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London Film Festival · 2015

London Film Festival 2015

Journey

Programme

28 films · 14 reviews

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Aferim!

Review preview for Aferim!

Jude and Lazarescu also show how the structure of society has a habit of making you conform to it, whatever your intentions - a barbed idea intended to stick in the minds of those who live in today's Europe where the Roma still face wide-spread prejudice

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A policeman and his son hunt a runaway gypsy slave.

(Country: Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France; Year: 2015; Director: Radu Jude; Writer: Radu Jude; Stars: Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Toma Cuzin, Alexandru Dabija, Luminita Gheorghiu, Victor Rebengiuc, Alberto Dinache, Alexandru Bindea, Mihaela Sirbu, Adina Cristescu, Serban Pavlu, Gabriel Spahiu, Puiu Mircea Lascus, Daniel Visan)

Full review See: Radu Jude on language, prejudice and seeing the past in the present.

The Assassin (Nie Yin Niang)

Review preview for The Assassin

The production and costume design by Huang Wen-ying combine historical accuracy with a revelation of detailed splendour.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Action, drama and romance set during the Tang Dynasty.

(Country: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong; Year: 2015; Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien ; Writer: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chu T'ien-wen, Hsieh Hai-meng; Stars: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Sheu Fang-yi, Hsieh Hsin-ying, Zhou Yun, Juan Ching-tian, Tsumabuki Satoshi)

Full review

Black Girl (La noire de...)

A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France.

(Country: France, Senegal; Year: 1966; Director: Ousmane Sembene; Writer: Ousmane Sembene; Stars: Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine, Momar Nar Sene, Ibrahima Boy, Bernard Delbard, Nicole Donati, Raymond Lemeri, Suzanne Lemeri, Philippe, Sophie, Damien, Toto Bissainthe, Robert Marcy, Sophie Leclerc)

The Cowboys (Les Cowboys)

A father sets out to find his missing daughter with the help of his son.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Thomas Bidegain; Writer: Noé Debré; Stars: John C. Reilly, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, François Damiens, Ellora Torchia)

Dog Lady (La Mujer De Los Perros)

Review preview for Dog Lady

Centering on a beautifully observed performance by co-director Verónica Llinás, this is a film that treats its outsider heroine with dignity and reminds the viewer what it really takes to survive in this way.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The story of a nameless woman living in the wilds with a pack of dogs.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2015; Director: Laura Citarella, Verónica Llinás; Writer: Laura Citarella, Verónica Llinás; Stars: Verónica Llinás)

Full review

Embrace Of The Serpent (El Abrazo De La Serpiente)

Review preview for Embrace Of The Serpent

Structurally illustrates how the indigenous people don't see time as being a chronological straight line but as multiple realities existing simultaneously.

Rebecca Naughten · 3.5 out of 5
The story of the relationship between an Amazonian shaman and two scientists who, decades apart, search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.

(Country: Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina; Year: 2015; Director: Ciro Guerra; Writer: Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal; Stars: Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar, Brionne Davis, Yauenkü Miguee, Nicolás Cancino, Luigi Sciamanna)

Full review

The End Of The Tour

Review preview for The End Of The Tour

Ponsoldt's film is more interested in what lies beneath the skin of the men than the covers of the book.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
The story of a five-day interview between a Rolling Stone journalist and David Foster Wallace.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: James Ponsoldt; Writer: Donald Margulies, based on the book by David ; Stars: Anna Chlumsky, Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Mamie Gummer, Joan Cusack, Ron Livingston, Mickey Sumner, Lindsey Elizabeth, Dan John Miller, Noel Fletcher, LaTrallo Presley, Stephanie Cotton, Gina Ferwerda, Joel Thingvall, Ken Price)

Full review

Exotica, Erotica, Etc. (Exotica, Erotica Inc)

“Sailors are like terrorists. They arrive in ports with a bomb called love and throw it,” says former prostitute Sandy, protagonist of this documentary.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Evangelia Kranioti; Writer: Evangelia Kranioti)

Gold Coast (Guldkysten)

Young anti-colonial idealist Wulff leaves for Danish Guinea to set up a coffee plantation but not everything goes according to plan.

(Country: Denmark, Sweden, Ghana; Year: 2015; Director: Daniel Dencik; Writer: Daniel Dencik, Sara Isabella Jønsson Vedde; Stars: Jakob Oftebro, Danica Curcic, John Aggrey, Luise Skov, Anders Heinrichsen, Adam Ild Rohweder, Wakefield Ackuaku, Sophia Adegnika, Fred Nii Amugi, Prince De-Graft Asante, Akofa Edjeani Asiedu, Dominic Demordzi, Mikkel Hilgart, Morten Holst, Ziggy Netteyson)

Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano)

Review preview for Ixcanul

A sensitively handled female coming-of-age tale.

Rebecca Naughten · 3 out of 5
Story of a teenage girl living in the foothills of a volcano, who faces an arranged marriage but is won over by the charms of a plantation worker.

(Country: France, Guatemala; Year: 2015; Director: Jayro Bustamante; Writer: Jayro Bustamante; Stars: María Mercedes Croy, María Telón, Manuel Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy)

Full review

King Jack

Growing up in a rural town filled with violent delinquents, Jack has learned to do what it takes to survive, despite having an oblivious mother and no father. After his aunt falls ill and a younger cousin comes to stay with him, the hardened 15-year-old discovers the importance of friendship, family and looking for happiness even in the most desolate of circumstances.

(Year: 2015; Director: Felix Thompson; Writer: Felix Thompson; Stars: Charlie Plummer, Cory Nichols, Christian Madsen, Danny Flaherty, Erin Davie, Chloe Levine, Melvin Mogoli, Yainis Ynoa, Richardson Elijah, Elijah Richardson, Keith Leonard, Meeko, Scott LeRoy, William Rubel)

Land Of Mine

Review preview for Land Of Mine

The randomness of death in times of war aside, Land Of Mine - perhaps unavoidably - leans towards the conventional in its overall narrative arc.

Rebecca Naughten · 3.5 out of 5
In the aftermath of World War Two, the Allies used German prisoners of war to defuse and clear landmines from the Danish coastline.

(Country: Germany, Denmark; Year: 2015; Director: Martin Zandvliet; Writer: Martin Zandvliet; Stars: Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Emil Belton, Oskar Belton, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Laura Bro, Oskar Bökelmann, Leon Seidel, Karl Alexander Seidel, Maximilian Beck, August Carter, Time Bülow, Alexander Rasch, Julius Kochinke)

Full review

Mountains May Depart (Shan He Gu Ren)

Review preview for Mountains May Depart

A bold study of what it means to be Chinese in the modern age.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young woman chooses between two men as China is torn between its traditional values and a capitalist future.

(Country: China, Japan; Year: 2015; Director: Jia Zhangke; Writer: Jia Zhangke; Stars: Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Dong Jing, Dong Zijian)

Full review

The Mud Woman (La mujer de barro)

Drama examining the plight of Chile's migrant workforce.

(Country: Argentina, Chile; Year: 2015; Director: Sergio Castro San Martín; Writer: Sergio Castro San Martín; Stars: Daniel Antivilo, Angel Lattus, Paola Lattus, Maite Neira, Tiare Pino, Elsa Poblete, Catalina Saavedra)

Murmur Of The Hearts

An artist reunites with her brother.

(Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan; Year: 2015; Director: Sylvia Chang; Stars: Hsiao-chuan Chang, Lawrence Ko, Angelica Lee, Isabella Leong)

Necktie Youth

Jabz and September are two twenty-something suburbanites drifting through a day of drugs, sex, and philosophising in their privileged Johannesburg neighborhood, ill-equipped to handle a tragedy that has interrupted the hollowness of their daily lives.

(Country: Netherlands, South Africa; Year: 2015; Director: Sibs Shongwe-La Mer; Writer: Sibs Shongwe-La Mer)

The New Classmate

A poor single mum hatches a plan to convince her rebellious daughter to study.

(Country: India; Year: 2015; Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari; Writer: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Nitesh Tiwari, Neeraj Singh, Pranjal Chowdhary; Stars: Swara Bhaskar, Ratna Pathak Shah, Pankaj Tripathi)

Petting Zoo

A working-class Texan teenager struggles to stay afloat.

(Country: Germany, Greece, US; Year: 2015; Director: Micah Magee; Writer: Micah Magee, David Barker, Kyle Henry, Wesley A. Oliver, Rene Penaloza Galvan, Cooky Ziesche; Stars: Devon Keller, Deztiny Gonzales, Jocko Sims, Kiowa Tucker, Adrienne Harrell, Emily Lape, Cory Criswell, Nicholas Jacobs, Jennifer Lauray, Chris Olson)

Raging Moon (Raging Moon)

Two disabled youngsters fall in love.

(Country: UK; Year: 1971; Director: Bryan Forbes; Writer: Bryan Forbes, Peter Marshall; Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Nanette Newman, Georgia Brown, Bernard Lee, Gerald Sim, Michael Flanders, Margery Mason, Barry Jackson, Geoffrey Whitehead, Chris Chittell, Jack Woolgar, Norman Bird, Constance Chapman, Michael Lees, Geoffrey Bayldon)

Red Leaves (Alim adumim)

An ageing patriarch forces himself on his family after the death of his wife only to realise that their modern ways don’t chime with his worldview.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2014; Director: Bazi Gete; Writer: Bazi Gete, Bazi Gete; Stars: Ruti Asarsai, Meir Dassa, Debebe Eshetu, David Getahun, Hanna Haiela, Molla Megistu, Solomon Mersha, Shula Moli, Yuval Yaacov, Adiel Zamro)

Right Now, Wrong Then (Jigeumeun Matgo Geuttaeneun Teullida)

Review preview for Right Now, Wrong Then

The film persuades viewers to zero in on the details by using its second scenario to invite constant subconscious questioning of what has changed.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A middle-aged art-film director and a fledgling artist meet - she knows he’s famous but doesn’t know his films, he’d like to see her paintings.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2015; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Jae-yeong Jeong, Min-hee Kim, Yeo-jeong Yoon, Ju-bong Gi, Hwa-Jeong Choi)

Full review

Rocco And His Brothers (Rocco e i suoi fratelli)

Review preview for Rocco And His Brothers

Emotions run deep and tragedy is as predictable as rust. This is Visconti at the pinnacle of his powers.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
A family from the rural south fight for unity and purpose in post-war Milan.

(Country: Italy/France; Year: 1960; Director: Luchino Visconti; Writer: Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti; Stars: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Max Cartier, Spiros Focas, Rocco Vidolazzi, Claudia Cardinale, Roger Hanin, Paola Stoppa, Suzy Delair)

Full review See: Alain Delon in Cannes to receive honorary Palme d'Or

Sailing A Sinking Sea

Experimental documentary about the culture of the Moken people of Burma and Thailand.

(Country: Thailand, Myanmar; Year: 2015; Director: Olivia Wyatt; Writer: Olivia Wyatt)

Sembene!

In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice.

(Country: US, Senegal; Year: 2015; Director: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman)

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Review preview for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Zhao is in no hurry, allowing the sense of life in Pine Ridge to seep in to the bones of the film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Life for siblings on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Chloé Zhao; Writer: Chloé Zhao; Stars: Irene Bedard, Eleonore Hendricks, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Dakota Brown, John Reddy, Lauren Janis, Cat Clifford, Kevin Hunter, Keanna Rowland, Jorge Dullknife, Gabby Montileaux, Derrick Janis, Allen Reddy, Jashaun St. John)

Full review

Sworn Virgin (Vergine giurata)

Review preview for Sworn Virgin

Bispuri is interested in how escape from one form of repression seamlessly flows into another.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A woman who has taken an oath to live as a man rediscovers her sexuality.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Albania, Kosovo; Year: 2015; Director: Laura Bispuri; Writer: Laura Bispuri, Francesca Manieri, inspired by the book by Elvira Dones; Stars: Alba Rohrwacher, Emily Ferratello, Lars Eidinger, Flonja Kodheli, Luan Jaha, Bruno Shllaku, Ilire Vinca Celaj)

Full review See: Laura Bispuri and Alba Rohrwacher in conversation on Sworn Virgin, part 2 , Laura Bispuri and Alba Rohrwacher in conversation on Sworn Virgin, part 1 , Flonja Kodheli in conversation on Sworn Virgin

Youth (La Giovinezza, The Early Years)

Review preview for Youth

The trappings and style more than make up for any lack of substance.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A composer and a film director staying in an Alpine hotel find themselves under unexpected pressure.

(Country: Italy, France, Switzerland, UK; Year: 2015; Director: Paolo Sorrentino; Writer: Paolo Sorrentino; Stars: Rachel Weisz, Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Paul Dano, Harvey Keitel, Neve Gachev)

Full review See: Harvey Keitel on Sorrentino, Campion and Scorsese , Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Paolo Sorrentino, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano and Rachel Weisz talk Youth