Review: Kill Your Darlings

Will Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe – left) or Carr kill his darling?

 

Title:                          Kill Your Darlings

Certificate:               15

Director:                   John Krokidas

Major Players:         Daniel Radcliffe, Michael C Hall, Dane DeHaan

Out of five?              4.5

 

John Krokidas’ first feature has achieved early notoriety, thanks to the tabloids.  And, when you combine cinema’s most famous boy wizard with a story about poetry, passion (both gay and straight), obsession and murder, it’s hardly surprising.  But it’s a distraction from what is a very impressive debut.

The film focuses on the student years of what became the Beat Generation poets – Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William Burroughs (Ben Foster) and how a murder involving the object of Ginsberg’s affection provided the spark that brought them together.

The title belongs to William Faulkner, although the words are spoken by Ginsberg’s poetry lecturer, who explains this is what any aspiring writer must do to achieve their dreams.  In other words, shake off everything that is familiar and close to their heart because they will stand in the way of success as a writer.  And, although this is what Ginsberg does, the phrase rings horribly true in a more literal sense when the murder takes place.  It involves the capricious Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan) and his one-time lover David Kammerer (TV’s Dexter, Michael C Hall), who is still completely obsessed with him.

Through the eyes of Krokidas, student life in 1944 was about as racy as it gets.  Drugs, drink, sex, passion and betrayal – they’re all there in abundance and it’s far removed from the portrait of convention that we’re used to seeing.  It’s a heady mix and it makes for an absorbing, intense film that is probably one of the best I’ve seen this year.

The cast is uniformly superb.  Daniel Radcliffe was the original choice to play Ginsberg but had to pull out because of other commitments.  But he says he never forgot the role and, when that first version fell through, he was approached a second time to be in it and jumped at the chance.  It’s a performance worth waiting for.  He’s excellent as Ginsberg and is clearly a real talent.  Harry Potter is well and truly gone!  As Lucien Carr, Dane DeHaan is impossibly beautiful, in turn both irresistible and appallingly self-centred.  And Jack Huston has real screen presence as Jack Kerouac.  If this performance is anything to go by, the acting dynasty is safe in his hands.

First feature films don’t come much better than this.  Krokidas is one of a clutch of new talent – David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), J C Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost) – that have all made a big impression and show every sign of taking cinema into adventurous, new directions.  The Beat Directors, perhaps……?

Kill Your Darlings is released in the UK on 6 December.

London Rolls Out The Red Carpet

The calm before ….. Robert Redford goes solo in All Is Lost.

Over the past few weeks, the London Film Festival has been drip-feeding news about this year’s line-up – as they do every year.  First we heard about the Tom Hanks Gala Bookends – shorthand for the festival opener, Captain Phillips, and the movie that brings it to a close, Saving Mr Banks.  And then, as a bonus, we were told that Stephen Frears’ Philomena would be the American Express Gala screening.

Now, at last, the full roster is here.  And it’s an impressive schedule.  Over the 12 days of the festival – it runs from 9 – 20 October – they’ve packed in over 230 films.  Which, as last year, will mean more late-night screenings, as well as a new and non-Leicester Square central London venue, Cineworld in Haymarket.

This year’s films are split into eleven thematic strands, including Love, Family, Thrill and Sonic and, to boost these categories, they each have a Gala performance all of their own.  The competitive element of the festival comprises three sections – Official Competition, First Feature and Documentary.  Events such as Screen Talks will be announced closer to the 9^th, so we can only hope for an improvement over the past few years, when they’ve looked more than a little neglected.

A closer look at the screening schedule reveals some of what have become festival regulars this season, such as Nebraska, Palme D’Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity.  That’s no criticism – it’s just a fact.  There are also a couple of notable absentees: Dallas Buyers Club, with Matthew McConaughey and Scott Cooper’s Out Of The Furnace, with Christian Bale and Casey Affleck leading an alpha male cast.

So, which films get my cinematic juices flowing this time?  In alphabetical order:

12 Years A Slave  With Steve McQueen in the director’s chair, don’t expect any punches to be pulled on the subject.

All Is Lost  J C Chandor’s second feature is a world away from his first, Margin Call.  This time we have Robert Redford adrift at sea, without much dialogue for company and sailing straight into a storm.  Redford’s performance is already being tipped as an award winner.

Captain Phillips  Another sea-bound drama, but the unfortunate Tom Hanks has too much company in the shape of pirates.  It’s being shown as the gala opener, but will be released nationwide on 18 October if you can’t get a ticket.

Enough Said  James Gandolfini’s last work in front of the camera sees him, unsually, playing the romantic lead in a bittersweet comedy.  Julia Louis Dreyfus co-stars.

Inside Llewyn Davis  The Coen Brothers latest made a star of the hitherto unknown Oscar Isaac at Cannes in the story of a 60s folk singer.

Kill Your Darlings  John Krokidas’ Beat Generation drama is a strong contender in the First Feature competition.  Daniel Radcliffe is due to be in town for the premiere.  After his fans’ shenanigans in Venice, London has been warned.

Nebraska  Bruce Dern is the star turn in Alexander Payne’s latest.

Philomena  Judi Dench and Steve Coogan star in a moving true story of a mother’s hunt for her adopted son.  It’s based on a true story but director Stephen Frears has given it a wide streak of gently wry humour.

The Invisible Woman  Ralph Fiennes’ second movie as director and star sees him playing Charles Dickens and examines his relationship with the young actress Nelly Ternan.  This hasn’t done the festival circuit this year, only popping up at Telluride in the States, so it’s had less of a build-up than some of the other big hitters.

With over 230 films on show, this is very much personal pick and there were more than a few that didn’t quite make my final list.  One of which is Good Ol’ Freda.  No, not my biography – and less of the ol’ please!

For the full line-up, go to www.bfi.org.uk/lff.

Six Of the Best

Cate Blanchett’s performance in Blue Jasmine is already creating a buzz.

 

The cinema year 2013 is shaping up to be a good one.  We’ve had the usual flurry of award contenders in first few months, and the summer has been surprisingly good.  True, the regulation blockbusters were trotted out, like Man Of Steel and Pacific Rim, as well as the school holiday fodder, but tucked in between them have been some goodies: Michael Douglas in Behind The Candelabra, Michael Shannon in The Iceman, the charming Frances Ha and the inimitable Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.  There were also, of course, the inevitable out-of-season turkeys, like After Earth and The Lone Ranger.

But with summer almost at an end – once August Bank Holiday is out of the way, that’s pretty much it – do we have anything to look forward to in the autumn?  The answer is yes.  And here’s six must-sees to keep you going …

 

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

David Lowery’s elegy to the Texas hills stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as a latter day Bonnie And Clyde who are separated when he’s sent to jail.  But he promises to come back.

The film attracted plenty of attention at this year’s Sundance, winning the award for best cinematography and a nomination for the Grand Jury prize.  Lowery is shaping up to be a director to watch and the busy Affleck isn’t putting a foot wrong at the moment.

The Coops Review will have the full low-down in early September.

Opens on 6 September.

 

Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen’s latest is creating a stir, with Cate Blanchett’s name already being linked to the Best Actress Oscar.  She’s the Jasmine of the title who appears to have the perfect life but, let down by her husband, has to seek refuge with her less-than-affluent sister.

The cast also includes Alec Baldwin and Sally Hawkins.  Thankfully free of playing Galadriel, Blanchett can stretch her acting talents again – and Blue Jasmine looks like being just the start.

Opens on 27 September.

 

Captain Phillips

October is always a problematic for two reasons – half term and the London Film Festival – but the opener for this year’s LFF, Captain Phillips, gets its general release mid-month.  Directed by Paul Greengrass, this has Tom Hanks in the title role, held hostage when his ship is overrun by pirates.

I’ve never quite understood what’s so great about Hanks, but with Greengrass at the helm, we can expect a less than conventional approach to the subject.

Opens on 18 October.

 

Philomena

While his alter-ego, Alan Partridge, is still putting bums on seats around the country, Steve Coogan’s next-but-one film (he’s in What Maisie Knew at the end of the month) sees him in a straighter role.  Based on a true story, Philomena is about a woman’s search for the baby boy she had to give up for adoption in 1950s Ireland.  Judi Dench is in the title role, with Coogan as the journalist Martin Sixsmith, who helps her track down her first born.

On paper, director Stephen Frears’ drama sounds terribly serious but, if the trailer is anything to go by, it has a very nice line in understated humour.

Opens 1 November.

 

Kill Your Darlings

The headlines are already out there: Harry Potter in gay sex scene.  And, yes, there is a scene involving Daniel Radcliffe and another young man.  But there’s way more to John Krokidas’ drama than that. 

On the face of it, the story of how a murder brought the Beat generation poets together – Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg – doesn’t sound that promising.  But this has a quality cast, with Michael C Hall and the chameleon-like Ben Foster (also in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, but you’d hardly recognise him) as well as Radcliffe.  And it was another of the nominees for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

The Coops Review will be giving its verdict in early November.

Opens 8 November.

 

All Is Lost

We’re back at sea again.  J C Chandor’s second film, after his stunning debut, Margin Call, sets Robert Redford adrift in the Indian Ocean, where his problems are floating containers, a storm and sharks, instead of pirates.  He’s the only character, there’s precious little dialogue – and Cannes went potty for it back in May.  Redford is already being tipped for acting honours and Chandor is nothing if not bold in his choice of subject.

Opens 29 November.

 

It doesn’t get more varied than that!  As they say, other films are available, and there will be more than enough.  But, for me, these half dozen are well ahead of the field, all for different reasons.  Actually, there should have been seven.  I’d been hoping that Scott Cooper’s Out Of The Furnace (Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson – and that’s just for starters) would be released here soon after its US debut in early November.  Sadly, it’s scheduled for the end of January.

So we’ll have to wait.  In the meantime, I can start watching out for the movie most likely to – win awards, that is – in 2014.  I didn’t do too badly last October.  Some film about the Iran hostage crisis, I think …………..