Want to see a punk Nicole Kidman, or the directorial debut of actor Andy Serkis – famous for this CGI-enhanced performances of characters such as Gollum and Caesar from Planet of the Apes?
The 2017 British Film Festival rolls into town this week. It plays at Palace Cinemas across the country from October 25 to November 15.
The ‘Kidman goes punk’ film is How to Talk to Girls at Parties, a science fiction romantic comedy based on a short story of the same name by Neil Gaiman. It has been described as an “outlandish extraterrestrial love story” and a “delirious sci-fi/punk-rock/queer musical.”
With Thor: Ragnarok (out this week) featuring another virtually unrecognisable performance from another great Australian actor, Cate Blanchett, maybe 2017 will be remembered as the year Kidman went punk and Blanchett went goth.
Breathe, the aforementioned drama directed by Andy Serkis, is the festival’s Opening Night film. It tells the true story of Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield) who was paralysed by polio at the age of 28 and given months to live, but persevered.
Other films that look interesting include Eric Clapton: Life in Twelve Bars, which features unprecedented access to the musician and his family, friends and collaborators.
There’s also The Death of Stalin, the new comedy from celebrated writer/director Armando Iannucci (best-known for TV shows Veep, I’m Alan Partridge and The Thick of It). This historical satire is based on a graphic novel, set in the USSR in the days after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.
The British Film Festival also includes retrospective screenings. There is Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece Blow-Up, and director Sidney Lumet’s 1974 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express (which should get you in the mood for the new version, coming to Australian cinemas November 9).
To see the full program, visit the website.
And let us all take a moment to appreciate how awesome Nicole Kidman looks.
