London Film Festival 2019 - day 3

No spoilers here

I took some time in the morning to write up my review of UNCUT GEMS over tea and toast. The cat joined me for moral support.

​"If you like watching people scream over each other until they’re hoarse for 2 hours and 10 minutes then this is the film for you." 

(Read my full review of Uncut Gems here)

​Then I headed back into town to see MARRIAGE STORY in which Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson get a divorce. Social media chat about this film centres around the emotional impact and Adam Driver's potential for best actor Oscar. The central argument scene is certainly something to behold and rivals any action movie shootout scene.
 
Perhaps people who have been divorced might find it more impactful than me, but it certainly had a point about things getting out of hand and becoming more overwhelming and costly than they ever needed to be.
 
On the way to my next film at the Southbank I happened upon the Extinction Rebellion camp at Trafalgar Square. I paused to take some pictures and it was a very powerful atmosphere indeed. People were chained into tall towers, chanting, holding banners - and discussion groups - in the road.
 
It's a peaceful protest but given that I knew nothing about how it had been organised or what was going on in different areas it was a bit intimidating and I left when a new batch of police officers marched in.

At BFI Southbank I saw PEANUT BUTTER FALCON. It was just such a strong message about granting disabled people their freedom and potential.
 
It stars Zack Gottsagen (an actor with Down Syndrome) who escapes the old people's home where he's being 'held' in search of a wrestling school. He meets Shia LeBeouf who is on the run from his past and they have a Huckleberry Finn style adventure down the river.
 
I do believe that we need to move forwards with disability in cinema and tell more stories about people with disabilities having complex dilemmas, doing things they know to be wrong, falling in love and generally not only being in feelgood films about acceptance.
 
But the reality is we’re not quite there yet and this is still an important story to tell. I was incredibly moved by the story, as was the rest of the audience. The song over the end credits summarises it well "I'm not as broken as some made me out to be."
 
Drying my eyes, I ran to meet some friends for one of the most delicious dinners I've ever tasted- Thai Malay food at Champor Champor. I’m not sure if it was just “London Prices” or if it was a particularly expensive place. But I parted with a wad of my Edinburgh Dollars and we went home to bed.