In Contention

Tag: 1234

  • LONDON: Gongs for ‘Mice,’ ‘Tulpan’ … and my own awards

    My last post on the London Film Festival brings some happy news, as one of my favourite festival titles was justly rewarded last night. The festival is not a competion-based one, but three prestigious awards are still handed out before the final screening.

    One of these is the global festival staple, the FIPRESCI International Critics’ Award. I’m thrilled to see it went to Australian multi-hyphenate Matthew Newton for his superb debut feature “Three Blind Mice,” which I already gushed over here. At only 31 years of age, I predict big things for Newton, both before and behind the camera.

    Meanwhile, the Sutherland Trophy for best debut feature went to “Tulpan,” the Kazakhstani entry for Best Foreign Language Film, beating such heavyweight contenders as “Ballast” and “Hunger.” It’s an auspicious award with a 50-year history: previous winners include “L’Avventura,” “In the Realm of the Senses,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “You Can Count on Me” and “Persepolis.” I was rather taken with “Tulpan,” so I’m pleased to see this underdog come through — it’s a dark horse to crack the Oscar shortlist.

    Other winners included the Italian character drama “Mid-August Lunch,” which took the Satyajit Ray Award for “artistry, compassion and humanity” in a debut film, and “Victoire Terminus,” a study of female boxing in the Congo that took the Grierson Award for best documentary. I’m afraid to say I missed both films, though I particularly wanted to catch the latter.

    And with that, bearing in mind that I couldn’t see everything, I thought I’d hand out my own inaugural (and no doubt much-prized) awards for the best that I saw at the fest, starting with my own personal Top Ten:

    TEN BEST FILMS OF THE FESTIVAL: 1. “The Class”; 2. “Synecdoche, New York”; 3. “Il Divo”; 4. “Slumdog Millionaire”; 5. “Three Blind Mice”; 6. “Wendy and Lucy”; 7. “The Good, The Bad, The Weird”; 8. “The Wrestler”; 9. “Sugar”; 10. “La Belle Personne”

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  • LONDON: ‘Dean Spanley,’ ‘1234,’ ‘Goodbye Solo’

    Long day today, with some complicated scheduling: after a press screening of Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration” turned out to be full, I was presented with the choice of catching up with either “Miracle at St. Anna” or Kazakhstani Oscar submission “Tulpan.” I opted for the latter — well, it’s got more of a chance of getting an Oscar nomination than Spike Lee’s film, right?

    Anyway, as I have six films to discuss from today, for the sake of economy (and my own sleep requirements) I’ll look at three of them now, and deal with the rest early tomorrow. We’ll start with the English-language contingent.

    I missed tonight’s main attraction, Richard Eyre’s tepidly received “The Other Man.” However, Eyre’s film was preceded by another UK-set Toronto title, “Dean Spanley” (**), a sophomore effort from Kiwi helmer Toa Fraser, whose debut “No. 2” was, oddly, rather more ambitious than this amiable but over-extended skit.

    The ornate animated credit sequence and jaunty score announce upfront that the film demands high whimsy-tolerance levels from the audience. In the interest of full disclosure, mine are pretty low. Still, that doesn’t distract from the fact that the narrative is barely feature-film material. Set in London at the turn of the 20th century, the film focuses on the brittle relationship between mild-mannered gentleman Fisk (Jeremy Northam) and his batty, emotionally distant father (Peter O’Toole). Idly attending a lecture on reincarnation one afternoon, they encounter the enigmatic Dean Spanley (Sam Neill), whose own account of his imagined past life as a dog strikes an unexpected emotional chord with both father and son.

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  • London Film Festival: six to watch

    So the 52nd annual London Film Festival begins tomorrow, bringing with it a feast of cinema cherry-picked from the rest of the fests, with a couple of new titles thrown into the mix too.

    As promised, I will be keeping you updated with proceedings, starting with tomorrow’s world premiere of “Frost/Nixon.” I’m seeing the film bright and early in the morning, and will have a review for you before the day is out.

    As I’ve said before, this year’s London lineup is a little more low-key than usual, but that’s the kind of year it’s been for movies. All the major festivals have struggled a bit this year, but London at least has the advantage of filtering their best bits, meaning plenty of hot films will appear, from “Slumdog Millionaire” to “Che.”

    But those tickets are hard to come by, and when one moves beyond the big, sexy drawcards, the waters get a bit murkier. With almost 200 films (not counting shorts) screening from every corner of the globe, there’s a lot to explore. I’ve been immersed in festival press screenings for the last fortnight, and have still seen only a fraction of what the festival has to offer.

    In the interest of providing alternatives then, let me offer up a handful of lesser-hyped titles that are really worth catching. More detailed reviews will be provided as the festival progresses, but for now:

    1234 (dir. Giles Borg)

    Lots of buzz circling around this under-the-radar crowdpleaser. A sweet-natured character comedy (with an ace soundtrack) about a lovelorn geek struggling to start up an indie band in boho East London, “1234” had the most packed press screening of the festival so far, and is bound to be a Brit hit. Ditch “Nick and Norah,” and catch this instead.

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