Edinburgh International Film Festival: Cameron’s Favourites of 2019

Never Look Away

Never Look Away stood out on the programme. Not only for being nominated for an academy award for best cinematography, an accolade it deserved to win, but also because of its three-hour runtime. Thankfully, it flies by due to the engaging and heart-breaking nature of the story and brisk pacing of the film. Focusing (loosely) on the true-life story of a painter, the film surprises and features a host of great performances and stunning cinematography.

In my review I said: “fantastic, easily one of the best of the festival and quite possibly the year. The stunning performances and cinematography help along with a dramatic and completely heart-breaking tale of loss, love and art that is only slightly let down by the sheer eye-rolling coincidence of the tale. The film deserves all the praise and love it received and continues to receive as it releases around the world, go seek it out but please don’t let the three-hour runtime put you off.”

You can read the full review here.

Aniara

I saw Aniara in the first couple days of the festival its brilliance stuck with me for the entire duration. This Swedish sci-fi trip follows a group of passengers lost in space and plays like a cross between High Life and High Rise in that it focuses on both the singular human the overall mentality of a large group. It’s such a beautifully dark and interesting film and easily one of my favourites of the festival

In my review I said: “this chaotic look at what a lot of humans would do when they’re lost in space for what could be the rest of their life is utterly fascinating and completely stunning. Lifted even further with its great lead performance this Swedish-language sci-fi is definitely one of the biggest and best surprises of the festival”.

Check out the full review here.

Skin (2019)

I’ve yet to review Skin, this should be coming within the next couple of days so keep an eye out, but I really enjoyed up. The final spot on my list was a bit of a toss up between this and Boyz in the Wood but I settled on this because of the sheer brutality, gruesomeness and the amount of balls it shows in filmmaking. In some ways it could be considered run of the mill but, I felt the redemption story that follows a neo nazi trying to break away from his psychotic family is brilliant.

I’ve yet to review Skin when writing this list, this should be coming tomorrow, but I really enjoyed it if you can even say that when you consider the subject matter. The final spot on my list was a bit of a toss up between this and Boyz in the Wood but I settled on this because of the sheer brutality, gruesomeness and the amount of balls it shows in filmmaking. In some ways it could be considered run of the mill but, I felt the redemption story that follows a neo nazi trying to break away from his psychotic family is brilliant.

In my review I said: “the film is a truly wild ride with a redemption arc that will make you question the cancel culture of today’s society but also where you draw the line on where people should be forgiven. The man teeters on the edge for me it is difficult to say all is forgiven which makes the film quite controversial for humanising him. Jamie Bell is brilliant and transformative. Plus, cannot deny that the film is “raw” and feels true to life.”

You can read my review here.

Even though the festival is over there are more reviews on the way!

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