12 Days In The Dark: DCM at the London Film Fest

After we shared his preview of the BFI London Film Festival, DCM's head of film, Tom Linay, is back with his round-up of some of the best films of the 2014 event. Admitedly, there's no specific advertising link to this story other than the fact you'll get to see some ads before watching each of the films at the cinema but, come on, who doesn't want to know what movies to look out for in the coming months?

The UK’s premiere film festival and my favourite two weeks of the year are over for another 12 months and while I contemplate the sad situation that I’m no longer able to watch three exciting new films a day, I’ll instead reflect on what has once again been a huge success for the BFI, with record numbers of tickets being sold and some of the film world’s biggest names in attendance.

The opening and closing night galas had a World War II theme, with Enigma code-breaking drama, The Imitation Game [below] kicking off proceedings. It’s already picked up the audience award at the Toronto Film Festival - a strong indicator of Oscar recognition – and judging by the reception at its UK premiere, success on these shores is assured. Benedict Cumberbatch puts in a subtle and moving performance as Alan Turing and it’s a story that absolutely needs to be re-told.

The European premiere of David Ayer’s intense, visceral Fury closed the festival with a bang on Sunday. Brad Pitt stars as Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier, a battle-hardened tank commander who leads an incursion behind enemy lines at the end of the Second World War. Pitt and his co-stars, including Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena and Logan Lerman, were all in attendance, along with director Ayer, and it hit cinemas this Wednesday, so you can see it for yourself then.

Of the other galas, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher [below] had its UK premiere, giving people the first opportunity to see why Steve Carell is being talked up as a potential award-winner for his role as troubled millionaire, John Du Pont, whose decision to bankroll the US wrestling team ends in tragedy.

Reese Witherspoon was in attendance for the gala of Wild, based on the memoir of Cheryl Strayed who hikes the 1,100 mile Pacific Crest Trail in the US after the death of her mother.  Witherspoon impresses as Strayed and director Jean-Marc Valleé (Dallas Buyers Club) knows a thing or two about directing Oscar-winning performances.

This year’s surprise film was the highly anticipated, Birdman, starring Michael Keaton, as an actor who looks to revive his flagging career by staging a play on Broadway. It’s technically astounding, appearing to unfold in one take, and should revive both Keaton and Ed Norton’s own careers.

The biggest new discovery of the festival was David Robert Mitchell’s startling horror, It Follows [above], about a sexually transmitted curse that results in the carrier being followed by a sinister, threatening presence. The only way to stop it is to pass it on to someone else. It’s an ingenious idea that’s brilliantly realised and also completely terrifying. I spent the entire film utterly exhilarated and then the next day severely unsettled. It doesn’t have a UK release date yet but the excellent Icon will be distributing next year. Don’t miss it.

However, the most buzzed about film of the festival, and with good reason, was Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash [below]. I first saw the film back in May and a second viewing further confirmed its greatness. Miles Teller stars as an obsessive jazz drummer who is driven to dark places by the sociopathic instructor of his jazz conservatory group.

While that may not sound like the basis of a stunning drama, the film is superbly paced by 29-year-old director, Chazelle, and builds to an exhilarating crescendo in one of the finest final acts for years. It’s out in the UK in January and if the extended standing ovation the film received at its gala performance is anything to go by, it could pick up serious awards buzz between now and then.

I’ve mentioned just seven titles and there are several other that warrant a mention, particularly Alice Rohrwacher’s beguiling The Wonders, the extraordinary Ukranian drama,       

The Tribe and Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, featuring a mesmerising performance by Nina Hoss. With 248 films screened, including 18 world premieres and 163,300 tickets sold, by any measurement this year’s London Film Festival was a huge success. If you’ve never attended, mark it in your diary next October and come see what makes it such a special event.