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London Film Festival · 2014

London Film Festival 2014

Laugh

Short film showcase After Laughter Comes Tears will also screen.

Programme

23 films · 10 reviews

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1001 Grams

Marie likes things to be safe and quantifiable. But can you measure happiness or even the weight of a life?

(Country: Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Bent Hamer; Writer: Bent Hamer; Stars: Ane Dahl Torp, Peter Hudson, Per Christian Ellefsen, Laurent Stocker, Stein Winge, Hildegun Riise)

Appropriate Behavior (Appropriate Behaviour)

Review preview for Appropriate Behavior

A solid, grounded piece of work that approaches its subject with a maturity remarkable for a first feature from a young director.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young New Yorker struggles to understand herself in the aftermath of a break-up.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Desiree Akhavan; Writer: Desiree Akhavan; Stars: Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Scott Adsit, Halley Feiffer, Anh Duong, Hooman Majd, Arian Moayed, Aimee Mullins, Christopher Baker, Robyn Rikoon, Justine Cotsonas, Jake Katzman, Maryann Urbano, Daniella Rabbani, James Claude Bristow)

Full review See: Interview with Desiree Akhavan about Appropriate Behaviour

Born Yesterday

A tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover etiquette.

(Country: US; Year: 1950; Director: George Cukor; Writer: Garson Kanin, Albert Mannheimer, Garson Kanin; Stars: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, William Holden, Howard St. John, Frank Otto, Larry Oliver, Barbara Brown, Grandon Rhodes, Claire Carleton, Charles Cane, Helen Eby-Rock, Mike Mahoney, Paul Marion, William Mays, John Morley)

Chasing Berlusconi (Jakten på Berlusconi)

A veteran harness-racing horse driver hatches a ‘fail-safe’ plan to turn his fortunes around.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Ole Endresen; Writer: Ole Endresen; Stars: Edward Schultheiss, Morten Ramm, Henriette Steenstrup, Jon Øigarden, Veslemøy Mørkrid, Atle Antonsen, Arthur Berning, Bjørn Floberg, Hege Schøyen, Odd Magnus Williamson)

Dear White People

Four black students attend an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over an “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in postracial America while weaving a story about forging one's unique path in the world.

(Year: 2014; Director: Justin Simien; Writer: Justin Simien)

Excuse My French (Lamoakhza)

A Christian boy in Egypt is forced to swap his elite education for state school, where he is believed to be a Muslim.

(Country: Egypt; Year: 2014; Director: Amr Salama; Writer: Amr Salama; Stars: Ahmed Helmy, Hani Adel, Kinda Allouch, Ahmed Dash)

Free Fall (Szabadesés)

An old woman flies past six floors after jumping from the roof of her apartment block. Six stories on the poor state of humanity.

(Country: Hungary, France, South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: György Pálfi)

The Gold Bug (El escarabajo de oro)

Film-within-a-film lampoons contemporary filmmaking.

(Country: Sweden, Denmark, Argentina; Year: 2014; Director: Alejo Moguillansky, Fia-Stina Sandlund; Writer: Mariano Llinás, Alejo Moguillansky, Fia-Stina Sandlund; Stars: Luciana Acuña, Walter Jakob, Matthieu Perpoint, Rafael Spregelburd, Georg Tielmann)

Hill Of Freedom

Review preview for Hill Of Freedom

Despite the hill of the title, Sang-soo's latest falls flat.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
A man travels to Seoul in a bid to win back a woman he still cares for.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Ryô Kase, Moon So-ri, Seo Young-hwa, Kim Eui-sung, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Gi Ju-bong, Lee Min-woo, Jeong Eun-Chae)

Full review

If You Don't, I Will (Arrête ou je continue)

A couple on a hike, debate their relationship.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Sophie Fillières; Writer: Sophie Fillières; Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Joséphine de La Baume, Emmanuelle Devos)

I Can Quit Whenever I Want

Review preview for I Can Quit Whenever I Want

A fast paced, witty comedy that sweetens its bitter social comment with an optimistic outlook.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A bunch of broke academics decide to enter the drug manufacture and dealing business.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2014; Director: Sydney Sibilia; Writer: Valerio Attanasio, Andrea Garello, Sydney Sibilia; Stars: Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino, Valerio Aprea, Paolo Calabresi, Libero De Rienzo, Stefano Fresi, Lorenzo Lavia, Pietro Sermonti, Sergio Solli, Majlinda Agaj, Neri Marcorè, Guglielmo Poggi, Katsiaryna Shulha, Nadir Caselli, Luca Vecchi)

Full review

Land Ho!

Review preview for Land Ho!

The contrast between the characters and the actors sparky chemistry means the laughs have a head start, but there is also a considerable amount of psychological terrain being covered.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Two old friends take a trip to Iceland.

(Country: Iceland, US; Year: 2014; Director: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Writer: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Stars: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson, Alice Olivia Clarke, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Emmsjé Gauti, Magnús Kr. Guðmundsson, Þrúður Kristjánsdóttir)

Full review See: Land Ho! interview with Earl Lynn Nelson and Paul Eenhoorn

Li'l Quinquin (P'tit Quinquin)

Review preview for Li'l Quinquin

Dumont - for all the outlandishness of the film in other aspects - prioritises a messy realism over straightforward likeability in relation to his protagonists.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A blackly comic murder mystery develops in a small town in northern France.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Bruno Dumont; Writer: Bruno Dumont; Stars: Alane Delhaye, Lucy Caron, Bernard Pruvost, Philippe Jore, Philippe Peuvion, Lisa Hartmann, Jason Cirot, Julien Bodard, Corentin Carpentier, Pascal Fresch, Baptiste Anquez, Stéphane Boutillier, Frédéric Castagno, Andrée Peuvion, Lucien Chaussoy, Cindy Louguet, Céline Sauvage, Bruno Darras, Sébastien Liss, Yacine Kellal, Didier Hennuyer, Cédric Lemaire, Stéphane Gallais, Raphaël Mourgues)

Full review

Listen Up Philip

Review preview for Listen Up Philip

The moments of distinctly sub-Woody Allenesque humour make you dream of what might have been.

Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
An angry writer and his relationships.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Alex Ross Perry; Stars: Krysten Ritter, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Jonathan Pryce, Dree Hemingway, Joséphine de La Baume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Jennifer Kim, Daniel London, Joanne Tucker, Lee Wilkof, Rob Yang, Keith Poulson, Francis Benhamou, Miriam Weisbecker)

Full review

The Little Death

A group of suburban Sydney couples explore their taboo sexual predilections, causing havoc with their relationships.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2014; Director: Josh Lawson; Writer: Josh Lawson; Stars: Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Josh Lawson, Ben Lawson, Lisa McCune, Lachy Hulme, Patrick Brammall, Tasneem Roc, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Stephanie May, T.J. Power, Darren Gallagher, Zoe Carides, Paul Gleeson)

Mr. Kaplan

A downtrodden seventy-something Jewish man attempts to restore his pride by unmasking an elderly German beach bar owner as a Nazi war criminal.

(Country: Uruguay; Year: 2014; Director: Álvaro Brechner; Writer: Álvaro Brechner; Stars: Héctor Noguera, Néstor Guzzini, Rolf Becker, Nidia Telles, Nuria Fló, Leonor Svarcas, Gustavo Saffores, Hugo Piccinini, Cesar Jourdan, Jorge Bolani, Augusto Mazzarelli, Adela Dubrá, Roberto Suárez, Anouk Ogueta)

Night Bus

Stories on a London night bus.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Simon Baker; Writer: Simon Baker; Stars: Kunjue Li, Stacha Hicks, Ruaraidh Murray, Keeley-Jo Jupp, Tony Walker, Sophie Anderson, Matthew Jure, Mark Drake, Kyri Saphiris, Debra Baker, Alicia Grace Turrell, Waleed Akhtar, Amy Strange, Athene Parker, Nicholas A. Newman)

Ping Pong Summer

1985. Ocean City, Maryland. Summer vacation. Rap music. Parachute pants. Ping pong. First crushes. Best friends. Mean bullies. Weird mentors. That awkward, momentous time in your life when you're treated like an alien by everyone around you, even though you know deep down you're as funky fresh as it gets.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Michael Tully; Writer: Michael Tully, Michael Tully; Stars: Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, John Hannah, Amy Sedaris, Judah Friedlander, Robert Longstreet, Quinn McColgan, Logan Bennett, Maddie Howard, Emmi Shockley, Chelsea Reba, Helena May Seabrook, Joseph McCaughtry, Terry McConnaughey, Myles Massey)

Queen And Country

Review preview for Queen And Country

Anchoring the audience with a perennial fence-sitter allows more room for the inevitable impact of the characters' stories, without the weight of an absolute ideological argument.

Luke Shaw · 4 out of 5
An Englishman signs up to fight in the Korean War.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: John Boorman; Writer: John Boorman; Stars: Tamsin Egerton, David Thewlis, Caleb Landry Jones, Richard E Grant, Vanessa Kirby, Sinead Cusack)

Full review See: Interview with John Boorman about Queen And Country

The Smuggler (The Mule)

Review preview for The Smuggler

The Smuggler blends scatological humour, brutal violence and a few scenes that will put you right off your popcorn into something that is actually rather good.

Donald Munro · 4 out of 5
A naïve drug mule in police custody who’s swallowed heroin pellets fights the urge to expel the evidence as mobsters and corrupt cops close in.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2014; Director: Angus Sampson, Tony Mahony; Writer: Jaime Browne, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell; Stars: Hugo Weaving, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Ewen Leslie, Geoff Morrell, Georgina Haig, Noni Hazlehurst, John Noble, Nick Farnell, Chris Pang, Lasarus Ratuere, Marsha Vassilevskaia)

Full review

Spanish Affair (Ocho apellidos vascos)

Review preview for Spanish Affair

Although there will no doubt be some cultural references that go over the heads of non-Spanish audiences, the stereotypes and prejudices played with are broad enough for us to get most of the jokes.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
In order to help the only woman resistant to his charms, a man from Seville must pass as her Basque fiancé for three days in the Basque Country.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Emilio Martínez Lázaro; Writer: Borja Cobeaga, Diego San José; Stars: Clara Lago, Dani Rovira, Carmen Machi, Karra Elejalde, Alberto López, Alfonso Sánchez, Aitor Mazo, Abel Mora, Aitziber Garmendia, Miriam Cabeza, Iñaki Beraetxe, Egoitz Lasa, Lander Otaola, Mikel Roman, Santi Ugalde)

Full review

Wild Tales

Review preview for Wild Tales

Ferociously funny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Vulnerable before a reality that can suddenly be modified and become unpredictable, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line that divides civilization from brutality.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Damián Szifron; Writer: Damián Szifron; Stars: Rita Cortese, Ricardo Darín, Nancy Dupláa, Darío Grandinetti, Oscar Martínez, Osmar Núñez, María Onetto, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg)

Full review

Laugh gala

Zero Motivation

Dark comedy about everyday life for a unit of young female Israeli soldiers. The human resources office at a remote desert base serves as the setting for this cast of characters, who bide their time pushing paper, battling for the top score in Minesweeper, and counting down the minutes until they can return to civilian life.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2014; Director: Talya Lavie)