London Film Festival: Ones to Watch

13 October 2008

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Wednesday sees the fifty second London Film Festival get underway bringing some of the industries biggest directors and stars to London as well as introducing us to some new international and British talent.

In the Galas and Special Screenings category the festival shows some of the forthcoming awards seasons favourites, with the likes of Frost/Nixon and W being shown on the festival circuit for the first time, many of them chose to be screen at Cannes, Venice and Toronto.

Here at FemaleFirst we looked at some of the films that are on offer during the two week event to highlight what you should be watching if you are attending the festival and what you should be looking out for over the coming weeks.

Easy Virtue

Release in December Easy Virtue sees new British action star Ben Barnes move away from his Price Caspian role of the summer to a more period piece.

Based on the Noel Coward play of the same name the film is a comedy of clashing cultures between a glamorous English widow and stuffy English aristocrats.

John Whittaker, a young Englishman, falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously.

However when the couple returns to the family home, his mother Mrs Whittaker has an instant allergic reaction to her new daughter-in-law.

A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly. Mrs Whittaker manipulates every situation to undermine her, while Larita remains frustratingly calm and engineers sassy counter attacks.

Before long, Mrs Whittaker�s manipulation starts to work on John and Larita feels their love is in danger of slipping away.

Che

Over the last few months Steven Soderbergh's Che, a film about Marxist revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has been gaining support on the festival circuit, especially for Benicio Del Toro's performance.

Split into two parts, The Argentine and Guerrilla, The Argentine focuses on the Cuban revolution, from the moment Fidel Castro, Guevara and other revolutionaries landed on the Caribbean island, until they toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later.

The follow-up Guerrilla the film follows the latter period of Guevara's life.

Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon is the first of a few political pictures that look set to dominate the big awards categories as the Golden Globes and Oscars move closer.

Bringing together some of the best in American and British talent the film focuses on a series of interviews that David Frost, played by Michael Sheen from The Queen, conducted with Richard Nixon, played by Frank Langella, in 1977.

The film gets it's world premiere at the festival but is already shrouded in Oscar whispers as many believe that Frank Langella may be the one to beat in the Best Actor category and Michael Sheen could scoop a Best Supporting Oscar nomination.

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire wowed Toronto crowds taking the Cadillac People's Choice Award just a couple of weeks ago.

Slumdog Millionaire sees Boyle returns to a film of harsh reality, a formula that brought him success with Trainspotting, as he looks at the brutal way of life of growing up in India.

The film follows Jamal Malik, an eighteen year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who is on the verge of winning Who Wants to be A Millionaire?

More London Film Festival Ones to Watch on page 2