BFI London Film Festival 2013 – Day Three

This unintended strategy in combining press and public screenings seems to be paying dividends, as today I managed to catch two more fantastic films with an unexpected guest to brighten proceedings, and there was certainly much more of an atmosphere to this afternoons programme than sitting with miserly hacks groaning and moaning throughout transmission. Unfortunately I have had to dismiss Blue Is The Warmest Colour from the list as catching this would have negated seeing both these movies, given that its guaranteed distribution here at some point over the next six months I’ll catch it later. First up, All Is Lost;

Boy did this shiver me timbers, a turbulant companion piece to Gravity  now that I think about it, a near dialogue free testament to human resilience and endurance which soaks you in a gripping atmosphere from start to finish – Hitch would have loved it. Then something of a change of pace, my first ‘world’ cinema screening if you will of Koreeda’s fantastic Like Father, Like Son;

I’ll save details for my full review but this was a very funny and melodiously moving account of two boys switched at birth, and the reaction of their loving parents once the error is unearthed six years later. It was a pleasant surprise to welcome director Hirokazu Koreeda to the podium after the screening for a sadly short Q&A with Tony Rayns, but at least I’ve managed to slip in some talent spotting this year;

In other news, a big thank you to our Melbourne correspondent for sending me an unexpected treat in the guise of a copy of this, looking forward to finally beating that one off if em, you catch my drift. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have more nautical nastiness to watch and a metric fuckload of reviews to scribe….