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MOSTLY BRITISH FESTIVAL San Francisco 2015
The San Francisco Mostly British Film Festival runs at the historic Vogue Theater from 12-22 February 2015. Below are the festival blurbs. I'll provide reviews of a few of the 23 films. For these, see the Festival Coverage section. Put your comments here.
List of the films:
’71
A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. The soldier must find his way to safety through a hostile, unfamiliar landscape where it is difficult to distinguish friend from foe.
7:00PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
STARRED UP
Jack O’Connell (“Unbroken” and ‘71”) had his breakthrough role in this powerful prison drama that pits father against son. He stars as an explosively violent teenager transferred from a young offender’s institution to an adult prison.
9:00PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE ANIMAL CONDITION
This thoughtful documentary looks at three and a half years in recent Australia history when animal welfare grew from a fringe concern to a national focal point. Four young people take an investigative road trip through Australia, speaking to indigenous people along the way.
5:00PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
I, ANNA
This moody, downbeat noir stars Charlotte Rampling as the title character, a lonely and seductive divorcee who participates in speed-dating and takes strangers home with her. A debut feature from Rampling’s son, Barnaby Southcombe, the film co-stars Gabriel Byrne as a police inspector.
7:00PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
OUR MAN IN HAVANA
This sly black comedy boasts a screenplay by Graham Greene (based on his novel) and direction by Carol Reed. Alec Guinness plays James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana.
9:00PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
EVERGREEN
Jessie Matthews was England’s Ginger Rogers–except she didn’t need Fred to complete her. Matthews danced and sang in her distinctive warbling voice through numerous British musicals of the 1930s. To get more of a feeling for what made her such a success.
11:00AM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
FIRST A GIRL
Jessie Matthews plays an ingénue getting nowhere with her musical stage ambitions. Through a complicated plot twist, she appears onstage as a man posing as a woman. This story inspired “Victor Victoria” starring Julie Andrews as the cross-dresser. UK 1935 …
1:00PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
HOPE AND GLORY
With the Oscars just a few days away Mostly British pays tribute to a wondrous British film that was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1987, including Best Picture. “Hope and Glory” is based on director John Boorman’s experiences growing up.
3:00PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
WINNIE MANDELA
During Nelson Mandela’s incarceration, his wife Winnie assumed his mantle, becoming known as the mother of South Africa. A new biopic about this remarkable woman, played by Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”), traces her rural roots through to her meeting Mandela (a regal Terrence Howard).
5:30PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
LESLIE HOWARD: THE MAN WHO GAVE A DAMN
Director Thomas Hamilton will introduce the film and afterwards discuss it with the audience in conversation with Ruthe Stein. This fascinating documentary will be shown for the first time in the United States at the Mostly British Film Festival.
7:30PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
HUMAN TRAFFIC
A cult film among young people in the UK, it tells the story of five friends who spend Friday night getting wasted in Cardiff, trying — without much luck — to escape their workday hang-ups and frustrations.
10:00PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
THE BATTLES OF CORONEL AND FALKLAND ISLANDS
This amazing British film of the silent era commemorates two decisive naval battles fought by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of WWI. It is an awe-inspiring reconstruction of naval warfare using British Admiralty battleships, shot mostly near Malta and the isles of Sicily.
11:00AM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015
A FIELD OF BLOOD
One unfortunate effect of Internet- dominated journalism is the demise of the old-fashioned newpaper movie, from “My Girl Friday” to “All the President’s Men.” Now along comes a series in their spirit set in the early 1980s.
1:15PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015
LOVE MARRIAGE IN KABUL
This powerful documentary follows an Australian-Afghan woman Mahboba Rawi who runs a charitable foundation, Mahboba’s Promise, to support and educate orphans and widows across Afghanistan. The film focuses on her quest to unite Abdul, a boy brought up in one of her orphanages, and Fatemeh, the girl he loves who lives next door. It is no easy task.
3:30PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015
CHARLIE’S COUNTRY
Aboriginal elder Charlie (David Gulpilil) becomes disillusioned with modern community life and heads off into the bush to try living like his ancestors. After things don’t go well, Charlie assesses his life to find new ways to cope. Gulpilil (“Rabbit-Proof Fence” “Crocodile Dundee,” more.
5:15PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015
THE TURNING
180 mins. This film with its interlocking episodes resembles Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts,” based on Raymond Carver short stories. “The Turning” is an adaptation of 17 interlinking stories by bestselling Australian author Tim Winton. The cast is a who’s who of Aussie actors.
7:30PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015
GOLD
This bittersweet, quirky comedy is about an estranged father who returns to his hometown after an absence of twelve years in order to re-connect with his daughter and ex-wife and fulfill a request of his dying father.
5:00PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015
JIMMY’S HALL
Set during the tumultuous aftermath of Ireland’s 1922 Civil War, this is the true story of charismatic Irish Communist leader Jimmy Gralton, who dared to build a community hall in County Leitrim. The Catholic Church and political leaders were appalled.
7:00PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015
STANDBY
This sweet- natured romantic comedy looks at what happens when an ex suddenly pops back into your life. At the Dublin airport, a distraught woman (Mad Men’s Jessica Paré) appears at a counter pleading for a flight home.
9:15PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015
STILL LIFE
Eddie Marsan (“Happy-Go-Lucky” and “Ray Donovan”) stars in this haunting drama as a council social worker whose job is to find the next-of-kin when someone dies alone.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
MY ACCOMPLICE
This special romantic comedy, set among the piers and promenades of Brighton, focuses on the relationship between a good-natured young Scot, a caretaker for adults with special needs, and an artistically-inclined immigrant from East Germany, working at a bakery.
7:00PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
BONOBO
A mother is appalled when her daughter leaves law school to live in a commune of hippie misfits who in accordance with the behavior principles of the Bonobo monkey, a species for its “make love not war” philosophy.
9:00PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
EVERYDAY
The prolific British director Michael Winterbottom (“24 Hour Party People” and “Jude”) shot “Everyday” over five years in the style of Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”, following one family and their struggle to survive when the father is imprisoned for smuggling drugs.
5:00PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
Last edited by Chris Knipp; 02-27-2015 at 03:27 PM.
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THE TURNING (18 directors)
Aussie omnibus film recreates short story collection of National Treasure Tim Hinton. A mixed bag, but exciting, ambitious. 3-hour version and 90-min. version.
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I, ANNA (Barnaby Southcombe 2012)
Elegant, botched creepy noir by son of Charlotte Rampling, starring her, Gabriel Byrne, and Eddie Marsan is late first feature. He should crawl out from under her influence and find a better screenwriter than himself.
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At the end of the festival the following awards were given out:
Best Motion Picture, Audience Award – Still Life
Best Motion Picture, Grand Jury Prize – ’71
Best Documentary Film – Leslie Howard, The Man Who Gave a Damn
Best Director – Ken Loach, Jimmy’s Hall
Best Actor – Jack O’Connell, ’71
Best Actress – Charlotte Rampling, I, Anna
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