The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival kicked off in fine style last night, with the world premiere of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Anderson has an affinity with the LFF – his The Darjeeling Limited closed the Festival in 2007 – but it’s fair to say that his presence alone wouldn’t have ensured that Leicester Square was closed off and turned into a giant, circuitous red carpet, with the film’s premiere itself spilling out of the Odeon Leicester Square to fill a second venue, the Empire (no relation).
That was all down to the Clooney Factor, with Anderson’s silky-smooth star – who voices the title character in the stop-motion Roald Dahl adaptation – attracting hundreds of onlookers to the Square. Clooney gave plenty of time to the fans clustered around the red carpet, but didn’t stop to speak to the press, even – admirably – blanking the extremely annoying Rick Edwards from T4, who was hosting the evening. Good for you, sir.
Bill Murray and, bizarrely, Anderson took their cue from Clooney and decided not to talk to the press. Thank God, then, for Jason Schwartzman, who stopped and talked to Empire about the unusual working methods Anderson employed on the film. You’ll be able to see and hear the man himself when the videblogisode goes live tomorrow.
The stars and director aside, there was a great turnout for the LFF’s opening gala, which was extremely heartening. Thandie Newton, Edgar Wright, Sir Ben Kingsley, David Morrissey, Joe Cornish, Gurinder Chadha and John Hurt were all there to mark what’s becoming an increasingly important night on the global movie calendar.
And, with Clooney returning tonight for The Times gala screening of The Men Who Stare At Goats, the LFF is gradually becoming a festival that can be mentioned in the same breath as the other Big Ones: Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin and Sundance.