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London Film Festival · 2012

London Film Festival 2012

Journey

Travel through exotic landscapes, both internal and external.

Programme

22 films · 7 reviews

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Beyond The Hills (Dupa dealuri)

Review preview for Beyond The Hills

If the way Alina cries and hugs her friend hello, in between train tracks, does not trigger your empathy, you are possibly already dead.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
The story of two female orphans and their friendship in a remote Romanian monastery.

(Country: Romania, France, Belgium; Year: 2012; Director: Cristian Mungiu; Writer: Cristian Mungiu, Tatiana Niculescu Bran; Stars: Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga, Catalina Harabagiu, Gina Tandura, Vica Agache, Nora Covali, Dionisie Vitcu, Ionut Ghinea, Liliana Mocanu, Doru Ana, Costache Babii, Luminita Gheorghiu, Alina Berzunteanu)

Full review See: Interview with Cristina Flutur about Beyond The Hills

Captive (Captured)

Review preview for Captive

Mendoza never lets your expectations, or your blood pressure, settle as the strange and isolated group face physical and existential threats.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
Unlikely relationships form between hostages and captors as they trek through the Philippine jungle.

(Country: France, Germany, Philippines; Year: 2012; Director: Brillante Mendoza; Writer: Boots Agbayani Pastor, Patrick Bancarel, Arlyn dela Cruz, Brillante Mendoza; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Joel Torre, Maria Isabel Lopez, Mercedes Cabral, Kristoffer King, Ronnie Lazaro, Sid Lucero, Madeleine Nicolas, Raymond Bagatsing, Baron Geisler, Mon Confiado, Rustica Carpio, Bernard Palanca, Perry Dizon, Evelyn Vargas) , Official site

Full review

Dead Europe

Travelling to Greece to scatter his deceased father's ashes, an Australian is gradually convinced by tales of an ancient curse on his family.

(Country: Australia, UK; Year: 2012; Director: Tony Krawitz; Writer: Louise Fox, based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas.; Stars: Ewen Leslie, Marton Csokas, Kodi Smit McPhee)

Dreams For Sale (Yume Uru Futari)

In desperate financial straits, a young woman persuades her husband to romance other women, propose to them and persuade them to part with their savings.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Miwa Nishikawa; Writer: Miwa Nishikawa; Stars: Sadawo Abe, Takako Matsu, Lena Tanaka)

Here And There (Aquí y allá)

Review preview for Here And There

The sort of film that practically defines the festival experience, but that one could not ever imagine watching in any other context.

Anton Bitel · 2.5 out of 5
After years in the US, Pedro returns home to his family in Mexico, but the lure of the north remains as strong as ever.

(Country: US, Spain, Mexico; Year: 2012; Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza; Writer: Antonio Méndez Esparza; Stars: Pedro Santos De los, Teresa Ramírez Aguirre, Lorena Guadalupe Pantaleón Vázquez, Heidi Laura Solano Espinoza, Néstor Tepetate Medina, Carolina Prado Ángel.)

Full review

Horses Of God (Les Chevaux De Dieu)

Two brothers growing up in the slums gradually change, on their way to becoming suicide bombers.

(Country: Morocco, France, Belgium; Year: 2012; Director: Nabil Ayouch; Writer: Jamal Belmahi; Stars: Abdelhakim Rachid, Abdelilah Rachid, Hamza Souidek)

House With A Turret (Dom C Bashenkoy)

A nine year old boy and his mother travel to Kiev in the early years of the Second World War.

(Country: Ukraine; Year: 2011; Director: Eva Neymann; Writer: Eva Neymann; Stars: Dmitriy Kobetskoy, Katerina Golubeva, Mikhail Veksler)

Imagine

A blind teacher, who helps his blind students to navigate more confidently using sound, forms an unspoken attachment to a shy young woman.

(Country: Poland, France, Portugal; Year: 2012; Director: Andrzej Jakimowski; Writer: Andrzej Jakimowski; Stars: Edward Hogg, Alexandra Maria Lara, Melchior Derouet)

The Interval (L'Intervallo)

A captive girl and the boy who is guarding her in an abandoned building gradually overcome mistrust and form a tentative bond.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland; Year: 2012; Director: Leonardo di Costanzo; Writer: Leonardo di Costanzo, Mariangela Barbanente, Maurizio Braucci; Stars: Francesca Riso, Alessio Gallo, Carmine Paternoster)

I Carried You Home

Two sisters bond as they accompany their mother's body on the long journey to her home town, where her funeral will be held.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2011; Director: Tongpong Chantarangkul; Writer: Pramett Chankrasae, Piyakara Bootprasert, Tongpong Chantarangkul; Stars: Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Akumsiri Suwannasak, Torpong Kul-on)

Journal De France

A photographic journey through France and the countries with which it has been connected, using historical footage collected since the early Sixties.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Raymond Depardon, Claudine Nougaret)

Lines Of Wellington (As Linhas De Torres)

TV mini-series by the filmmaker Valeria Sarmiento. A reconstruction of Napoleon's attempts to invade Portugal.

(Country: Portugal, France; Year: 2012; Director: Valeria Sarmiento; Writer: Carlos Saboga; Stars: Nuno Lopes, Soraia Chaves, Marisa Paredes, John Malkovich, Carloto Cotta, Victória Guerra, Marcello Urgeghe, Jemima West, José Afonso Pimentel, Miguel Borges, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud, Filipe Vargas, Adriano Luz, João Arrais)

Long Live The Family! (Rodina Je Základ Státu)

A banker avoids police investigations by going on the run with his family, pretending it's a holiday, and in the process discovers the pleasures of a simpler life.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2011; Director: Robert Sedláček; Writer: Robert Sedláček; Stars: Igor Chmela, Eva Vrbková, Jiŕí Vyorálek)

Museum Hours

Review preview for Museum Hours

This goes on for more than two hours and will bore some viewers to death. Others, though, will find this quiet, complex film a fascinating piece of art in itself.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A museum attendant shows a Canadian visitor the sights of Vienna and in the process falls in love with it all over again.

(Country: Austria, US; Year: 2012; Director: Jem Cohen; Writer: Jem Cohen; Stars: Mary Margaret O'Hara, Bobby Sommer, Ela Piplits)

Full review

The Patience Stone (Syngué Sabour)

An Afghan woman tending to her comatose husband gradually finds the means to confound the patriarchal society around her and assert her own voice.

(Country: France, Afghanistan, Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Atiq Rahimi; Writer: Atiq Rahimi, Jean-Claude Carrière; Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Hamidreza Javdan, Massi Mrowat)

The Red And The Blue (Il Rosso E Il Blu)

Review preview for The Red And The Blue

The Red And The Blue is a real charmer despite moments of bleakness.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Bittersweet personal stories interconnect in a high school in Rome.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2012; Director: Giuseppe Piccione; Writer: Giuseppe Piccioni, Francesca Manieri; Stars: Riccardo Scamarcio, Margherita Buy, Roberto Hertlitzka)

Full review

The Road: A Story Of Life And Death

An introduction to assorted people living along the A5 who have come to London as immigrants over the course of decades.

(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Marc Isaacs; Writer: Marc Isaacs, Iqbal Ahmed)

Silence

Review preview for Silence

Well worth the effort of tuning into its wavelength.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A sound recordist returns home to Ireland to record locations away from man-made sound, and in the process finds himself inexorably drawn into his own past.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Pat Collins; Writer: Pat Collins, Sharon Whooley, Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde; Stars: Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde, Andrew Bennett, Michael Harding, Jens K. Müller, Tim Robinson, Hilary O'Shaughnessy)

Full review

La Sirga

This is the story of Alicia, a woman stripped of her belongings who seeks shelter at La Sirga, the boarding house belonging to her Uncle Oscar on La Cocha Lake.

(Country: Colombia, France, Mexico; Year: 2012; Director: William Vega; Writer: William Vega; Stars: Floralba Achicanoy, Joghis Seudin Arias, Julio César Roble)

Thursday Till Sunday (De Jueves A Domingo)

Review preview for Thursday Till Sunday

The camera of Bárbara Álvarez carefully observes the tensions mounting against a backdrop of ... landscapes that mirror the young girl's anxieties.

Anton Bitel · 3 out of 5
A ten-year-old becomes aware of the strains on her parents' marriage over the course of long car journey.

(Country: Chile, Netherlands; Year: 2012; Director: Dominga Sotomayor; Writer: Dominga Sotomayor; Stars: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Paola Giannini, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Jorge Becker, Axel Dupré)

Full review

The We And The I

A chance to get to know a diverse group of schoolkids on their bus home through the Bronx after the last day of school.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Michel Gondry; Writer: Michel Gondry, Jeff Grimshaw, Paul Proch; Stars: Michael Brodie, Teresa Lynn, Raymond Delgado)

Winter Nomads (Hiver Nomade)

Man, woman, sheep, adventure - the life of modern European shepherds.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2012; Director: Manuel von Stürler)