The London Film Festival 2013 Part 2: Going Places (October 9th-20th)

Poland

Of course, we already know Pawel Pawlikowski from his bittersweet British films Last Resort and My Summer of Love. And now with IDA he’s tackling something much more personal and rooted in his homeland, Poland. Written together with Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and filmed in rich black and white, this starts out as the coming-of-age story of an orphaned young nun, Anna in the 1960s. Before taking her vows, Anna is allowed out into the real world and immediately faces her past, discovering from her aunt, Wanda, that she is in fact, Jewish, that her real name is Ida, and that the rest of the family was murdered when she was a baby. Wanda and Anna set off together to find out more about their family and their disappearance, encountering free spirits and dark secrets, the revelations shocking both of them, and giving Wanda more survivor’s guilt. But how will each of them react to revisiting the past? This deservedly won the Festival’s Best Feature Film award.

Already accustomed to creating powerful and visually arresting movies, Andrzej Wajda has here forged a memorable portrait of Lech Walesa, a crucial leader in Poland’s modern history. WALESA. MAN OF HOPE shows the electrician starting off in modest family surroundings, with long-suffering wife and growing brood, and gradually bringing hope to the working class from a mixture of stubbornness and commitment. The cult of personality helps buoy him up as he confronts the police and the government, leads the Solidarity union, keeps getting fired and arrested throughout the eighties, and eventually ends up rising to the top of government himself. Justly revered in Poland, credited with starting the protest that culminated in the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, but perhaps more divisive elsewhere, Walesa makes a fascinating biographical subject for a film elevated by the fine performance of Robert Wieckeiwicz in the title role.

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Netherlands

A modest movie about isolation and suppressed desires, IT’S ALL SO QUIET from director screenwriter Nanouk Leopold, foregrounds a middle-aged farmer, Helmer, who is also sole carer for his frail father. Endless silences are Helmer’s constant companion, and the only other people he really speaks to are the guy who fetches the milk from his dairy herd, and the young farmhand who briefly arrives to help out. Both stir up unwanted feelings for Helmer, who is utterly lonely but unwilling to articulate his emotions. And even as he patiently lifts, bathes and cooks for his bed-ridden father, we sense that the old man might have treated Helmer badly in the past.

Norway

Once you’ve seen the breathtaking KON-TIKI you’ll understand why childhood friends and joint-directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have been seduced by Hollywood to make the next film in Jerry Bruckenheimer’s Pirates of the Caribbean series. The duo really know how to make an ocean-going epic with thrills aplenty. Unlike Pirates, however, this is based on the true story of Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian adventurer who even as a child in the 1920s craved danger and risk. Fast forward to 1937 and he’s in Polynesia with his wife, still looking for a big challenge.

Shot in English, stunning throughout, the film’s central action is set in the 1940s when he’s planning to emulate the ancient Kon-Tiki voyage on a balsa-wood raft. He swiftly gathers comrades to join his unlikely expedition, as he plots the journey to Polynesia, gathering funds and supplies from his Peruvian starting point. Through stubborn determination, the crew overcome perfect storms, constant perils and unfriendly whales and sharks, and many of the set pieces evoke nautical movies from Moby Dick to Jaws, and even Robinson Crusoe. As the voyage proceeds, they transform from motley crew to sunkissed, bronzed heroes, and from naysayers to true believers. It’s some trip.

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Sweden

One of my absolute favourites of the entire festival, and a real return to form for Lukas Moodysson, WE ARE THE BEST! is a glorious comedy, set in 1982. With a thumping soundtrack, Nordic knitwear and three stroppy Stockholm teenage girls driving it onwards, this is a junior version of a classic rockumentary. Two best friends, Klara and Bobo love punk music, but cannot play a note. Yet, in true punk fashion, this doesn’t stop them starting up a band, going as far as recruiting Christian guitarist Hedwig to join their ranks and instantly improve them. Idealistically against pretty much everything, they fight over the cute boy singer in another punk band, have musical differences, and fall out and make up. In short, Moodysson has fashioned a laugh-out-loud microcosm of all the music bios you’ve ever seen.

Nigeria

A confident debut from Chika Anadu, B FOR BOY focuses on Amaka, as she nears her 40s and is desperate to give her husband, Nonso, a boy child by any means necessary. She’s under huge pressure from his family, and knows that if she doesn’t deliver, he’ll probably take a second wife. With a well-directed but unpredictable plotline based on Anadu’s own screenplay, and a great leading performance from Uche Nwadili as Amaka, this promises big things.

Syria

Almost impressionistic, Mohamad Malas’ LADDER TO DAMASCUS doesn’t tackle the current Syrian civil war head on, but instead focuses on romantic characters drifting in and around a courtyard commune stuffed with similarly idealistic students, including a filmmaker. Most of them are in an oasis of relative calm while the revolution is hinted at, and they’re almost in denial about what’s happening elsewhere – until events in the Damascus streets start to make their mark.

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India

Skewering the terrible caste system that’s still going strong in India, FANDRY, from director-screenwriter Nagraj Manjule, sees its inequities through the eyes of the engaging Jabya, an untouchable teenage boy. He encounters discrimination everywhere, from home to school and even threatening his love for a fair-skinned girl well out of his league. Expected to help his father catch feral pigs – ‘fandry’ – while his schoolmates spectate, Jabya is consumed with embarrassment and seething anger against those who tease and persecute him, until he flips.

The idea for THE LUNCHBOX apparently came from director Ritesh Batra working on a documentary about Mumbai’s lunchbox delivery men and the assertion that they never make a mistake. But in Batra’s charming romantic comedy, there is indeed a mix-up that results in the delicious creations of one woman, Ila, being delivered not to her husband’s workplace, but to a completely different man, widower Sajaan, toiling away in an accounts department. Ila’s unappreciative husband doesn’t even notice the difference, but Sajaan is transported by Ila’s food, and they start exchanging notes inside the lunch tins. Will their friendship turn to love or will they both remain stuck in their respective ruts? Will Sajaan’s nosy, greedy, but well-meaning colleague thwart his plans? With the main roles superbly handled by Irfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur, plus Nawazuddin Siddqui as the colleague, there’s lots of fun finding out.

One thing a good crime or detective drama can do is tackle other topics, like social problems and politics that normally get brushed under the carpet or only shown in conventional documentaries. Just look at the story layers of The Killing and The Bridge. Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s SNIFFER isn’t set in cool, calm Scandinavia though, but in crowded, noisy Kolkota. This time, Nawazuddin Siddqui takes the lead, as the eponymous Sniffer or private investigator, Anwar. His intentions may be honourable, but in truth, he doesn’t have the stomach for his spying and prying, finds it hard to be inconspicuous, and would much rather spend time with his beloved old dog. We see how everyone is getting information on everyone else, including potential spouses, and how religious ‘rules’ can exclude the likes of Anwar. And he also stumbles across the darker side of Kolkota and child trafficking. Mainly upbeat and boasting oodles of charisma, both Anwar and the film strike an occasional reflective tone, giving new depth.

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