S&S, the Times and the LFF.

The London Film Festival opens next week, co-sponsored by the British Film Institute, which publishes Sight & Sound, and the London Times. So it's only natural that you'll find plenty of previewish coverage in both the magazine and the paper. There aren't a whole lot of films being screened in London from October 20 through November 4 you won't already have read about, maybe even seen, but there are some; besides, fresh angles on familiar titles can't ever hurt.

Edward Lawrenson introduces S&S's package of recommendations for what to see at LFF (or later, when you get the chance in your own hometown) by noting that the programmers have had a bit of luck this year: A healthy batch of British films have just come out, plus late October turns out to be a good time to stage a festival outside the US, i.e., the LFF is staging the European premiers of the US studios' Oscar contenders. There are 14 recommendations in all, but only four of these articlettes are online:

• Nick James on Fatih Akin's Head On: "Culture-clash comedy is handled as competently as blood-and-thunder rock tragedy."
• Jonathan Romney on Lucile Hadzihalilovic's Innocence: "The overall mood of uncanniness leads us from the start to expect a horror film of sorts; and that's perhaps what it is, but certainly not of the kind we anticipate."
• Bryony Dixon on Jean Renoir's The River; its restoration saves it, Dixon claims: "[I]t's only when you see the film on the big screen that [its central] metaphor becomes clear."
• SF Said on Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Tropical Malady: "[I]t's best to let go of the desire for rational explanation, and instead surrender to its remarkable dream logic."

Also in the November issue, though not LFF-related, is Roger Clarke's report on his conversation with Jonathan Glazer, whose "fairytale," Birth, Clarke admires, and of course, reviews:

• Ginette Vincendeau on Rohmer's Triple Agent: "Ever the secret agent, [Fiodor] insists, 'I never cite my sources. I pull strings behind the scenes' - a modus operandi that applies equally well to the director of the film."
• Ryan Gilbey on Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes: "What such incidental pleasures can't do is work up any cumulative impact."
• Ben Walters on Kerry Conran's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: "[T]he backdrops remain pretty rather than physically convincing."

The Times has set up a special section on the fest with trailers, a quiz and so on. Among the highlights:

• Jack Malvern on the screening of an intriguing restoration: "Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck and a 26-year-old John Wayne, will be screened in full for the first time since it was withdrawn in 1933 for being too naughty."
• Wendy Ide, the fest's shorts advisor, writes about watching more than a thousand of them to cobble together six programs, 90 minutes each.
• Bob Stanley on rockumentaries.
• Ian Johns on The Incredibles and, to a lesser extent, the future of animation.
• Richard Schickel on early Chaplin.

Profiles:

• Ian Nathan: Zhang Ziyi; Stephen Dalton: Zhang Yimou.
• Matt Wolf: Jude Law.
• Sean Macaulay: Meryl Streep.
• James Christopher: Mike Leigh; and François Ozon.
• Someone forgot the byline for the profile of Reese Witherspoon.
• Denis Seguin takes on the paper's Tarnation piece and profiles Lukas Moodysson.

In today's edition, yet another special section that hasn't wandered to the LFF section celebrates the top Brits in film with yet more profiles. Martin Palmer opens the special with a piece on Kate Winslet, "The Leading Lady." The other mini-profiles are unbylined and brisk:

• Jude Law, "The Leading Man."
• Sienna Miller, "The Newcomer."
• Bill Nighy, "The Roué."
• Keira Knightley, "The Romantic Heroine."
• Jamie Bell, "The Boy Wonder."
• James McAvoy, "The Likely Lad."
• Mike Leigh and Imelda Staunton, "The Award-winners."
• Judi Dench, "The Grand Dame."
• Kevin Spacey, "The Honorary Brit."
• Julian Fellowes on "The Super-Scribe."
• Daniel Craig, "The Man."
• Emma Watson and Freddie Highmore, "The Kids."
• Believe it or not, there are nine more.

Other papers: The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw selects his top ten to watch out for; the Telegraph's SF Said picks a few more.

Posted by dwhudson at October 16, 2004 11:55 AM