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London Film Festival · 2016

London Film Festival 2016

Love

Programme

28 films · 7 reviews

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Aquarius

Review preview for Aquarius

The closer the glance at the specifics, the more universal the plight becomes.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A retired music critic is the last resident of a building targeted by developers - she becomes engaged in a cold war of sorts with the company.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2016; Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho; Writer: Kleber Mendonça Filho; Stars: Sonia Braga, Jeff Rosick, Irandhir Santos, Maeve Jinkings, Julia Bernat, Carla Ribas, Fernando Teixeira, Rubens Santos, Humberto Carrão, Bárbara Colen)

Full review See: Sônia Braga in conversation on the magic of Aquarius and director Kleber Mendonça Filho , Kleber Mendonça Filho in conversation on Aquarius

After Love (L'économie Du Couple)

Review preview for After Love

The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
After they split, a couple continue to share a house because of financial constraints.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Joachim Lafosse; Writer: Fanny Burdino, Joachim Lafosse, Mazarine Pingeot, Thomas van Zuylen; Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Marthe Keller, Cédric Kahn, Catherine Salée, Tibo Vandenborre, Margaux Soentjens, Jade Soentjens, Francesco Italiano, Annick Johnson, Philippe Jeusette, Ariane Rousseau, Pascal Rogard)

Full review

After The Storm (Umi yori mo mada fukaku)

A writer tries to reconnect with his family.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Kirin Kiki, Hiroshi Abe, Rirî Furankî, Yôko Maki, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Satomi Kobayashi, Isao Hashizume, Taiyô Yoshizawa)

Being 17 (Quand On A 17 Ans)

Damien and Thomas, sworn enemies at school, find themelves living under the same roof.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: André Téchiné; Stars: Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein, Corentin Fila, Alexis Loret)

The Dreamed Ones (Die Geträumten)

Documentary about correspondence between postwar poets and lovers Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2016; Director: Ruth Beckermann; Writer: Ingeborg Bachmann, Paul Celan, Ina Hartwig, Ruth Beckermann; Stars: Anja Plaschg, Laurence Rupp)

Ethel & Ernest

Animation, based on the life and times of Raymond Briggs' parents.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Roger Mainwood; Writer: Raymond Briggs, Roger Mainwood; Stars: Pam Ferris, Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn, Luke Treadaway, Roger Allam, Peter Wight, Virginia McKenna, June Brown, Simon Day, Duncan Wisbey, Alex Jordan, Harry Collett, Gillian Hanna, Karyn Claydon)

Fiore

Romance blooms in a juvenile detention centre.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2016; Director: Claudio Giovannesi; Writer: Claudio Giovannesi; Stars: Aniello Arena, Daphne Scoccia, Josciua Algeri, Laura Vasiliu, Valerio Mastandrea)

The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki (Hymyilävi Mies)

Review preview for The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki

Kuosmanen constantly shifts perspective, asking us to view the situation from a different angle - and another place of emotional truth.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Finland, 1962. Boxer Olli Mäki is 26 years old and in love. Expected to win a bout against an American, but he would rather be with his girlfriend than train.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2016; Director: Juho Kuosmanen; Writer: Juho Kuosmanen, Mikko Myllylahti; Stars: Eero Milonoff, Joonas Saartamo, Oona Airola, Jarkko Lahti, Marko Wilskman, Juha Mäkinen, Tuomo Kemppainen, John Bosco Jr.)

Full review See: Karlovy Vary Festival report

Heal The Living (Réparer les vivants)

Review preview for Heal The Living

Anna Dorval as the transplant's recipient, Dominique Blanc's surgeon, and Emmanuelle Seigner's turn as the mother of the donor are all note-perfect.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Drama about lives connected by an organ transplant.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Katell Quillévéré; Writer: Katell Quillévéré and Gilles Taurand, based on the book by Maylis De Kerangal; Stars: Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Kool Shen, Monia Chokri, Alice Taglioni, Karim Leklou, Finnegan Oldfield, Théo Cholbi, Alice de Lencquesaing, Gabin Verdet, Galatéa Bellugi, Titouan Alda, Andranic Manet)

Full review See: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Katell Quillévéré in conversation on Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants)

Hermia And Helena (Hermia & Helena)

A struggling young theatre director receives a series of mysterious postcards from a stranger, leading her on a strange journey.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2016; Director: Matías Piñeiro)

Indivisible

Review preview for Indivisible

Indivisible is the best film to come out of Italy this year.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Conjoined twin sisters make a living as singers but the news that they could be safely separated changes everything.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2016; Director: Edoardo De Angelis; Writer: Nicola Guaglianone, Nicola Guaglianone, Barbara Petronio, Edoardo De Angelis; Stars: Antonia Truppo, Massimiliano Rossi, Angela Fontana, Marco Mario de Notaris, Peppe Servillo, Gianfranco Gallo, Antonio Pennarella, Marianna Fontana, Toni Laudadio, Gaetano Bruno)

Full review

I Called Him Morgan

Documentary about jazz musician Lee Morgan and his partner Helen More.

(Country: US, Sweden; Year: 2016; Director: Kasper Collin; Writer: Kasper Collin)

Let's Be Evil

Review preview for Let's Be Evil

Morris is good but has to work very hard to keep us interested.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Three people are recruited to act as supervisors in an institute for gifted children, but things don't go as they expected.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Martin Owen; Writer: Elizabeth Morris, Martin Owen, Jonathan Willis; Stars: Kara Tointon, Isabelle Allen, Elliot James Landridge, Helene Wilson, Elizabeth Morris)

Full review

The Lives Of Thérèse (Les Vies De Thérèse)

Consideration of the life of feminist Therese Clerc.

(Year: 2016; Director: Sebastien Lifshitz)

Lovesong

Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy’s wedding.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: So Yong Kim; Writer: Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim; Stars: Jena Malone, Riley Keough, Brooklyn Decker, Ryan Eggold, Rosanna Arquette, Amy Seimetz, Marshall Chapman, Jessie Ok Gray, Sky Ok Gray, Juliet Fitzpatrick, Neal Huff, William Tyler, Justin Tarrents, Rick Duvall, Karen Kaforey)

Mirzya

Romeo and Juliet style love story of childhood sweethearts whose love is rekindled as the heroine is about to be married to someone else.

(Country: India; Year: 2016; Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra; Writer: Gulzar; Stars: Harshvardhan Kapoor, Saiyami Kher, Art Malik, Anuj Choudhry, Om Puri, K.K. Raina)

Love gala screening.

Manhattan

Review preview for Manhattan

Allen's finest screenplay to date, filled with expostulating characters with relationship difficulties and hilarious interludes about the human condition.

Scott Macdonald · 5 out of 5
Woody Allen falls for his best friend's mistress, but is he really more in love with New York itself?

(Country: US; Year: 1979; Director: Woody Allen; Writer: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman; Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Anne Byrne Hoffman, Karen Ludwig, Michael O'Donoghue, Victor Truro, Tisa Farrow, Helen Hanft)

Full review See: Profile of Meryl Streep

Rara

Since their parents split up, Sara and her younger sister live with their mother, whose new partner is a woman. Everyday life for the four of them is very similar to that of other families. But not everyone sees it that way.

(Country: Chile, Argentina; Year: 2016; Director: Pepa San Martín; Writer: Pepa San Martín, Alicia Scherson; Stars: Julia Lübbert, Emilia Ossandon, Mariana Loyola, Agustina Muñoz, Coca Guazzini, Daniel Muñoz, Sigrid Alegría, Micaela Cristi, Nicolás Vigneaux)

The Reunion (La Reconquista)

Manuela and Olmo meet in a future as they had promised 15 years earlier as teenagers, in the flush of first love.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Jonás Trueba; Writer: Jonás Trueba; Stars: Itsaso Arana, Francesco Carril, Aura Garrido, Pablo Hoyos, Candela Recio)

Santi - Vina

Thai Buddhist melodrama that was lost for decades.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 1954; Director: Thavi Na Bangchang; Writer: Thavi Na Bangchang, Robert G North, Vichit Khunavud; Stars: Poonpun Rangkhavorn, Rayvadi Siriwilai)

The Secret Scripture

A woman keeps a diary of her extended stay at a mental hospital.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2016; Director: Jim Sheridan; Writer: Sebastian Barry, Johnny Ferguson, Jim Sheridan; Stars: Rooney Mara, Aidan Turner, Theo James, Eric Bana, Jack Reynor, Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Lynch, Omar Sharif Jr., Pauline McLynn, Brian Fortune, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Antony Acheampong, Nika McGuigan, Elva Trill, Laurence O'Fuarain)

The Son Of Joseph (Le Fils De Joseph)

A teen goes on a quest to find out who is dad is.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Eugène Green; Writer: Eugène Green; Stars: Victor Ezenfis, Natacha Régnier, Fabrizio Rongione, Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros, Julia Gros de Gasquet, Jacques Bonnaffé, Christelle Prot, Adrien Michaux, Louise Moaty, Claire Lefilliâtre, Vincent Dumestre, Tom Gaspar, Oleg Ossina, Félix Debraux)

Souvenir

Alfred D. is fond of travelling, a veritable collector of countries. While on his travels, he films the world and himself.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: André Siegers)

Taekwondo

A boys-only vacation sees sexual boundaries begin to blur.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2016; Director: Marco Berger, Martín Farina; Writer: Marco Berger; Stars: Gabriel Epstein, Lucas Papa, Nicolás Barsoff, Francisco Bertín, Arturo Frutos, Andrés Gavaldá, Juan Manuel Martino, Darío Miño, Gaston Re)

United States Of Love (Zjednoczone Stany Miłości)

Four Lonely women in a small Polish town contemplate their circumstances and what life has to offer.

(Country: Poland, Sweden; Year: 2016; Director: Tomasz Wasilewski; Stars: Julia Kijowska, Magdalena Cielecka, Dorota Kolak, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Łukasz Simlat )

The Wedding Ring (Zin'naariya!)

A privileged young woman who comes back to her village after studying in Paris to discover the truth of the relationships between women and men in her society.

(Country: Niger; Year: 2016; Director: Rahmatou Keïta; Stars: Aïchatou Lamine Fofana, Aïchatou Moussa, Magaajyia Silberfeld)

You Are My Sunday (Tu Hai Mera Sunday)

Five football playing mates struggle to find a pitch to play on.

(Country: India; Year: 2016; Director: Milind Dhaimade; Stars: Meher Acharia-Dar, Suhaas Ahuja, Pallavi Batra, Nakul Bhalla, Maanvi Gagroo, Shahana Goswami, Rama Joshi, Vishal Malhotra, Sandiip Sikcand, Barun Sobti, Shiv Subramaniam, Avinash Tiwary, Jay Upadhyay)

You Were Never Lovelier

A nightclub dancer who winds up working in a hotel when his money runs out, experiences romantic complications with the daughter of the owner.

(Country: US; Year: 1942; Director: William A Seiter; Writer: Michael Fessier, Ernest Pagano, Delmer Daves, Carlos A. Olivari, Sixto Pondal Ríos; Stars: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom, Leslie Brooks, Adele Mara, Gus Schilling, Barbara Brown, Douglas Leavitt, Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, Kirk Alyn, Larry Arnold, Stanley Brown, George Bunny, Catherine Craig)