No./20 The best of the rest of the fest
Team Empire highlight the buzziest offerings at this year’s BFI London Film Festival
THE SOUVENIR PART II IAN FREER, REVIEWS EDITOR:
Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir was one of the films of 2019, so I can’t wait for Part II. The story picks up with student filmmaker Julie Harte (Honor Swinton Byrne) still reeling from the tragedy that ended the original but putting her life back together with a new relationship (Joe Alwyn) and by throwing herself into her art.
Part II promises a bigger canvas, dramatising Julie’s work, exploring her friendships and increasing the role of Richard Ayoade’s brilliantly pretentious filmmaker. Expect personal, emotional moviemaking of the highest order.
THE POWER OF THE DOG BETH WEBB, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR:
Jane Campion taking on a Western is as delicious a pairing as they come. Her first film in 12 long years is adapted from a Thomas Savage novel, and looks set to be a thrilling, brooding deconstruction of masculinity on a Montana ranch in 1925. Benedict Cumberbatch has donned a Stetson for the role of a tortured cowboy, and looks set to ricochet off a powerhouse supporting cast including Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst. Throw in a score by maverick Jonny Greenwood and you officially have my attention.
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH JOHN NUGENT, NEWS EDITOR:
This is uncharted territory for the entity once known as the Coen Brothers — now just Coen Brother, singular. After decades of double, double, toil and trouble, Joel Coen is going it alone (Ethan told the Los Angeles Times that he’s “giving movies a rest”) for this unusual, black-and-white take on The Scottish Play. With period English stylings complementing its starry cast (Denzel Washington is tormented Macbeth, Frances Mcdormand is his treacherous lady wife), it looks about as un-coen-y as it’s possible to get. And all the more intriguing for it.
HELLBOUND BEN TRAVIS, DEPUTY ONLINE EDITOR:
If you’ve seen Korean zombie horror Train To Busan or its sequel Peninsula, you know director Yeon Sang-ho can conjure considerable cinematic carnage. Now, we’re about to see what he can do on the small screen. He’s behind all six episodes of Netflix horror-fantasy series Hellbound, set in a world where people begin receiving messages about their imminent demises, before being dragged to the fiery depths by rampaging monsters. It sounds bonkers — and the LFF will have an early peek at two episodes.