Andrew Scott Opens 70th BFI London Film Festival With 'Elsinore'

Andrew Scott's "Elsinore" opened the 70th BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday night at the Royal Festival Hall. Director Simon Stone's portrait of Scottish actor Ian Charleson reduced much of the audience to tears before the credits had finished rolling — and drew a standing ovation once Scott reappeared on stage.

Written by Simon Beresford from a true story, the film reconstructs Charleson's final months. In 1989, while already weakened by complications from AIDS, the "Chariots of Fire" actor replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in "Hamlet" at the National Theatre after Day-Lewis walked off stage mid-performance, never to return to the production. Charleson earned rave reviews for the run. He died seven weeks after stepping down.

Scott — long known from "Fleabag" and "All of Us Strangers" — plays Charleson opposite Monica Dolan as National Theatre stage doorkeeper Linda Tolhurst, Paul Chahidi as long-serving dresser Ralph Mills, Matthew Beard as director and Charleson confidant Sean Mathias, and Olivia Colman as HIV/AIDS consultant Dr. Margaret Johnson.

What did Scott say from the stage?

Stone introduced his lead by calling him "the great Andrew Scott." After the screening, Scott returned to present the real-life people portrayed in the film, pairing each with the actor who plays them. The longest applause of the evening went to Dr. Johnson, brought on stage alongside Colman.

"It's difficult to underestimate the impact this person had on the development of treatment for people suffering with HIV and AIDS," Scott told the audience. "To our mind, she is a true life hero."

He closed by introducing a song from "The Ethel Merman Disco Album," heard in the film, and asking the house to remember Charleson's life rather than his death.

"We want you to be able to remember not just Ian's death, but how extraordinarily he lived with such flair and zest and warmth and charm and passion and talent," he said.

He invited the audience to dance on the way out. "He went out performing, so this one's for you, Ian. We love you."

Why did the venue matter?

The Royal Festival Hall sits metres from the National Theatre's South Bank home, where Charleson gave his final stage performance. LFF head Kristy Matheson said the geography gave the screening a charge she had not anticipated.

"It was one of those films where we walked out and we just had to really take a beat," Matheson said before the premiere. "We were really so sure of the film from the second it finished."

She added: "I think it's going to be such an incredible moment to screen that film literally a stone's throw away from the National Theatre. So it feels like we're going to bring this film home, and I'm just really excited and honored to do that."

"Elsinore" reaches London after premiering at Telluride and gathering the early awards-season attention that has made it one of the season's most-discussed British titles.

What else is on the lineup?

The London Film Festival runs Oct. 7-18. Other marquee screenings include "Wild Horse Nine," "La Bola Negra," "Club Kid," "Ink," "Artificial," "Primetime" and "The Debut." Screen Talks feature Danny Boyle, Cynthia Erivo, Sofia Coppola, Javier Bardem and John Malkovich.

With "Elsinore" opening the festival steps from the theatre Charleson last called a stage, the milestone edition stakes its opening night on a film built around a single question — how a city remembers its actors after they have gone.