70th London Film Festival Opens With 'Elsinore' and Andrew Scott — SkimNews
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- The 70th BFI London Film Festival opened Wednesday with the European premiere of 'Elsinore' at the Royal Festival Hall, where the audience wept during the credits and gave Andrew Scott a standing ovation when he took the stage.
- 'Elsinore,' directed by Simon Stone from a Simon Beresford screenplay, follows Ian Charleson — the 'Chariots of Fire' actor who in 1989 replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in 'Hamlet' at the National Theatre while dying of AIDS; Charleson died seven weeks after bowing out.
- Scott used his post-screening presentation to bring on stage the real-life individuals portrayed in the film alongside their actors, including Monica Dolan as longtime National Theatre doorkeeper Linda Tolhurst and Paul Chahidi as dresser Ralph Mills.
- Olivia Colman, playing pioneering HIV/AIDS consultant Dr. Margaret Johnson, received the loudest applause and a second standing ovation; Scott called her 'a true life hero' whose impact on AIDS treatment 'is difficult to underestimate.'
- Scott closed the evening by playing a song from 'The Ethel Merman Disco Album' performed in the film, telling the audience Charleson 'went out performing' and inviting them to dance as they left the auditorium.
- LFF head Kristy Matheson said the festival locked in 'Elsinore' as its opener after staff screenings over the summer, noting the poignancy of premiering the film meters from where Charleson gave his final National Theatre performance.
- The London Film Festival runs Oct. 7–18 and includes further screenings of 'Wild Horse Nine,' 'La Bola Negra,' 'Club Kid,' 'Ink,' 'Artificial,' 'Primetime,' and 'The Debut.'
Why it matters: Screening 'Elsinore' meters from where Ian Charleson last performed at the National Theatre turns an already buzzed awards-season hopeful into a literal one. The London premiere gives Scott, Stone, and Colman a high-visibility launchpad heading into awards season while spotlighting an AIDS-era story — and a pioneering HIV/AIDS consultant — that younger audiences have largely forgotten.
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