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| Lost In France and The Maurons at the O2 ABC Photo: Neil Thomas Douglas |
Tuesday at the Glasgow Film Festival was an opportunity to catch up on some of the great films shown over the past week, and to enjoy some classic slices of cinema, including Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, one of several of his collaborations with Toshirô Mifune being shown this year. There was also a potent portrait of modern Japanese life in the form of troubling family drama Harmonium, winner of last year’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, which attendees described as depressing and fascinating in equal measure, and which is part of an evolving trend in Japanese cinema focused on exploring the role of women, which critically acclaimed works like Creepy and Happy Hour have also contributed to.
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| Michael Koch Photo: Alyn J Smith |
The evening saw two very different stories about refugees: Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side Of Hope and Michael Koch’s Marija, which Koch attended in person to talk to a sell out crowd. Attendees also loved The Giant, in which a man who faces prejudice because of his appearance escapes reality by imagining himself as 50 metres tall. The night was dominated, however, by speculation about the Surprise Film. As usual, it came close to selling out, even though nobody knew what to expect. Would it be The Handmaiden, perhaps, or Certain Women? Some people even had their hopes up for Kong: Skull Island. In the end, it turned out to be The Lost City Of Z, which got a mixed reception. Some people loved it; others found it too slow, especially early on. The devoted fans of Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland who were present were utterly thrilled, and there were some tears among those without tickets.
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| Seamus Mactaggart, Shane Tobin and Jim Watt Photo: Eoin Carey |
Also packing in the crowds that night was Lost In France, which screened in the O2 ABC, once a major Glasgow cinema in its own right. The film, which went down really well with the crowd, was followed by a Q&A with director Niall McCann and a series of musical performances. A one off gig by supergroup the Maurons (Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand and Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai, plus RM Hubbert, Emma Pollock and Paul Savage from The Delgados), with Holy Mountain and The Johnny Seven in support, was broadcast right across the UK, and there was like music from DJs Paul Savage and Julian Corrie, also on the Chemikal Underground record label, the party lasting until late.
No matter how little sleep one has had, waking up to Marilyn Monroe can’t be all bad. Wednesday morning kicked off with noir thriller Niagara, with Agnes Varda’s feminist classic One Sings, The Other Doesn’t screening in the afternoon, along with Jacques Cousteau biopic The Odyssey, which director Jerôme Salle recently discussed with us. GFT 2 was packed out for Oscar nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Gay Talese told us that he hoped the film would introduce new people to the writing of James Baldwin, and several viewers left saying that they planned to seek it out immediately.
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| Ben Wheatley Photo: Eoin Carey |
Other documentaries screening on Wednesday were Benny, introduced by prodcers Seamus Mactaggart and Shane Tobin, which charts the life of a local boxing legend who was once thrown out of the GFT in his youth, and The Lure, which explores the mystery around the Fenn treasure said to be buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and which was introduced by its director, Thomas Leach. There was also a special event celebrating this year’s Canadian film strand, which is itself a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Canada itself. The thing festival fans were most excited about, however, was the evening screening of Free Fire, introduced by director Ben Wheatley. It was well received all round and several people described it as the most fun film they’d seen this year. The festival atmosphere was really buzzing – and there’s still some exciting stuff to come.
