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.’