London Film Festival 2012: Sightseers

Directed by: Ben Wheatley

Verdict: Quite simply brilliant. One of the most unique films I’ve seen for a long while and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. Alice Lowe and Steve Oram are devastatingly brilliant as creepy, loved-up murderous couple Chris and Tina. The one liners are epic, made all the better by perfect deadpan delivery. The best murder-comedy I've seen for awhile...

This dark comedy (definitely heavy on the dark side) is written by its two stars Lowe and Oram, which lends to the authentically British feel of the film, masterfully directed by Kill List director Ben Wheatley.

Chris takes girlfriend Tina to see his beloved English midlands, and before you know it the pair begins a trail of violent death and destruction – from Pencil Museum at Keswick to the Crich Tramway Museum. Beginning with a collision with a rude litterlout in their campervan (“He’s ruined the Tram Museum for me now.”), the odd couple are soon exhibiting all the signs of being Little England’s answer to Bonnie and Clyde as they soon develop a taste for murder.

For a comedy, this is pretty gory in places, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who has a weak stomach or a particularly strong loathing of camping – but everyone else should definitely see this movie. Two murderers roaming the English countryside doesn’t sound overly funny on paper, but it’s all in the delivery. Oram and Lowe are hilarious throughout, and with lines like “he’s not a person, he’s a Daily Mail reader” what’s not to love?

At the London Film Festival’s Laugh Gala, where the film premiered, Wheatley described Sightseers as “a rom-com about two people who go on a caravanning holiday, fall in love and occasionally murder people”, while Lowe admitted the film’s gruesome subject matter was inspired by the cast’s reminiscences of real-life family holidays. Strange as this premise may seem, it’s brought to life by stunning performances and deadpan delivery at its finest.     

London Film Festival 2012: With You, Without You (Oba Nathuwa, Oba Ekka)

Directed by: Prasanna Vithanage

Verdict: Adapting Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed 1876 short story ‘The Gentle One’ into a film set in war-torn present-day Sri Lanka doesn’t exactly sound like an easy task. Prasanna Vithanage’s screenplay and direction however, seem effortless in transporting the universal themes of love, betrayal and desperation to the other side of the world. Vithanage is undoubtedly the small island’s premier filmmaker, and this moving film showcases his talents beautifully.

Sarathsiri (Shyam Fernando) is a pawn broker who presents a cold and unsympathetic front to his poverty-stricken customers. That is, until the beautiful Selvi (masterfully played by Anjali Patil) becomes a regular customer. He follows her to her modest home and soon learns that she is betrothed to an ‘old fart’. He takes his chance, awkwardly proposes marriage and the couple are soon wed, knowing barely anything about each other. But Sarathsiri’s terrible secret is revealed one day with the visit of an old army friend. The secret will have a profound effect not only on the marriage, but on Selvi’s life.

The film is visually stunning, with production designer Rob Nevis making deft use of the dewy and untouched Sri Lankan landscape. Vithanage’s heart-warming yet gut-wrenching script flows naturally on screen and is complemented perfectly by haunting performances from the small cast and beautiful cinematography.

The civil war in Sri Lanka was a horrifying time for the island nation, but Vithanage’s work promises a certain hope to the country; this is Sri Lankan cinema at its finest and will hopefully inspire a generation of young filmmakers to follow in Vithanage’s pioneering footsteps.