Festivals >> London >> 2009 >> Film On The Square

44 Inch Chest (Country: UK; Director: Malcolm Venville; Writer: Louis Mellis, David Scinto; Cast: John Hurt, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Tom Wilkinson, Joanne Whalley, Dave Legeno, Stephen Dillane, Steven Berkoff, Melvil Poupaud)
A jealous husband and friends kidnap his wife’s young lover, seeking retribution for his wounded ego. Full Review See: Q&A with Ray Winstone, John Hurt and David Scinto about 44 Inch Chest Official Site, View Trailer

About Elly (Darbareye Elly) (Country: Iran; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti, Marila Zare'i, Rana Azadvar, Shahab Hosseini, Saber Abbar)
Friends try to matchmake for a divorcee until a disappearance leads to panic. Full Review See: Tribeca Film Festival Movie Reviews/Diary 2009, Tribeca Film Festival Diary and Film/Movie reviews: Departures, The Eclipse, Timer, Fish Child

Adrift (A Deriva) (Country: Brazil; Director: Heitor Dhalia; Cast: Vincent Cassel, Camilla Belle, Laura Neiva)
Coming-of-age tale about a young girl living on the Brazilian coast.

Air Doll (Kûki ningyô) (Country: Japan; Director: Hirokazu Koreeda; Writer: Yoshiie Goda, Hirokazu Koreeda; Cast: 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 lifesize blow-up sex doll evelops human feelings.

Astro Boy (Country: US, Hong Kong, Japan; Director: David Bowers; Writer: Timothy Harris, David Bowers, based on the comic series by Osamu Tezuka; Cast: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kirsten Bell, David Bowers, Bill Nighy)
Science-fiction, CGI animation tracing the adventures of a young robot with super powers. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (Country: US; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: William M Finkelstein, Victor Argo, Paul Calderon, Abel Ferrara, Zoë Lund; Cast: 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. Full Review

Balibo (The Balibo Conspiracy) (Country: Australia; Director: Robert Connolly; Writer: Robert Connolly, David Williamson; Cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Nathan Phillips, Gyton Grantley, Damon Gameau, Tom Wright, Paul Sonkkila, Mark Leonard Winter, Mark Winter)
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. Full Review Official Site

Bellamy (Country: France; Director: Claude Chabrol; Writer: Odile Barski, Claude Chabrol; Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Clovis Cornillac, Vahina Giocante, Jacques Gamblin, Marie Bunel, Yves Verhoeven, Adrienne Pauly, Rodolphe Pauly, Marie Matheron)
Trouble brews for a holidaying police commissioner. Full Review

Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue) (Country: France; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Charles Perrault, Catherine Breillat; Cast: 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; Director: Paul King; Writer: Paul King; Cast: Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Verónica Echegui, Noel Fielding, Richard Ayoade, Julian Barratt, George Newton, Madeleine Worrall, Waleed Khalid, Margaret Wheldon)
A road movie set entirely in a flat... but then what do you expect from a film featuring The Mighty Boosh's Simon Farnaby? Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Cold Souls (Country: US; Director: Sophie Barthes; Writer: Sophie Barthes; Cast: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson)
In the midst of an existential crisis, a famous American actor explores soul extraction as a relief from the burdens of daily life. Full Review See: Sundance Diary: Cold Souls, When You're Strange, Victoria Day, 500 Days Of Summer, Sophie Barthes interview about Cold Souls Official Site, View Trailer

Cracks (Country: UK, Ireland; Director: Jordan Scott; Writer: Ben Court and Caroline Ip, based on the book by Sheila Kohler.; Cast: 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)
Tale of misguided love and obssession in an isolated girls' school in the Thirties. Full Review View Trailer

La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (La danse - Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris) (Country: US; Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Documentary steps behind the scenes of one of France's cultural institutions. Full Review

Eccentricities Of A Blonde-Haired Girl (Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura) (Country: Portugal, Spain, France; Director: Manoel de Oliveira; Writer: Eça de Queirós, Manoel de Oliveira; Cast: 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; Director: Gaspar Noé; Writer: Gaspar Noé; Cast: 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. Full Review

Extract (Country: US; Director: Mike Judge; Writer: Mike Judge; Cast: 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; Director: Julian Fellowes; Writer: Julian Fellowes, based on the stories by Lucy M Boston; Cast: 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. Full Review

Glorious 39 (Country: UK; Director: Stephen Poliakoff; Writer: Stephen Poliakoff; Cast: 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; Director: Steven Soderbergh; Writer: Scott Z Burns, based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald; Cast: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey, Joel McHale)
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. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Lebanon (Levanone) (Country: Israel; Director: Samuel Maoz; Writer: Samuel Maoz; Cast: Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Reymond Amsalem, Itay Tiran, Yoav Donat, Dudua Tasas)
The 1982 invasion of Lebanon from the perspective of a tank and its occupants. Full Review View Trailer

Life During Wartime (Country: US; Director: Todd Solondz; Writer: Todd Solondz; Cast: 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; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Cast: 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)
A mysterious man shares coffee and conversation with people, writing down details on matchbook flaps. But what are his motives? Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival report and reviews: Hadewijch, The Limits Of Control View Trailer

The Milk Of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) (Country: Spain, Peru; Director: Claudia Llosa; Writer: Claudia Llosa; Cast: 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. Full Review See: Claudia Llosa interview about The Milk Of Sorrow

Mother (Madeo) (Country: South Korea; Director: Bong Joon-Ho; Writer: Park Eun-kyo, Bong Joon-Ho; Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Gu)
A mother tries to prove her son's innocence. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Four Diary - Get Low, The Scouting Book For Boys and Mother

No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) (Country: Iran; Director: Bahman Ghobadi; Writer: Bahman Ghobadi, Hossein Mortezaeiyan, Roxana Saberi; Cast: Hamed Behdad, Ashkan Koohzad, Negar Shaghaghi)
Fiction meets documentary in this story of underground musicians in Tehran. Full Review

Paper Heart (Country: US; Director: Nicholas Jasenovec; Writer: Nicholas Jasenovec, ; Cast: 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; Director: Lee Daniels; Writer: Lee Daniels; Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz)
The redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice. Full Review See: Sundance Diary: Opening Night and Day One Official Site

Samson And Delilah (Country: Australia; Director: Warwick Thornton; Writer: Warwick Thornton; Cast: Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Scott Thornton)
Winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes, sees an Aboriginal couple drawn together after tragedy strikes. Full Review Official Site

A Single Man (Country: US; Director: Tom Ford; Writer: Tom Ford, Christopher Isherwood, David Scearce; Cast: 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)
A middle-aged college professor tries to come to terms with the death of his long-term boyfriend. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Taking Woodstock (Country: US; Director: Ang Lee; Writer: James Schamus, Elliot Tiber, Tom Monte; Cast: 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)
The story of the youngster who set the wheels in motion for the iconic music festival. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Tales From The Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur) (Country: Romania, France; Director: Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru; Writer: Cristian Mungiu; Cast: 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)
Life in Romania under Ceaucescu is explored in this portmanteau of urban myths. Full Review Official Site

Tell Me Who You Are (Min Ye) (Country: Mali, France; Director: Souleymane Cissé)
The struggles of an adultrous middle-class African marriage.

The Time That Remains (Country: UK, Italy, Belgium, France; Director: Elia Suleiman; Writer: Elia Suleiman; Cast: 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; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Daniela Ceselli; Cast: 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)
Melodrama considering the life of the mother of Mussolini's love child. Full Review

We Live In Public (Country: US; Director: Ondi Timoner; Cast: Josh Harris)
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. Official Site

When You're Strange (Country: US; Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo)
The first feature documentary about The Doors enters the dark and dangerous world of one of America’s most influential bands using only footage shot between 1966 and 1971. Full Review See: Sundance Diary: Cold Souls, When You're Strange, Victoria Day, 500 Days Of Summer

Box office and information