UK Film Network

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Saturday 24 October 2009

Glorious 39 Premiere

Never in my life have I felt so unglamourous.  I remember asking myself, ‘where is my personal stylist, hairdresser and make-up artist?!’  One exception was when I attended the World Premiere of David Morrissey film, Don’t Worry About Me, where I wore my Kate Moss LBD, complete with Grecian-style stilettos.

Of course yesterday’s red carpet event did not help, getting caught up behind the cast of Glorious 39, which included: Romola Garai (who recently appeared in the BBC series Emma and who is set to be the next Kate Winslett), Billy Nighy, rising starlet Juno Temple (whom the photographers seemed most keen on taking photos of), Jenny Agutter and Doctor Who’s David Tennant, whom the crowd had been waiting on tenterhooks for in the hope of catching a mere glimpse of him and he did not fail to disappoint).

I found myself scurrying along the carpet with an obnoxious American journalist, and, oh-my-God, I could not believe how amazingly rude she was!

Thursday 29 October 2009: It just so happened, that on the final day of the festival I had the misfortune of bumping into her again.  This time at The Hampshire Hotel, where a suite had been put aside for BFI delegates.  I had gone there in between films, in the hope of finding some solace but, instead, I had to put up with her jibbering voice towering over me!

Jokily I mentioned what had happened on the red carpet and how it had put her out being made to walk around to the back of the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, after barriers had been erected in aide of the Glorious 39 Premiere, which interestingly she was only too quick to shrug off!

I was fortunate enough to meet director Stephen Poliakoff at The Filmmakers Afternoon Tea on Wednesday 28 October 2009, where a group interview took place in one of the Mayfair Hotel’s private suites.

Glorious 39 is based on fact and looks at the twelve weeks leading up to the Second World War, the first few weeks of what became known as ‘The Phoney War’.  What is particularly special about this film is the fact that its director Stephen Poliakoff is himself of Jewish descent and also that actress Julie Christie plays a very different character to the ones we are used to seeing her play.

Stephen Poliakoff has been making award-winning dramas for over a decade, including dramas such as: Shooting The Past and Gideon’s Daughter.  He reverts back to cinema with the film Glorious 39, which draws us in with its thriller-type quality.  It focuses in on the upper-class Keyes family who are doing everything within their power  to continue to lead the lifestyle they have become accustomed to, even amongst political unrest.  Alexander (Bill Nighy) is head of the household and is an important conservative MP.  His son, Ralph (Eddie Redmayne), works for The Foreign Office.  Romola Garai plays adopted daughter, Anne, and is an aspiring actress until her carefree life is thrown up in to the air when she comes across suspect recordings hidden away in the family home’s outbuildings.  In an attempt to get to the root of the matter she gets sucked into a world that is full of betrayal and secrets.

The picture her discoveries paint are as shocking to Anne, as they are to us.

‘Poliakoff handles the shift in tone  with great skill, capturing the full sense of threat and unease of this significant moment in history.’

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Thursday 29^th October 2009 (Morning Screening for PRESS only!)

Nowhere Boy

Dir.: Sam Taylor-Wood, Scr.: Matt Greenhalgh.

Cast: Aaron John, Kristin Scott Thomas (Mimi), David Threlfall (Uncle George), Ann-Marie Duff (Julia), David Morrissey (Bobby), Thomas Brodie Sangster (Paul).

‘Mother.. you had me, but I never had you.’

(Imagine) John Lennon’s childhood…

Liverpool, 1955, a bright but disturbed fifteen year-old craves recognition.  Caught up in a family holding lots of secrets, two powerful women fight over John.  One is Mimi, his pent up aunt who raised him, the other, Julia, his prodigal mother who has now returned after leaving him.

Desperate for a normal family life,  John discovers a more meaningful existence within the world of rock ‘n’ roll, where his talents find those in teenage soul mate, Paul McCartney.

As John’s life begins to make more sense, something traumatic happens.  But always the fighter, he finds himself and an icon is born.

“Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realized that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity.  Surrealism to me is reality.”

(John Lennon)

Director Sam Taylor-Wood was nominated for a Palme d’Or at The 2008 Cannes Film Festival for Film4 debut short Love You More, produced by Mentor Anthony Minghella. Her debut feature film Nowhere Boy is dedicated to him. She is best known for her work as an artist and photographer. Her work is displayed in many reputable galleries throughout the world.

“Visualize everything when you’re writing, ..otherwise you’re looking at ink.  ..I acted the scenes out, I walked around Mendips, and Woolton, I went to St. Peter’s Church Hall where John and Paul first met.  I wanted to understand exactly what the locations were, it’s about imbibing, getting the look right, feeling the dialogue is right and trying to capture the way people spoke at that time.  Once that’s all in place, the pictures come into your head.”

(Matt Greenhalgh, screenplay writer of the award winning film Control).

Nowhere Boy will open in cinemas across the UK on 26 December 2009.

(Certificate and running time remain to be confirmed).

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Wednesday 28^th October 2009 (Morning Screening for PRESS only!)

A Serious Man

Dir-Scr: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen/ with Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Simon Helberg, Adam Akin (106 min).

The Coen brothers’ film this time around is a much more personal one but shows no signs of being any less fun.  Set in the late 1960s it appears, at first sight, to be in the seemingly ordinary world of Larry Gopnik. He cannot be criticized either for his marital or parental skills.  A hardworking professor at restful Midwestern University,never one to be swayed by the trials and tribulations that his life throws at him, one day everything changes and his life takes a turn for the worse.

His beloved opts to end their marriage for reasons she is not willing to discuss. To make matters worse her new man has the nerve to intervene in their family life and the home he has built up. She manages to persuade him, although short of cash, that it would be better all round if he started living in a motel.  Also, to top it all off, his career is then put on the line through a series of unidentified letters, questioning his favouritism over students, along with his brother who no-one is willing to employ and who is becoming an ever increasing problem.

Larry tries to find some kind of balance and to keep his head held high during all this hardship.  It is the root of all his problems that the film portrays well with its use of rather quaint humour and it is particularly funny when he attempts to find solace by visiting  a series of rabbis  who are less than helpful.  Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry brilliantly, seemingly underplaying him.

A well put together Coen brothers classic, painting an extremely detailed picture of one character.