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London Film Festival · 2013

London Film Festival 2013

Galas

Red carpet screenings.

Programme

19 films · 18 reviews

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12 Years A Slave

Review preview for 12 Years A Slave

One of this year's must-see films, this is not simply a worthy tribute of a subject too often ignored by Hollywood; it's also a remarkable piece of cinema in its own right.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A free black man is abducted and sold into slavery.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Steve McQueen; Writer: John Ridley, based on the book by Solomon Northup; Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Quvenzhané Wallis, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Garret Dillahunt, Michael K. Williams, Taran Killam, Alfre Woodard, Scoot McNairy, Bryan Batt, Dwight Henry)

Full review

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (La Vie D'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2, The Life of Adele, Blue Is The Warmest Color)

Review preview for Blue Is The Warmest Colour

A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Two young women fall unexpectedly and passionately in love.

(Year: 2013; Director: Abdellatif Kechiche; Writer: Julie Maroh, Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix; Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Jérémie Laheurte, Catherine Salée, Aurélien Recoing, Mona Walravens, Alma Jodorowsky, Fanny Maurin, Benjamin Siksou, Sandor Funtek, Benoît Pilot, Baya Rehaz, Karim Saidi)

Full review

Captain Phillips

Review preview for Captain Phillips

The premise questions our storytelling conventions.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
Thriller based on the true story of the seizure of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship in 2009 by four Somali pirates.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Paul Greengrass; Writer: Billy Ray, Stephan Talty, based on the book by Richard Phillips; Stars: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Addirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky, Corey Johnson, Chris Mulkey, Yul Vazquez, Max Martini, Omar Berdouni, Mohamed Ali, Issak Farah Samatar)

Full review

Don Jon (Don Jon's Addiction)

Review preview for Don Jon

Despite the seemingly grim subject matter, Gordon-Levitt goes the upbeat route with his debut feature.

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
A porn-obsessed man tries to give up the one-night stands when he meets a woman whose appeal might exceed his fantasies.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Writer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown)

Full review

The Epic of Everest

The official film record of the legendary 1924 attempt to conquer the highest mountain in the world, with a performance by Simon Fisher Turner of his new score.

(Country: UK; Year: 1924; Director: J B L Noel; Stars: Andrew Irvine, George Mallory)

Gravity

Review preview for Gravity

Alfonso Cuaron's film comes with a powerful force of its own - one which drags you towards the edge of your seat, forces your nails down into the cinema arm rests and sucks the breath out of you.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2013; Director: Alfonso Cuarón; Writer: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón; Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Eric Michels, Basher Savage)

Full review See: San Sebastian diary: Child's Pose, Le Week-End, Gravity and Hanif Kureishi

The Grandmaster (Yi dai zong shi)

Review preview for The Grandmaster

Wong Kar Wai knows how to frame faces like no other, with embroidered collars, white straw fedoras, a rowdy monkey, cotton flowers and words escaping lips that are like song.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
The story of Ip Man, the martial arts master who trained Bruce Lee.

(Country: Hong Kong, China, US; Year: 2013; Director: Wong Kar Wai; Writer: Wong Kar Wai, Xu Haofeng, Zou Jingzhi; Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Jin, Song Hye-kyo, Chang Chen, Wang Qingxiang, Cung Le, Lo Hoi-pang, Liu Xun, Leung Siu Lung, Julian Cheung Chi-lam)

Full review See: Wong Kar Wai in conversation about The Grandmaster , Martin Scorsese supports The Grandmaster

Surpise film

Inside Llewyn Davis

Review preview for Inside Llewyn Davis

The pace may seem deliberate but the Coens obviously want us to uncover the character's layers gently rather than him being delivered ready-made.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
One week in the life of a talented, failed singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village, New York, in the Sixties

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; Writer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen; Stars: Oscar Issacs, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund )

Full review

The Invisible Woman

Review preview for The Invisible Woman

The film suffers from a profusion of good taste

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
Adaptation of Claire Tomalin’s 1992 biography, which brought Charles Dickens' secret 13-year affair with a young actress to light.

(Country: UK; Year: 2013; Director: Ralph Fiennes; Writer: Abi Morgan, based on the book by Claire Tomalin; Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, John Kavanagh, Joanna Scanlan, Tom Hollander, Perdita Weeks, Amanda Hale)

Full review

Labor Day (Labour Day)

Review preview for Labor Day

The ingredients may look to be all there but Reitman's effort feels too full of studio additives and overcooked.

Amber Wilkinson · 1.5 out of 5
A depressed woman and her son find their lives changed by an encounter with a convict on the run.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Jason Reitman; Writer: Jason Reitman, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard; Stars: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Clark Gregg, Brighid Fleming, JK Simmons)

Full review

Mystery Road

Review preview for Mystery Road

Sen has crafted a tense thrill ride without ever forgetting his roots.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
An Aboriginal cop returns to his home town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Ivan Sen; Writer: Ivan Sen; Stars: Aaron Pederson, Hugo Weaving, Jack Thompson, Ryan Kwanten, Tony Barry, David Field, Damian Walshe-Howling, Tasma Walton, Zoe Carides, Robert Mammone, Samara Weaving, Daniel Roberts, Bruce Spence)

Full review

Night Moves

Review preview for Night Moves

Reichardt observes the game coolly, yet provides more than enough detail to show the contradictions in her players' gambits.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
Three people plot an act of eco-terrorism.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Kelly Reichardt; Writer: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt; Stars: Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat, James Le Gros, Clara Mamet, Lew Temple, Katherine Waterston, Nate Mooney, Logan Miller, Matt Malloy, Kai Lennox, Barry Del Sherman, Griffin Newman, Bart McCarthy)

Full review

Nebraska

Review preview for Nebraska

Behind the surface simplicity of a father and son road trip lurks a sharp and bitter-sweet odyssey with a strong sense of satire.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
An alcoholic father and his resentful son travel cross-country together to collect big sweepstake winnings.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Alexander Payne; Writer: Bob Nelson; Stars: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach, Stephen Clayton, Missy Doty, Rance Howard, Kevin Kunkel, Angela McEwan, Devin Ratray, Anthony G. Schmidt, Melinda Simonsen, Ronald Vosta, Mary Louise Wilson)

Full review

Only Lovers Left Alive

Review preview for Only Lovers Left Alive

What is so disarming about Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a scarce sense of appreciation - of the vampire couple for each other and the appreciation by both of them for what is great in the world.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A vampire couple contemplate a changing world.

(Country: Germany, US, UK, France, Cyprus; Year: 2013; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Slimane Dazi, Wayne Brinston, Aurelie Thepaut)

Full review See: New York Film Festival diary one: Captain Phillips, The Invisible Woman, Only Lovers Left Alive

Philomena

Review preview for Philomena

This will have even the bitterest viewer sobbing into their popcorn.

David Graham · 4.5 out of 5
The true story of an Irish Catholic woman who decides to find her son more than 50 years after she was forced, as an unmarried mother, to give him up for adoption.

(Country: UK, US, France; Year: 2013; Director: Stephen Frears; Writer: Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope, Martin Sixsmith; Stars: Steve Coogan, Judi Dench, Anna Maxwell Martin, Charlie Murphy, Simone Lahbib, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Neve Gachev, Charles Edwards, Nichola Fynn, Charlotte Rickard, Wunmi Mosaku, Xavier Atkins, Ruth McCabe, Shawn Gonzalez, Alan Davis)

Full review See: Steve Coogan and Sophie Kennedy Clark talk Philomena

Saving Mr. Banks

Review preview for Saving Mr. Banks

The end result, though well-mounted and featuring knock-the-soot-out-of-your-chimney performances from Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as the movie mogul, feels more like a Disney theme park version of events than the real story.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
The true story of Mary Poppins’ journey to the big screen.

(Country: US, UK, Australia; Year: 2013; Director: John Lee Hancock; Writer: Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith; Stars: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Griffiths, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak, Kathy Baker)

Full review

Stranger By The Lake (L'Inconnu Du Lac)

Review preview for Stranger By The Lake

The investigation has a surreal aspect to it that stretches credulity while the final resolution seems unsatisfactorily far-fetched.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
After a shocking incident takes place at a cruising spot, a young man is caught in the throes of a dangerous passion.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Alain Guiraudie; Writer: Alain Guiraudie; Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao, Jérôme Chappatte, Mathieu Vervisch, Gilbert Traina, Emmanuel Daumas, Sébastien Badachaoui, Gilles Guérin, François-Renaud Labarthe, Claude Bellelle, Slawomir Cieminski, Jean-Marie Crémier, Bernard Delavaux, Bernard German)

Full review

The Unbeatables (Metegol, Futbolin, Foosball)

Review preview for The Unbeatables

As the story ball is passed from one set of characters to the next, you sense the dexterity without being distracted by it, while the messages about being a team player and winning by fair means not foul underpins the action without getting in the way.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A man goes on an adventure with the characters on his table football game.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Juan José Campanella; Writer: Juan José Campanella, Roberto Fontanarrosa, Gastón Gorali, Eduardo Sacheri; Stars: Juan José Campanella, Diego Ramos, Pablo Rago, Axel Kuschevatzky, Lucía Maciel, David Masajnik, Marcos Mundstock, Diego Mesaglío, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Fabián Gianola, Horacio Fontova, Federico Cecere, Sebastián Mogordoy, Mariana Otero, Roberto Kim)

Full review See: Juan José Campanella interview about The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto De Sus Ojos)

We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!)

Review preview for We Are The Best!

We Are The Best! is a rebel yell of positivism - with exclamation mark - that brings a fuzzy warmth to all the wintry Stockholm locations.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
Coming of age tale about three teenage girls in Stockholm forming a punk band.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2013; Director: Lukas Moodysson; Writer: Lukas Moodysson, from the graphic novel by Coco Moodysson; Stars: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne)

Full review