LFF 2018 Highlights Part 1

It is approximately the half way point of the BFI London Film Festival, and there have been some excellent films screened so far. Here are some LFF 2018 highlights from the first week…

LFF 2018 Highlights – Unmissable

Widows

Director Steve McQueen kicked off the festival with a bang with the gripping Widows. There is so much to love about Widows that is pretty much impossible to find fault. READ MORE

The Old Man and the Gun

David Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun is bursting with charm, much like its leading man. In what is rumoured to be Robert Redford’s last film, Lowery has created an ode to the actor. READ MORE

Non-Fiction

Oliver Assayas’ latest is a witty and endearing exploration of life, truth, and publishing. Non-Fiction illustrates Assayas’ versatility as a filmmaker. READ MORE

LFF 2018 Highlights – Best of the Rest

Sorry To Bother You

Boots Riley’s satire Sorry To Bother You is inventive, thought provoking, and tremendous fun. Riley is not afraid to target the system in Sorry To Bother You. READ MORE

Mandy

Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy is quite the trip. At its best moments, the film is dazzling. Despite the simplicity of the plot, Mandy is a striking and memorable film. READ MORE

The Guilty

Gustav Möller’s The Guilty (Den Skyldige) is a very impressive directorial debut. The filmmaker makes the most of the confined setting, creating a taut thriller. READ MORE

Border

Ali Abbasi’s Border (Gräns) is stark, different and engaging. The film is at different times a mystery, a love story, a crime thriller, and a fantasy. What keeps viewers intrigued is this ambiguity. READ MORE

The Front Runner

Jason Reitman’s political drama The Front Runner is an engrossing watch. The film is superbly scripted, and boasts solid performances from its cast. The dialogue is often quick-fire, and there is plenty of humour to be found, amongst the more serious proceedings. READ MORE

The BFI London Film Festival runs from 10th-21st October 2018. See the full programme here.

Film Review: The Old Man and the Gun

Like its leading man, David Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun is oozing with charm. The film is wonderful. 

An older man walks into a bank and commits a robbery. An unlikely figure, but this isn’t his first crime. As the police, attempt to trace the robber, he stays one step ahead…

From the opening sequence, the tone of Lowery’s film is immediately set. Writer-director Lowery and cinematographer Joe Anderson make The Old Man And The Gun look like a film made in the early 1980s (when the film is set). The grainy quality is immediately reminiscent of this period. Coupled with the titles, the film is very much a throwback to this era. 

The structure of the picture is set up like a game of cat and mouse. And although this loose structure is followed, the film is anything but generic. Lowery develops complex characters, not just with the protagonist and his chaser detective Hunt, but also with Jewel. The relationships that develop during the course of the film are a joy to watch. 

The film does offer tension, but this isn’t the modus operandi of the picture. Instead, the director offers an insight into the lead character, who is based on a real person. Rather than proffering a moral judgement, Lowery is interested in what drives this fascinating character. In doing so, they also explore his counterpart; with Hunt’s conversations with his wife and children elucidating his transitioning feelings towards the object of his prey. 

In what is rumoured to be Robert Redford’s final movie, Lowery has created an ode to the leading man. In using the early picture, and footage, the film feels dedicated to the fine actor. It is also fitting that he plays a character that is incredibly charming. Sissy Spacek is also excellent as Jewel; her expressions convey so much about how the character feels without the need for words. Casey Affleck is as solid as ever, while Danny Glover and Tom Waits provide good support. Daniel Hart’s soundtrack is superb, setting the tone and feeling very much of the relevant era.  

The Old Man And The Gun is one of Lowery’s more accessible films, yet there is no diminishment of beauty. A beguiling picture. 

The Old Man And The Gun is being screened at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2018.