Best of the London Film Festival 2019
Friday, October 18, 2019 at 2:00PM Please welcome guest contributor Scott Thomson, who just participated in the Critics Mentorship Programme at the London Film Festival. We've invited him to tell us about his favourites from the festival, which just concluded. -Editor
Monos, Colombia's Oscar submission, won the film festival's top honors
by Scott Thomson
The programming team at the London Film Festival delivered a magnificent slate of films this year, working within a series of expertly curated strands to shape the programme into something that caters to all tastes. This year there was a focus on developing a hub for the Festival, with a schedule of free events to generate a more connected and interactive vibe. As London falls fairly late in the Festival calendar, it does not tend to get a great deal of World Premieres, but the buzz and atmosphere around both the larger and smaller offerings is undeniable and LFF deserves a lot of credit for being a festival that is very much for the audiences.
With 40% of all films on the programme this year were from female filmmakers this is another huge step in the right direction for festival curation; the content is most certainly available and other festivals should take note. With 28 films under my belt this year I have taken in a lot of what I was hoping to, but inevitably missed out on some wonderful stuff. Here are some of my ‘Bests’ from London this year:
Adele Haenel and Celine SciammaBest Film: Monos (which also took the Best Film prize at the Festival). There is not an ounce of fat on Colombia's Oscar submission. It's thrilling, progressive cinema with an outstanding young cast. Everything is cinema magic including that machine energy Mica Levi score.
Best Director: Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. My my my, I’m still swooning. Sciamma’s gentle gaze on this beautiful love story is so open hearted and considerate...
Best Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story. The construction of this script is a thing of beauty - chock full of belly laughs, but not scared to reduce you to a wobbly jelly-lipped ruin.
Best Actor: Adam Driver, Marriage Story. That lip wobble.
Best Actress: Viktoriya Miroshnichenko, Beanpole. A devastating debut that haunts
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. Hanks is built for this stuff, but he is still bringing something new -- in this case an overwhelmingly generous energy that even he has not displayed before.
the young cast of ROCKS
Best Supporting Actress: Kosar Ali, Rocks. The friend we all want and the friend we should all be. This is a subtle but glowing performance.
Best Ensemble: Rocks. Everyone ‘rocks’. Too much? Nahh...seek it out for the abundantly joyous chemistry of this effortlessly talented young cast.
Most Underrated: Lingua Franca. A trans story told by a trans voice. I appreciated the unapologetic approach to the romantic threads. More of this please.
Most Overrated: Ema. I just couldn’t care. I tried, but my God I could not handle another moment with these horrible people.
Most Interesting use of Genre: Bacurau. Wildly swinging between genres, whilst catching you out with red herrings along the way. A hoot.
Unsung Hero: Merritt Wever, Marriage Story. All in the joy of a scene. This is the most fun I’ve watched somebody being awkward in maybe ever, knocking it out of the park in her all too fleeting screen time.
Oscar Voters please just give it some thought: Taylor Russell, Waves. Pure light. She had me biting my hand to save the sobs from violently escaping me.
Best Debut Performance: Levan Gelbakhiani, And Then we Danced. His final dance scene is a masterpiece in defiant self expression. Magnetic.
Best Child Performance: D’angelou Osei Kissiedu, Rocks. It does not get cuter.
Most WTF Cameo Performance: David Hasselhoff, Our Ladies. Just the most barmy addition to proceedings. Hey, it was quite fun though.
Best Cinematography: Moffie. Both immersive and expansive. Jamie Ramsay throws us into the action, often uncomfortable but sometimes blissful.
Best Production Design: The Personal History of David Copperfield. The use of space is gleefully inventive. The sets create a storybook magic that you are happy to revel in.
Best Costume Design: Knives Out. Sure it’s on the nose, but I’m all in for playing up to the ‘Clue’ revival mood. Jenny Eagen brings it.
Best Film Editing: Monos. Seamlessly cut to function on all levels. The mood is aided by masterful choices in the editing suite.
Best Score: Nicolas Jaar, Ema. The beacon of brilliance that made me stick around. The soundscape is so deliciously new.
Best Sound: Monos.
Best Visual Effects: The Irishman (I guess that’s fair enough, right?)
Harris Dickinson in Matthias & Maxime
Best Use of Song: "Always on My Mind" - Pet Shop Boys, Matthias and Maxime. The gorgeous Harris Dickinson (even in dickhead mode) and big, bombastic Pet Shop Boys at their most fun. One of the best character entrances of the year.
Funniest Movie: The Lighthouse. Shakespearean tyrades meet cooking quarrels.
Funniest Scene: “You’ve been served”, Marriage Story.
Having the Most Fun: Daniel Craig, Knives Out. Daft dialed to 11. A blast to watch.
Best Musical Sequence: Sondheim in full ...twice!!!!!!!, Marriage Story
Best Kiss: Sofia Buenaventura, Karen Quintero, Julian Giraldo, Monos. Teen heat summed up in a three-way, sexually ambiguous moment of fun.
Best Unseen Kiss: Xavier Dolan & Gabriel D’almeida Freitas, Matthias and Maxime. So much tension understood from a moment we don’t even see.
Best Sex Scene: Noémie Merlant & Adèle Haenel, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. This is how you do tasteful and sexy together. Just gorgeous.
Craziest Sex Scene: The Lighthouse. (no spoilers)
Best Opening Scene: Marriage Story
Best End Scene: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Reader Comments (3)
"Monos" felt a little derivative to me of other "war is hell" thrillers, but I would fully support a nomination for Julianne Nicholson. What a committed, exhaustingly physical performance that is. And yes, Levi's haunting score.
So happy for Sciamma, Bacurau, and the lead actor of And Then We Danced, one of my favorite flicks from last year's Cannes festival. I can't wait for Marriage Story to be released on Netflix.
Looks like we need to get used to Marriage Story getting a lot of love. Bodes well for its Oscar chances. Also good to see Daniel Craig getting praise for Knives Out, and certainly confirms he's got a good shot at making the comedy/musical lineup at the Globes.