London Film Festival

A brief account of films seen over the last 10 days in what was a bit of a bumper year in terms of quality with only one really loudly squawking turkey. They aren't in a precise order but the ones towards the top are those I most liked. The one at the bottom is running around the room flapping wildly.

Zama by Lucrecia Martel which is a simply wondrous existential fever dream of disappointment and dashed hopes with a stunning walk on llama adding further bathos. Not an easy watch but amply rewards attention with some stunning images and cinematography. Having also just read the book on which the film is based there is a separate blog post about both for those who truly are gluttons for punishment.

Columbus a luxuriantly talky but deeply felt film set amidst the quiet comforts of modernist architecture and dumb phones.

Ava by Lea Mysius which is as zesty as its teen protagonist is spiteful, complex and enterprising.

Jeune Femme with an absolute powerhouse of a performance by Laetitia Dosch cast adrift in the Paris precariat and nostalgic for things she never had.

Manifesto by Julian Rosefeldt: a laudable, droll, sophisticated, inventive reaction to populism with an extraordinary set of performances by Cate Blanchett.

Loveless by Andrey Zvyagintsev: classy extreme Russian miserabilism about serious family dysfunction seen at 11 am on a Sunday. On the upside it's less grim than his previous film.

Bright Sunshine In by Claire Denis. A quite luminous Juliette Binoche in a droll but also deeply poignant assessment of the effects of wanting to be wanted. This is, naturally, in French and really could only be made in France (and I say that as an entirely good thing).

Mademoiselle Paradis by Barbara Albert which magnificently captures in high Rococo relief the 18th century's fascination with prodigy.

Promised Land by Eugene Jarecki in which "America is the fat Elvis'. A resonant metaphor for the current tragic situation of a country that has lost its way.

Western by Valeska Griesebach about East German 'cowboys' (aka construction workers) in Bulgaria; a meditation on belonging, empathy and being strong which magnificently undercut conventions.

Thelma by Joachim Trier which checked in with a veritable flock of 70s horror flicks, threatened to really take off but didn't quite, so to speak, ignite.

The Meyerowitz Stories by Noah Baumbach which can now be found on your very own Netflix service and has humour, pathos and some scenes close enough to home that they require viewing through latticed fingers.

Ingrid Goes West which is a pretty good satire of deranged Instagram culture.

Downsizing by Alexander Payne. As a fan of many of his other films this was a deeply disappointing Charlie Kaufman-lite flop. Baggy, unengaging and at times close to embarrassing.

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