The 5th Annual British Film Festival (2002)

The British Film Festival may one day be able to rival some of the bigger names and more prestigious festivals

Standing in its overly chic building, the trendy mod design and all too familiar Barnes and Noble feel began slowly creeping through my body. Complete with coffee shop and overpriced bindings of literature and gloss, QB World Books in Indonesia is a far cry from its more desolate locale. It was like standing in the Stockton Barnes and Nobles, which I had been just a year ago. Strangely enough, with thousands of miles in between, one glaring aspect stood out in my mind; I couldn't afford a single thing in the building. With the exception of a cup of coffee, I made my usual browsing and proceeded to leave empty-handed. By now I'm sure the employees have my picture under the text "never buys anything" stapled to their work desks. On the way out, I was greeted with their glaring eyes and a small brochure to which I caught the words "Film Festival". With my sleight of hand, I whisked away a copy and promptly made my exit. 

The 5th Annual British Film Festival had kicked off in Jakarta and even though I never knew of a 4th, 3rd, 2nd or 1st, I had decided that I would make my presence felt at the 2002 version. Having not read the brochure properly, both my brother and I failed to purchase tickets before hand and instead had to try our luck at the box office. Unlike more prestigious North American or European film festivals, there were no celebrities, pageantry or celebration. In fact, they didn't even have their own venue, having to share with the largest cinema chain here. I would have even settled for the Sundance Film Festival treatment. Nevertheless, perusing through this year's selected movies, we highlighted two that appealed to us most. The two having been the Oscar-nominated Sexy Beast starring Ben Kingsley and the less known comedy-drama Purely Belter.

While waiting in line at the box office for Sexy Beast we noticed that the line was rather short. We thought that this was a sure sign of definite seats in the cinema. Until of course, one of the badly designed t-shirt wearing organizers appeared before us and informed us that they only had twelve (a dozen, one less than thirteen) tickets left for this movie. With this announcement, our attention quickly turned to those in front of us as we quickly counted heads. With lady luck happening to pass through at the time, my brother and I were number eleven and twelve respectively. With a slight sigh of relief, we secured our tickets. While other film festivals are filled lavish food, we decided that the Colonel's humble chickenry would feed our hunger just fine.

Before they screened Sexy Beast they delighted us with short length films and so here are both of the day's screenings written and reviewed -

Day 1
To Have and to Hold (short film)
Slightly confused as to what was going on, what everyone thought was 'Sexy Beast' turned out to be this short film gem. Directed by John Hardwick, this short film portrays a man and woman driving through the backwoods. While their hands are clasped together, the car swerves off the road and crashes into the lining trees. When the woman awakes, she is horrified to find her friend dead in the passenger seat and her hand still firmly clasped in his. Truly a remarkable short piece as the next day or so has her trying to escape his cold dead grasp. Well shot, terrifically acted by Susanne Lothar, who manages to display the horror, fear, frustration, and desperation of this woman trapped. In thirteen minutes, this piece is able to capture some gruesome, harrowing emotions some full-length thrillers can't in an hour and a half.

Sexy Beast 
Having heard plenty of good reviews, this film was an obvious choice at this year's British Film Festival. It truly did not disappoint. To try to describe this film, it can be said that it is a mixture of Quentin Tarantino's finer moments with the best and bloodiest of Guy Ritchie. It tells the story of psychotic gangster Don Logan (played to perfection by Ben Kingsley) who recruits now retired Gal (the also brilliant Ray Winstone) for one final job. The fireworks fly between the raging lunatic that is Don Logan and the now more subdued Gal, the intensity in which Ben Kingsley portrays his character is outrageous and extreme. It truly defines this movie and no matter how good the rest of the cast is, Kingsley and his character steals this show. It's intense, crazy, clever and it has all that British wit and humor that makes us wonder why it wasn't Kingsley who gave the award-winning speech for best supporting actor. There is plenty of violence and enough cursing to fill trailer parks from Texas to Kentucky. Truly a remarkable, enjoyable and intense crime drama that is riveting, smart and dead sexy.

Day 2
Before catching the movies on day two we had ventured to their drive-thru portion of the festival. Hoping to see 80's inspired design, we were instead greeted by a gravel filled lot that had just had its grass cleared away. The projector was mounted on a wooden tower while the screen was hoisted upon a similar, but bigger structure. It's nice to know that all their sponsor money was being put to good use.

There was another short movie shown before Purely Belter but it was so terrible that the name itself escapes me. It was an animated mess of remarkably unfunny school kids at their class disco. The organizers also tried to be entertaining before the screening as they tried a pop quiz that was mostly met with dead silence. Did you know that it's difficult to name five James Bonds when you've got Kit Kat bars waiting in the wings and a studio audience staring you in the face? My brother managed to pull it off and win the chocolate; he did it while naming Roger Moore twice.

Purely Belter
This appealing look at life in Newcastle's football-hungry city was a nice surprise. Directed by Mark Herman, this story surrounds two young Geordie kids who try to raise a thousand pounds in order to purchase two season tickets to their favorite football club; Newcastle United. The two kids (played by Chris Beattie and Greg McLane) embark on their quest which has them pawning junk, coning people, stealing, lying, cheating and doing whatever they possibly can to secure the necessary funds. After a slow start, the movie picks up the pace as they both endure the harsh realities of their less than gifted lives and shortcomings. Its bittersweet humor and drama are well conceived and to those who are fans of Newcastle United, English football, life and humor will surely take to this movie. For American audiences, it may be little more difficult to understand and most of their eccentricities will fall upon deaf ears. There are some truly comedic lines and scenes that will captivate audiences the world over. My personal favorite being after the two kids have stolen Alan Shearer's car and are driving through the countryside. The character Sewell is sifting through Shearer's CD collected and lo and behold - "No Alan…not Celine friggin' Dion". I haven't seen an English comedy this enjoyable in years.

When our part in the festival was over, we realized that although there were many limitations, there was hope for the future. There aren't many opportunities for the community here to catch smaller independent films and festivals like these are currently the only option. Perhaps with a little better planning and structure, the British Film Festival may one day be able to rival some of the bigger names and more prestigious festivals, or at least that whole Sundance thing they do in Utah.