London Film Fest Hoopla: Cate Blanchett, The Witch, Female Directors
Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 8:32AM The BFI London Film Festival wrapped up yesterday and with festival wraps (well, the juried festivals) come awardage. The big news for our actressy purposes was of course Galadriel receiving her BFI fellowship from Gandalf. More hoopla after the jump...
Cate's Fellowship (i.e. lifetime achievement') followed a festival which featured both Truth and Carol and, as previously stated, in our pieces on those films, Dame Blanchett is just showing off now post-Blue Jasmine. Sir Ian McKellen fawned on her and spoke the truth.
As is Cate's 'just as good as Meryl at giving speeches' prerogative, she kept everyone enthralled and laughing during her acceptance speech including a funny aside to her husband who had once warned her that she had only a five year window as a film actress.
Fuck you, darling, I'm still here."
BEST FILM Chevalier, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. It's a story of six men on a boat trying to determine who is the "best" of them through a series of games. Since it comes out in Greece next month we have to spend the next 10 months wondering if it will be the Greek Oscar submission for 2016.
Pawel Pawlikowski, who recently won the Oscar for returning to his homeland for Ida after an acclaimed career in British film, presided over the competition jury. Judging was "intense" and on their winner he says...
Chevalier is a study of male antagonism seen though the eyes of a brave and original filmmaker. With great formal rigour and irresistible wit, Athina Rachel Tsangari has managed to make a film that is both a hilarious comedy and a deeply disturbing statement on the condition of western humanity”.
BEST FIRST FEATURE The Witch, directed by Robert Eggers). As you may recall this was a sensation at Sundance (hard ticket to get after its first screening) and I finally caught up with it at TIFF and was suitably wowed. Slow build, creepy earthy but otherworldly aura, and major payoff.
We all worship A24 because they've had such great taste as a distributor but I fail to understand why they chose to hold this one for more than a year before release. Don't hide the good stuff, show it! The first feature jury was presided by Desiree Akhavan and I've already enthused enough over her debut Appropriate Behavior so I hope you've sought it out by now.
BEST DOCUMENTARY Sherpa, directed by Jennifer Peedom, looks at the Sherpa community around Mount Everest.
BEST SHORT FILM An Old Dog's Diary, directed by Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel. This is a profile documentary about the artist Francis Newton Souza.
As you can see from the quick perusal of names, four of the five prizes went to women! That's quite a nice change of pace. And even the outlier is female-centric. Robert Eggers The Witch is about a puritan family but the women are really the focus of the film.
The BFI has also posted a short video of highlights though it's not embeddable for some reason so click here.
Reader Comments (11)
Cate is not only an actress in her own league, she's soooo funny during interviews and at giving acceptance speeches:) All hail the Queen!
So true metagame. I mean what other actress could get away with "That's Gross", "Julia #SuckIt" and "Okie Dokie Smokie". She really is a cut above the rest and while many are starting to fall for her now I have been a fan since the beginning. While I love other actresses above her she still is one of the greats and will continue to be whether it's in small released films or the occasional big blockbuster film.
People are saying she won't be nominatedfor either film.
Saw Chevalier at NYFF. So funny and biting. Very deserved award.
And yes it is such a great time to be a Cate fan. The work is as amazing as always, but the adoration coming her way from all corners warms the heart.
Seeing my last three (!!) films of the festival today. The biggest surprises for me were two strong Danish films (Gold Coast and Land of Mine). Sorry I missed Chevalier. I read the premise but I misjudged it--had I known it was a study of masculinity directed by a woman I would have been much more interested! Loved Room and The Witch. Disappointed in both Carol and Brooklyn (****ducks****). Pretty lucky overall with my 13 films (well 11, 2 more to go!)
MARK -- what people ? there's always a chance she'll be crowded out yes while competing with herself.
A24 is a terrible company when it comes to marketing and release. If Brie Larson fails to get a nomination it's gonna be their fault somehow. I cannot believe I have to wait for months to see The Witch thanks to their stupid decision making
sati - I completely agree. I rewatched A Most Violent Year this weekend and was thinking about how they completely botched the marketing on that film (the first NBR winner since Polanski's Macbeth to completely miss out at the Oscars). Chastain, at a minimum, should have been a given. I know they're the big, hip distributor now, but they fail a lot of their properties.
Jason Segal deserves to be a much bigger factor this year, too, rather than an also-ran.
Blanchett should be a double nominee this year for Cinderella and Carol.
After the dismal box office Truth will be forgotten and the nomination will be for Carol. As it should be.
@Eoin Daly, yes I've been a fan of Cate since Elizabeth, long before this site warmly embraced her as one great actress. It's also fitting that younger actresses today tend to cite her as their inspiration (like when actresses used to cite Katharine Hepburn/Bette Davis as their role model and then followed by Meryl Streep). Now it's Cate and how lucky we are to live in times like this, witnessing a living legend writing film history as we speak. As it is, Blue Jasmine is largely considered one of the best performances by a female actress by critics and audience alike.