luke Shaw · 3 out of 5
A loner and the star athlete at a rugby-mad school form an intense friendship, but it will be tested.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2016; Director: John Butler; Writer: John Butler; Stars: Fionn O'Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott, Moe Dunford, Michael McElhatton)

Full review

The Lost City Of Z

Review preview for The Lost City Of Z

Hunnam gives a compelling performance as a man railing against the bigotry of his time, and yet simultaneously embodying it as a white explorer in a place already well-known to its inhabitants.

Seph Shewell Brockway · 3.5 out of 5
The story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, whose search for a lost city in the Amazon grew into an obsession.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: James Gray; Writer: David Grann, James Gray; Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Angus Macfadyen, Daniel Huttlestone, Michael Ford-FitzGerald, Raquel Arraes, Edward Ashley, Bobby Smalldridge, Johann Myers, Nicholas Agnew, Frank Clem, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Michael Jenn)

Full review

Mad To Be Normal

Review preview for Mad To Be Normal

Sadly, like many biopics, the film blends so many elements of the life of its subject that it starts to lose focus, and falls back on a relationship conflict to lend some backbone.

Luke Shaw · 2.5 out of 5
The story of psychiatrist RD Laing and his unique community at Kingsley Hall, East London, during the Sixties.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Robert Mullan; Writer: Robert Mullan; Stars: David Tennant, Michael Gambon, Elisabeth Moss)

Full review

Mindhorn

Review preview for Mindhorn

There are strong, even hilarious, performances throughout.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A fading actor aims to redeem himself by turning private eye and catching a killer.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Sean Foley; Writer: Julian Barratt, Simon Farnaby; Stars: Essie Davis, Julian Barratt, Alex Wyndham, Alannah Olivia, Robin Morrissey, Jessye Romeo, Alec Nicholls)

Full review

The Odyssey (L'odyssée)

Review preview for The Odyssey

The tension between Philippe and his dad ultimately drives the film in ways that lead Salle to cut corners with other characters and leave it caught in the doldrums when Niney is absent.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
Biopic of the underwater pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Jérôme Salle; Writer: Jean-Michel Cousteau, Albert Falco, Jérôme Salle, Laurent Turner; Stars: Lambert Wilson, Audrey Tautou, Pierre Niney, Benjamin Lavernhe, Laurent Lucas)

Full review See: Jérôme Salle in conversation on Lambert Wilson's performance as Jacques-Yves Cousteau in The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) , Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Jérôme Salle in conversation on The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) , Director Jerôme Salle interview about diving into the life of Jacques Cousteau

Patriots Day

An account of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the aftermath, which includes the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists responsible.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Peter Berg; Writer: Peter Berg, Matt Cook; Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, JK Simmons, Rhet Kidd, John Goodman)

Rules Don't Apply

Review preview for Rules Don't Apply

Every time we are afforded a glimpse of the outrageous figure, the film crackles with energy.

Luke Shaw · 2.5 out of 5
An unconventional love story of an aspiring actress, her determined driver, and the eccentric billionaire whom they work for.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Warren Beatty; Writer: Warren Beatty; Stars: Warren Beatty, Lily Collins, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Broderick, Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Haley Bennett, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Alec Baldwin, Paul Schneider, Oliver Platt, Paul Sorvino)

Full review

Their Finest

Review preview for Their Finest

A charming and entertaining take on the film within the film scenario, with solid performances from all of its cast.

Evelin Toth · 3 out of 5
A British film crew in the Second World War makes a propaganda film.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Lone Scherfig; Writer: Gaby Chiappe, based on the novel by Lissa Evans; Stars: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Paul Ritter, Rachael Stirling, Richard E Grant, Henry Goodman, Jake Lacy, Jeremy Irons, Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, Hubert Burton, Claudia Jessie, Stephanie Hyam)

Full review