London Film Festival!!!

The London Film Festival is taking place right now. Yesterday, I went to watch the film The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke who also directed Funny Games starring Naomi Watts. Tonight, I went to watch Chloe directed by Atom Egoyan starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried.



I chose to watch The White Ribbon, an Austrian-Germany film that tells the stories of these villagers living in Germany before WWI, because it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. I'm a sucker for films shown at the Cannes. Sadly, the film was a letdown. For the most part, I enjoyed the black and white film, the storyline, some of the cast, and the narration. But, I had a problem with Haneke's way of telling his story--by leaving too much space for imagination. At the end of the film, you are abandoned with numerous loose ends, inconclusive plot lines that you are dying to tie up. Soon after the film, I wrote my film professor an email about my thoughts on The White Ribbon. She said, quoting Andy Warhol, that Haneke's films are "better talked about than seen."

Outside the venue. What's more appropriate than a white ribbon tied up on the sign of the theatre?

Q&A session with the director after the film. It was quite enlightening.

The second film I saw was Chloe which is about Catherine (Moore) hiring a prostitute (Seyfried) to test her husband's (Neeson) fidelity. The film is intense and suspenseful leaving me disturbed. I thoroughly enjoyed, from beginning to the end, the film's storyline, acting, cinematography, and soundtrack. I thought the casting of Neeson was a bit questionable though; there was little chemistry between Moore and Neeson. Moore and Seyfried gave powerful performances that supported one another.

(Sorry! I'm not able to find any videos about the film yet.)

The best part of the night was that I got to see Julianne Moore up close as she walked down the red carpet. She was so beautiful and graceful; she, in a long dress, flowed down the red carpet into a crowd of photographers. I've never seen so many flashes!

This was when she stood in front of the photographers for photos. The blonde is blocking her. :(

Atom Egoyan, Julianne Moore, Amy Seyfried, producer, Time Out Magazine staff