Capital Celluloid 2018 - Day 275: Fri Oct 12

No1: Ash is Purest White (Zhangke, 2018): Curzon Mayfair, 5.30pm

62nd LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (10th-21st October 2018) DAY 3

Every day (from October 10th to October 21st) I will be selecting the London Film Festival choices you have a chance to get tickets for and the movies you are unlikely to see in London very soon unless you go to see them at the Festival. Here is the LFF's main website for the general information you need. Don't worry if some of the recommended films are sold out by the time you read this as there are always some tickets on offer which go on sale 30 minutes before each screening. Here is all the information you need about the best way to get tickets.

Ash is Purest White also screens at ICA Cinema on October 13th. Full details here.

London Film Festival preview:

Qiao (Zhao Tao) is the humble yet sassy moll to the swaggering but fair Bin (Liao Fan), a handsome gangster in a depressed mining town. When Bin’s ballroom dancing-obsessed boss is bumped off, Bin moves up, becoming leader of the ‘Jianghu’, a brotherhood of honourable criminals. But times have changed and honour is out of fashion, so when Bin is attacked by members of a new generation of wannabe mobsters, Qiao makes a decision that will have a seismic impact upon their lives. Ambitious and inventive, Ash Is Purest White is sprinkled with pop references and even some cosmic moments. Director Jia Zhang-ke continues to surprise with his perceptive chronicles of Chinese society, aided here by a magnificent performance from Zhao Tao as the woman who cannot be stopped.

Kate Taylor

Here (and above) is a clip.

BOTH SCREENINGS OF THIS FILM ARE CURRENTLY SOLD OUT SO HERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE OFFERING IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO SEE THE NO1 CHOICE.

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No2: Surprise Treasure (??????): BFI Southbank, 4.30pm

The clues are there for this 'Surprise' movie at the festival. I recall seeing this screened (also as a surprise as it was then out of circulation owing to rights' issues) after a Q&A with the director conducted by former festival head, Sandra Hebron. It's a superb film and not to be missed.

Here's the LFF introduction:

Long ago and far away a young director made a 43-minute biopic that would soon become known as one of the world’s great cult movies – a dazzling, postmodern joy, decades ahead of its time. The only problem was, it was suddenly withdrawn from circulation only to resurface much later in dodgy, 27th-generation online copies. This is the film that dare not speak its name, but this is a rare and free opportunity to see it reborn in this wonderful new restoration from the UCLA Film and Television Archive. We will also screen Todd Haynes’ short Dottie Gets Spanked. We’re delighted that the screening will be introduced by Christine Vachon, producer of Dottie Gets Spanked, Carol and Special Presentation Colette.