10 must-see films to see in the second week of the 57th BFI London Film Festival
Before the London Film Festival draws to a close this coming Sunday there is still plenty of time to catch some of the highlights of this year’s festival. Showing films from around the globe, there is plenty of home-grown fare on offer. We have selected 10 films showing across the next 5-days, but as well as these there is an abundance of excellent films to be seen. To find out more about what is showing just head over to the festival website where you can book tickets- http://bfi.org.uk/lff
Inside Llewyn Davis
Director: Joel & Ethan Cohen
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.
Set over one week, we find struggling musician Llewyn Davis (Isaac) navigating the Greenwich Village folk scene in 1960s New York. Llewyn’s life becomes more complicated when he discovers that he has got a fellow folk signer, Jean (Mulligan), pregnant.
Gloria
Director: Sebastian Lelio
Cast: Paulina Garcia, Sergio Hernandez, Diego Fontecilla
Paulina Garcia won the Silver Bear Best Actress award at this year’s Berlin film festival for her performance as Gloria. As a free spirited older woman in Santiago, Chile, Gloria tours the city’s nightclubs in the hope of finding one last chance at love.
Kill Your Darlings
Director: John Krokidas
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Ben Foster
First time director John Krokidas brings us a debut film brimming with poetry, jazz and murder. Daniel Radcliffe stars as the famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg at the beginning of his time at Colombia University. He is quickly befriended by Lucien Carr (DeHaan), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and William Burroughs (Foster) and together give birth to the Beat Generation.
12 Years A Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti
British director Steve McQueen offers up an all-star cast for an epic tale of injustice and redemption. Solomon Northup is a free man living in pre Civil War America, yet his world in turned upside down when he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. After enduring 12 years of hardship, a chance encounter with an abolitionist gives him glimpse of freedom.
Philomena
Director: Stephen Frears
Cast: Steve Coogan, Judi Dench, Michelle Fairly
Steve Coogan and Judi Dench star in this heartbreaking true story, of an Irish woman whose son is taken from her by a strict Irish covenant. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen), Philomena follows one woman’s pursuit to find out what happened to her son a journalist’s fascination with her emotional journey.
We Are The Best
Director: Lukas Moodyson
Cast: Mira Barkhammar, Liv LeMoyne, Mira Grosin
In Stockholm, 1982, three young teenage girls, tired of being stereotyped, decided to follow their dreams and form a punk rock band. Already winning hearts across the festival, this coming of age tale is a rebellious film with a lot of heart.
The Zero Theorem
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Christoph Waltz, Melanie Thierry, David Thewlis
Brazil director Terry Gilliam takes his back to his vision of the future in The Zero Theorem. Christoph Waltz plays computer hacker, Qohen Leth who is obsessed with discovering the meaning of life.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska
Cult director Jim Jarmusch, delves into the vampire underworld with his latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive. Adam and Eve are century old vampire lovers, who reunite after years apart. Their romantic reconciliation is soon interrupted by the arrival of Eve unpredictable sister Ava.
Stranger By The Lake
Director: Alain Guiraudie
Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, and Patrick d’Assumcao
A lakeside cruising spot for men in the South of France becomes a scene for violence and deceit. What was once a peaceful, anonymous retreat becomes a haven for sex, voyeurism and murder. Already a winner at Cannes, Alain Guiraudie is a thriller of a different kind.
Saving Mr. Banks
Director: John Lee Hancock
Cast: Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Colin Farrell
The closing film of this year’s London Film Festival is Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks. The film tells the story of how P.L Travers beloved Mary Poppins character was transferred from literacy to film by Walt Disney in 1961. Although Traver’s is cautious of the film, Disney pulls out all the stops to try and convince the author that the world needs a Mary Poppins movie.
Book tickets for the LFF here- http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff