Eye For Film >> Festivals >> London >> 2009 >> Film On The Square
The most anticipated new titles from around the world, in the heart of the West End. This strand will also feature a Surprise Film.
View other London Film Festival Films by strand: Cinema Europa, Experimenta, French Revolutions, Galas And Special Screenings, New British Cinema, Short Cuts & Animation, Treasures From The Archives, World Cinema
Cold Souls and Cracks
44 Inch Chest
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Malcolm Venville; Writer: Louis Mellis, David Scinto; Stars: John Hurt, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Tom Wilkinson, Joanne Whalley, Dave Legeno, Stephen Dillane, Steven Berkoff, Melvil Poupaud), Official Site, Trailer
After Colin's wife leaves him, his gangster friends kidnap her lover - but will Colin actually kill him?
About Elly (Darbareye Elly)
(Country: Iran; Year: 2009; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti, Marila Zare'i, Rana Azadvar, Shahab Hosseini, Saber Abbar)
A matchmaking trip to the coast leads to tragedy.
Air Doll (Kûki ningyô)
(Country: Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Yoshiie Goda, Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Du-na Bae, Arata, Itsuji Itao, Jô Odagiri, Sumiko Fuji, Tasuku Emoto, Mari Hoshino, Ryo Iwamatsu, Tomomi Maruyama, Miu Naraki, Masaya Takahashi, Susumu Terajima, Kimiko Yo)
A blow-up sex doll develops a sense of self and begins to explore the world around her.
Astro Boy
(Country: US, Hong Kong, Japan; Year: 2009; Director: David Bowers; Writer: Timothy Harris, David Bowers, based on the comic series by Osamu Tezuka; Stars: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kirsten Bell, David Bowers, Bill Nighy), Official Site, Trailer
Science-fiction, CGI animation tracing the adventures of a young robot with super powers.
Adrift (A Deriva)
(Country: Brazil; Year: 2009; Director: Heitor Dhalia; Stars: Vincent Cassel, Camilla Belle, Laura Neiva)
Coming-of-age tale about a young girl living on the Brazilian coast.
Astro Boy and A Single Man
Balibo (The Balibo Conspiracy)
(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Robert Connolly; Writer: Robert Connolly, David Williamson; Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Nathan Phillips, Gyton Grantley, Damon Gameau, Tom Wright, Paul Sonkkila, Mark Leonard Winter, Mark Winter), Official Site
As Indonesia prepares to invade the tiny nation of East Timor, five Australian based journalists go missing, a month later a veteran correspondent follows them, determined to find out the truth.
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: William M Finkelstein, Victor Argo, Paul Calderon, Abel Ferrara, Zoë Lund; Stars: Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Brad Dourif, Michael Shannon, Shawn Hatosy, Shea Whigham, Xzibit, Denzel Whitaker, Irma P. Hall, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tom Bower, Lance E. Nichols)
Re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's film, starring Nic Cage as a cop in post-Katrina New Orleans, whose moral compass slips after he is put in charge of a murder investigation.
Bellamy
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Claude Chabrol; Writer: Odile Barski, Claude Chabrol; Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Clovis Cornillac, Vahina Giocante, Jacques Gamblin, Marie Bunel, Yves Verhoeven, Adrienne Pauly, Rodolphe Pauly, Marie Matheron)
A detective enjoying a quiet holiday in southern France finds himself caught up in an intriguing mystery.
Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue)
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Charles Perrault, Catherine Breillat; Stars: Daphné Baiwir, Lola Creton, Dominique Thomas)
Re-imagining of the fairytale 'monster' merging the myth with the facts of the real life of Gilles de Rais, a comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc and infamous child murderer.
Bunny And The Bull
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Paul King; Writer: Paul King; Stars: Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Verónica Echegui, Noel Fielding, Richard Ayoade, Julian Barratt, George Newton, Madeleine Worrall, Waleed Khalid, Margaret Wheldon), Official Site, Trailer
A road movie set entirely in a flat... but then what do you expect from a film featuring The Mighty Boosh's Simon Farnaby?
Air Doll and Bellamy
Cold Souls
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Sophie Barthes; Writer: Sophie Barthes; Stars: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson), Official Site, Trailer
A jaded actor discovers that in order to save his soul he must first open his mind. Plus read our exclusive interview with Sophie Barthes.
Cracks
(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2009; Director: Jordan Scott; Writer: Ben Court and Caroline Ip, based on the book by Sheila Kohler.; Stars: Eva Green, Juno Temple, María Valverde, Imogen Poots, Ellie Nunn, Adele McCann, Zoe Carroll, Clemmie Dugdale, Sinéad Cusack, Laurence Richardson, Vanessa Lunnon, Gerry Shanahan, Kitty McLaughlin-Dunning, Judy Donovan), Trailer
A tale of misguided love and obssession in an isolated girls' school in the Thirties.
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (La danse - Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris)
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Documentary steps behind the scenes of one of France's cultural institutions.
Eccentricities Of A Blonde-Haired Girl (Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura)
(Country: Portugal, Spain, France; Year: 2009; Director: Manoel de Oliveira; Writer: Eça de Queirós, Manoel de Oliveira; Stars: Júlia Buisel, Luís Miguel Cintra, Glória de Matos, Diogo Dória, Miguel Guilherme, Paulo Matos, Rogério Samora, Carlos Santos, Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trêpa, Filipe Vargas, Rogério Vieira, Catarina Wallenstein)
Shaggy dog tale of love and folly.
Enter The Void
(Country: France, Germany, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Gaspar Noé; Writer: Gaspar Noé; Stars: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn, Olly Alexander, Masato Tanno, Ed Spear, Sara Stockbridge, Edward L. Papazian)
A psychedelic journey into the afterlife.
No One Knows About Persian Cats and 44 Inch Chest
Extract
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Mike Judge; Writer: Mike Judge; Stars: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., Dustin Milligan, David Koechner, Beth Grant, T.J. Miller, Javier Gutiérrez, Lidia Porto, Gene Simmons, Matt Schulze, Lamberto Gutierrez)
King Of The Hill creator Judge turns his attentions to the tribulations of a small firm owner - at work and play.
From Time To Time
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Julian Fellowes; Writer: Julian Fellowes, based on the stories by Lucy M Boston; Stars: Maggie Smith, Dominic West, Timothy Spall, Alex Etel)
Ghostly goings on ensue when a youngster is sent to live with his grandma at Green Knowe.
Glorious 39
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Stephen Poliakoff; Writer: Stephen Poliakoff; Stars: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, David Tennant, Juno Temple, Eddie Redmayne, Asier Newman, Christopher Lee, Charlie Cox, Hugh Bonneville, Jenny Agutter, Jeremy Northam, Tom Goodman-Hill, James Bartholomew, Sam Heydon)
The adopted daughter of an upper-class couple, discovers family secrets on the eve of the Second World War.
The Informant!
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Steven Soderbergh; Writer: Scott Z Burns, based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald; Stars: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey, Joel McHale), Official Site, Trailer
A high-ranking executive contacts the FBI with details of price-fixing in the food industry. But their investigation reveals more than they bargained for.
Lebanon (Levanone)
(Country: Israel; Year: 2009; Director: Samuel Maoz; Writer: Samuel Maoz; Stars: Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Reymond Amsalem, Itay Tiran, Yoav Donat, Dudua Tasas), Trailer
The 1982 invasion of Lebanon from the perspective of a tank and its occupants.
Enter The Void and When You're Strange
Life During Wartime
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Todd Solondz; Writer: Todd Solondz; Stars: Ally Sheedy, Allison Janney, Ciarán Hinds, Paul Reubens, Shirley Henderson, Chris Marquette, Gaby Hoffmann, Charlotte Rampling, Michael K. Williams, Renée Taylor, Michael Lerner, Brian Tester, Rich Pecci, Dylan Riley Snyder, Emma Hinz)
A man finds himself dealing with a host of family issues in the run up to his bar-mitzvah.
The Limits Of Control
(Country: Spain, US, Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas, Jean-François Stévenin, Óscar Jaenada, Luis Tosar, Paz de la Huerta, Tilda Swinton, Youki Kudoh, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, Hiam Abbass, Bill Murray, Héctor Colomé, María Isasi, Norma Yessenia Paladines), Trailer
A mysterious man shares coffee and conversation with people, writing down details on matchbook flaps. But what are his motives?
The Milk Of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)
(Country: Spain, Peru; Year: 2008; Director: Claudia Llosa; Writer: Claudia Llosa; Stars: Magaly Solier, Susi Sànchez, Efraín Solís, Marino Ballón, Delci Heredia)
Examination of Peru's dark history refracted through the story of a woman struck with an illness from her mother's breast milk.
Mother (Madeo)
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2009; Director: Bong Joon Ho; Writer: Park Eun-kyo, Bong Joon Ho; Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Gu)
A mother tries to prove her son's innocence.
No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh)
(Country: Iran; Year: 2009; Director: Bahman Ghobadi; Writer: Bahman Ghobadi, Hossein Mortezaeiyan, Roxana Saberi; Stars: Hamed Behdad, Ashkan Koohzad, Negar Shaghaghi)
Fiction meets documentary in this story of underground musicians in Tehran.
The Informant! and Tales From The Golden Age
Paper Heart
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Nicholas Jasenovec; Writer: Nicholas Jasenovec, ; Stars: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake Johnson)
Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn't believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature - a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.
Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire (Push: Based On The Novel By Sapphire, Precious, Precious: A Novel By Sapphire)
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Lee Daniels; Writer: Lee Daniels; Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz), Official Site
An obese teenager tries to escape from her hellish homelife with the help of an inspirational teacher.
A Single Man
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Tom Ford; Writer: Tom Ford, Christopher Isherwood, David Scearce; Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Ginnifer Goodwin, Nicholas Hoult, Paulette Lamori, Nicholas Beard, Brad Benedict, Paul Butler, Ridge Canipe, Alicia Carr, Jenna Gavigan, Brent Gorski, Adam Gray-Hayward, Marlene Martinez), Official Site, Trailer
A middle-aged college professor tries to come to terms with the death of his long-term boyfriend.
Samson And Delilah
(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Warwick Thornton; Writer: Warwick Thornton; Stars: Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Scott Thornton), Official Site
Winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes, sees an Aboriginal couple drawn together after tragedy strikes.
Taking Woodstock
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Ang Lee; Writer: James Schamus, Elliot Tiber, Tom Monte; Stars: Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton, Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Clark Middleton, Bette Henritze, Sondra James, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christina Kirk, Gail Martino, Lee Wong, Adam LeFevre), Official Site, Trailer
The story of the youngster who set the wheels in motion for the iconic music festival.
Taking Woodstock and Samson And Delilah
Tales From The Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur)
(Country: Romania, France; Year: 2009; Director: Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru; Writer: Cristian Mungiu; Stars: Tania Popa, Liliana Mocanu, Alexandru Potocean, Teodor Corban, Emanuel Parvu, Calin Chirila, Romeo Tudor, Avram Birau, Paul Dunca, Viorel Comanici, Ion Sapdaru, Virginia Mirea, Gabriel Spahiu, Eugenia Bosânceanu, Smaranda Caragea), Official Site
Life in Romania under Ceaucescu is explored in this portmanteau of urban myths.
Tell Me Who You Are (Min Ye)
(Country: Mali, France; Year: 2009; Director: Souleymane Cissé)
The struggles of an adultrous middle-class African marriage.
The Time That Remains
(Country: UK, Italy, Belgium, France; Year: 2009; Director: Elia Suleiman; Writer: Elia Suleiman; Stars: Ali Suliman, Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri, Menashe Noy, Nati Ravitz, Avi Kleinberger, Amer Hlehel, Samar Tanus, George Khleifi, Ziyad Bakri, Nina Jarjoura, Isabelle Ramadan, Leila Muammar, Lotuf Neusser, Yasmine Haj)
Third part of the director's loose trilogy (featuring Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996) and Divine Intervention about 60 years in the life of a Palestinian family.
Vincere
(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2009; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Daniela Ceselli; Stars: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Corrado Invernizzi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Michela Cescon, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Paolo Pierobon, Bruno Cariello, Francesca Picozza, Simona Nobili, Giovanna Mori, Silvia Ferretti, Corinne Castelli, Patrizia Bettini, Fabrizio Costella)
The story of Musslolini's secret love child.
We Live In Public
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Ondi Timoner; Stars: Josh Harris), Official Site
The story of the internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.
The Limits Of Control and Bunny And The Bull
When You're Strange (The Doors: When You're Strange)
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo; Stars: Johnny Depp, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Ladd, Adolf Hitler, Janis Joplin, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley)
Documentary tracking the rise of The Doors, featuring rare footage of the band and Jim Morrison.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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