I have looked over the list of the 20 films that I saw, and here are my top 5, in no particular order.
Starbuck (Canada/Quebec)
Terraferma (Italy)
I Wish ( Japan)
The Lady (UK/France)
The First Man (France)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
TIFF, Sunday, Sept 18
The last day of the festival. There were numerous travel glitches that could have kept people away from the downtown. The DVP was closed. The subway was closed from Bloor to Eglinton with shuttle buses. Even so, the subway does not start till 9 am on Sunday. But still the theatre at 9.00 am was full.
The film was Terraferma, from Italy. It is set in an island off the southern coast of Italy, and centres on a fishing family, as they face the future of declining fisheries, the economy slowly turning to tourism, and the seas around the island full of African refugees on flimsy boats or even swimming to shore. One night fishing, they find a number of Ethiopian refugees on a raft, and some try to swim to board their ship. They take them onboard, even though it is against Italian law. Among the passengers is a pregnant woman with her son. They give them shelter in their home, where the Ethiopian woman gives birth. The family, although torn about it, continues to give her sanctuary and they try to find a way to get her to her husband who is working in Turin. The film is at once charming and thought provoking. I highly recommend it.
One of the programmes at this festival was City to City, and this year the focus city was Buenos Aires, Argentina. I chose a film The Stones from this programme. A mistake. About 15 minutes into it, I realized I had made a mistake, and I relaxed after that. No plot, virtually little dialogue. The only saving grace was that it was filmed in a canal area of Buenos Aires. It was like a student film. C
My final film was Rampart, the only American film I saw in this festival. Generally, I don't choose them because they are bound to open commercially in the next few months. I chose this one to fill in the day. And that is about all it did.
It had a good cast...Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon. It was about a rogue cop in the LA Police Department. At first we see him as kind of a quirky individualist trying to keep his job in a public institution. But eventually, there is little respect for him, and the whole film is empty.
I could have stayed for the free showing of the winner of the People's Choice Award. This is the result of voting by audiences throughout the festival. Last year's winner was The King's Speech which went on to win the Academy Award. This year the People's Choice Award went to Where Do We Go Now? from Lebanon which I saw on Saturday. It is interesting that a small budget foreign language film won.
The film was Terraferma, from Italy. It is set in an island off the southern coast of Italy, and centres on a fishing family, as they face the future of declining fisheries, the economy slowly turning to tourism, and the seas around the island full of African refugees on flimsy boats or even swimming to shore. One night fishing, they find a number of Ethiopian refugees on a raft, and some try to swim to board their ship. They take them onboard, even though it is against Italian law. Among the passengers is a pregnant woman with her son. They give them shelter in their home, where the Ethiopian woman gives birth. The family, although torn about it, continues to give her sanctuary and they try to find a way to get her to her husband who is working in Turin. The film is at once charming and thought provoking. I highly recommend it.
One of the programmes at this festival was City to City, and this year the focus city was Buenos Aires, Argentina. I chose a film The Stones from this programme. A mistake. About 15 minutes into it, I realized I had made a mistake, and I relaxed after that. No plot, virtually little dialogue. The only saving grace was that it was filmed in a canal area of Buenos Aires. It was like a student film. C
My final film was Rampart, the only American film I saw in this festival. Generally, I don't choose them because they are bound to open commercially in the next few months. I chose this one to fill in the day. And that is about all it did.
It had a good cast...Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon. It was about a rogue cop in the LA Police Department. At first we see him as kind of a quirky individualist trying to keep his job in a public institution. But eventually, there is little respect for him, and the whole film is empty.
I could have stayed for the free showing of the winner of the People's Choice Award. This is the result of voting by audiences throughout the festival. Last year's winner was The King's Speech which went on to win the Academy Award. This year the People's Choice Award went to Where Do We Go Now? from Lebanon which I saw on Saturday. It is interesting that a small budget foreign language film won.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
TIFF, Saturday, Sept 17
The second last day of the Film Festival, and I started again at 9 am down at the Bell Lightbox, which, since last year, has been the headquarters of TIFF. There are 5 theatres there showing films all through the year.
The first one at 9 was Where Do We Go Now?, from Lebanon. It begins with a haunting funeral procession for a young man killed in the civil war between Christians and Muslims. The village they are from has both Muslims and Christians. The women seem to be able to get along, even the priest and the iman have a good relationship, but the men are constantly bickering. Fights keep breaking out in the bars and cafes. The women pool their money and import 5 Russian strippers to take the men's attention off conflict. Meanwhile, the women secretly dig up all the weapon caches, and hide them. Then the final trick....each woman takes on the dress and customs of the opposite group, so the men wake up to a situation they can't control. It is light hearted on a serious topic, but it works well as a commentary on sectarian conflicts.
Then I went off to the Scotiabank Theatres for 11 Flowers from China. It is set in the last year of the cultural revolution, and focuses on the life of a young boy. We see his family life and his school life. By his family's sacrifice, he gets a new white shirt, so that he can lead his classmates in calisthenics every morning. One day, he and his friends are by the river side, and his new shirt falls in the river. While trying to dry it, a bloodied man comes by and steals it. When he follows the man, he discovers that the man is a killer on the run from the police. The boy is vowed to secrecy and has to return to his mother and admit he lost the shirt. As we learn more about the killer, and his alleged crime, we realize that it was because of an injustice done to his family. The film seems to be memoir, and is an interesting insightful look into the years of the Cultural Revolution, which now seem so far away.
The third film was The Good Son from Finland. It is a story of an actress and her two sons, who head off to a summer cottage to escape publicity. Other friends, including a man who becomes the actress' lover arrive to spend some time. The older son, about 16, is devoted to his mother, and tries to do everything to keep her happy. The problem is that the mother has some anger issues, which the boy has inherited. The movie has the overtones of a Greek tragedy, and is a good character piece. It is clear from the beginning that things are not heading in a good direction, and eventually, the strength of the family is destroyed
The first one at 9 was Where Do We Go Now?, from Lebanon. It begins with a haunting funeral procession for a young man killed in the civil war between Christians and Muslims. The village they are from has both Muslims and Christians. The women seem to be able to get along, even the priest and the iman have a good relationship, but the men are constantly bickering. Fights keep breaking out in the bars and cafes. The women pool their money and import 5 Russian strippers to take the men's attention off conflict. Meanwhile, the women secretly dig up all the weapon caches, and hide them. Then the final trick....each woman takes on the dress and customs of the opposite group, so the men wake up to a situation they can't control. It is light hearted on a serious topic, but it works well as a commentary on sectarian conflicts.
Then I went off to the Scotiabank Theatres for 11 Flowers from China. It is set in the last year of the cultural revolution, and focuses on the life of a young boy. We see his family life and his school life. By his family's sacrifice, he gets a new white shirt, so that he can lead his classmates in calisthenics every morning. One day, he and his friends are by the river side, and his new shirt falls in the river. While trying to dry it, a bloodied man comes by and steals it. When he follows the man, he discovers that the man is a killer on the run from the police. The boy is vowed to secrecy and has to return to his mother and admit he lost the shirt. As we learn more about the killer, and his alleged crime, we realize that it was because of an injustice done to his family. The film seems to be memoir, and is an interesting insightful look into the years of the Cultural Revolution, which now seem so far away.
The third film was The Good Son from Finland. It is a story of an actress and her two sons, who head off to a summer cottage to escape publicity. Other friends, including a man who becomes the actress' lover arrive to spend some time. The older son, about 16, is devoted to his mother, and tries to do everything to keep her happy. The problem is that the mother has some anger issues, which the boy has inherited. The movie has the overtones of a Greek tragedy, and is a good character piece. It is clear from the beginning that things are not heading in a good direction, and eventually, the strength of the family is destroyed
Friday, September 16, 2011
TIFF, Friday, September 16
Today, I had one of my rare 9.00 am starts at the festival. I got down to the Tiff Bell Lightbox, muffin in hand, to join 300 other eager festival goers.
Why were we there? To see a film about based on a recently discovered unfinished novel by Albert Camus called The First Man. I was afraid it might be hard to stay awake, but it was a good movie. It is It is about a French writer who returns to his native Algeria, during the beginning of the rebellion there, to visit his mother and speak at the university. In flashbacks, we see excerpts of his growing up, which showed how life used to be for the French settlers there. The film is well done and very powerful in parts.
The second film of the day was Las Acacias from Argentina. Another basic road journey movie, this time about a truck driver who drives a load of acacia lumber from Paraguay to Buenos Aires. With him is a woman passenger with her 5 month old daughter. It is a slow moving film with not too much dialogue, as we see the development of the relationship between the driver and his two passengers. A slow, but beautiful film. It won the Camera d'Or prize at Cannes this year, which is given for best first feature.
Why were we there? To see a film about based on a recently discovered unfinished novel by Albert Camus called The First Man. I was afraid it might be hard to stay awake, but it was a good movie. It is It is about a French writer who returns to his native Algeria, during the beginning of the rebellion there, to visit his mother and speak at the university. In flashbacks, we see excerpts of his growing up, which showed how life used to be for the French settlers there. The film is well done and very powerful in parts.
The second film of the day was Las Acacias from Argentina. Another basic road journey movie, this time about a truck driver who drives a load of acacia lumber from Paraguay to Buenos Aires. With him is a woman passenger with her 5 month old daughter. It is a slow moving film with not too much dialogue, as we see the development of the relationship between the driver and his two passengers. A slow, but beautiful film. It won the Camera d'Or prize at Cannes this year, which is given for best first feature.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
TIFF, Thursday, Sept 15
The weather has cooled off here, but it is still sunny with blue skies. I got to two movies today, each very different from the other.
The first was Warriors of the Rainbow : Seediq Bale from Taiwan. It deals with the time in the 1930's and 40's when Taiwan (aka Formosa) was under the control of the Japanese. The Seediq Bale are the aboriginal ( ie non Chinese) inhabitants of the highlands of the island. The movie is an explanation of the customs of the S Bale , and an account of the revolts by the clans against the Japanese occupation. It is done as a heroic epic, with a cast of thousands, great battle scenes, noble heroes leading the forces, swelling violins, and the use of the folk music of the S Bale. It is an interesting look into a little known part of history, but the movie runs way too long at 2 hrs 30 minutes. A lot of that time, we are looking at the battles, with many explosions, lots of beheadings, suicide hangings by the women and children, and so on. It is often a bit much to take, and, although it might be impressive technically, it sometimes just becomes a blur. Hopefully, they can cut it down to a manageable size for international distribution.
The second movie today was really great. Starbuck is a fun upbeat comedy from Quebec. The main character, who works in his family's butcher shop in Montreal, is usually in need of money. One of his sources of money over the years, has been to donate his sperm to a local sperm bank, where he was known as Starbuck, ( apparently after a famous bull, not the coffee chain). He is informed by a lawyer that he has fathered 533 children, and there is a group of over a hundred of his offspring who are trying to get his identity revealed. The rest of the film deals with the conflict of whether he should reveal himself, and, at the same time, he is secretly checking out some of the group to see what kind of people they are. It is a fun comedy about family, responsibility, and the challenges life sends us. This one has been very successful at the festival, and should be back soon.
The first was Warriors of the Rainbow : Seediq Bale from Taiwan. It deals with the time in the 1930's and 40's when Taiwan (aka Formosa) was under the control of the Japanese. The Seediq Bale are the aboriginal ( ie non Chinese) inhabitants of the highlands of the island. The movie is an explanation of the customs of the S Bale , and an account of the revolts by the clans against the Japanese occupation. It is done as a heroic epic, with a cast of thousands, great battle scenes, noble heroes leading the forces, swelling violins, and the use of the folk music of the S Bale. It is an interesting look into a little known part of history, but the movie runs way too long at 2 hrs 30 minutes. A lot of that time, we are looking at the battles, with many explosions, lots of beheadings, suicide hangings by the women and children, and so on. It is often a bit much to take, and, although it might be impressive technically, it sometimes just becomes a blur. Hopefully, they can cut it down to a manageable size for international distribution.
The second movie today was really great. Starbuck is a fun upbeat comedy from Quebec. The main character, who works in his family's butcher shop in Montreal, is usually in need of money. One of his sources of money over the years, has been to donate his sperm to a local sperm bank, where he was known as Starbuck, ( apparently after a famous bull, not the coffee chain). He is informed by a lawyer that he has fathered 533 children, and there is a group of over a hundred of his offspring who are trying to get his identity revealed. The rest of the film deals with the conflict of whether he should reveal himself, and, at the same time, he is secretly checking out some of the group to see what kind of people they are. It is a fun comedy about family, responsibility, and the challenges life sends us. This one has been very successful at the festival, and should be back soon.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
TIFF Wednesday, Sept 14
I got a bit busy today with other things, so only went to one film.
Americano is directed by Mathieu Demy, who is the son of noted French directors Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy. The cast includes Demy, Geraldine Chaplin, Chiara Mastrioianni, and Salma Hayek. Demy uses some clips from one of his mother's movies as a jumping off point, and developed a script about a French man who goes to Los Angeles, where his mother has lived and died, in order to close out her estate. Very promising, and although it had some potential as a 'journey' film, it fell short of good.
The main character meets some of the people he had known when he lived in LA with his mother, but is haunted by the name Lola, who was a childhood friend of his. He eventually finds a note where his mother leaves her LA condo ( in a very modest neighbourhood, btw) to Lola. Mathieu tries to find out where Lola has gone, and is led to a seedy side of Tijuana, where he is introduced to Lola, a stripper and prostitute. The journey into Tijuana is hell for Mathieu and he eventually is left, beat up and without passport and money. Eventually, he is led out of this hell and his own personal hell.
It tends to be a bit overwrought, with too many coincidences and plot details that don't make sense. Unsatisfying, to say the least.
Americano is directed by Mathieu Demy, who is the son of noted French directors Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy. The cast includes Demy, Geraldine Chaplin, Chiara Mastrioianni, and Salma Hayek. Demy uses some clips from one of his mother's movies as a jumping off point, and developed a script about a French man who goes to Los Angeles, where his mother has lived and died, in order to close out her estate. Very promising, and although it had some potential as a 'journey' film, it fell short of good.
The main character meets some of the people he had known when he lived in LA with his mother, but is haunted by the name Lola, who was a childhood friend of his. He eventually finds a note where his mother leaves her LA condo ( in a very modest neighbourhood, btw) to Lola. Mathieu tries to find out where Lola has gone, and is led to a seedy side of Tijuana, where he is introduced to Lola, a stripper and prostitute. The journey into Tijuana is hell for Mathieu and he eventually is left, beat up and without passport and money. Eventually, he is led out of this hell and his own personal hell.
It tends to be a bit overwrought, with too many coincidences and plot details that don't make sense. Unsatisfying, to say the least.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
TIFF Tuesday, Sept 13
A day of a high and a low.
The first was a gala repeat of The Lady directed by Luc Besson.
It is a bio-pic of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma ( aka Myanmar), and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. It runs a bit long at 2 hr 25 mins, but it is a wonderful film. Well acted, well paced, and inspirational. It focuses on the relationship between Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Arris, an Oxford professor. They were separated for many years, as she languished under house arrest in Burma, and he continued to teach in Oxford and looked after their two sons.
It is an epic, but the personal elements of the couple's life is strong and clear. It was chosen as a gala, so it is clear that it will be released commercially, and get wide release. The screening I was at got the director an instant standing ovation. Watch for it.
My second film of the day explored another interesting topic of human rights, but did not meet the challenge. The film was Man on Ground. First of all, I would comment, that, looking at the TIFF film list, I was struck by how many films deal with the issue of illegal immigration into Europe. This film, by a young Nigerian director, now living in South Africa, deals with the issue of immigration of Africans, particularly Nigerians, into South Africa, where they are met with hostility and violence by their fellow Africans.
The technical details were fine. The cast was good, and the acting was good. The script....not so good. There seemed to be some difficulty finding moments of dramatic tension, so it just got overwrought. Disappointing.
The first was a gala repeat of The Lady directed by Luc Besson.
It is a bio-pic of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma ( aka Myanmar), and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. It runs a bit long at 2 hr 25 mins, but it is a wonderful film. Well acted, well paced, and inspirational. It focuses on the relationship between Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Arris, an Oxford professor. They were separated for many years, as she languished under house arrest in Burma, and he continued to teach in Oxford and looked after their two sons.
It is an epic, but the personal elements of the couple's life is strong and clear. It was chosen as a gala, so it is clear that it will be released commercially, and get wide release. The screening I was at got the director an instant standing ovation. Watch for it.
My second film of the day explored another interesting topic of human rights, but did not meet the challenge. The film was Man on Ground. First of all, I would comment, that, looking at the TIFF film list, I was struck by how many films deal with the issue of illegal immigration into Europe. This film, by a young Nigerian director, now living in South Africa, deals with the issue of immigration of Africans, particularly Nigerians, into South Africa, where they are met with hostility and violence by their fellow Africans.
The technical details were fine. The cast was good, and the acting was good. The script....not so good. There seemed to be some difficulty finding moments of dramatic tension, so it just got overwrought. Disappointing.
Monday, September 12, 2011
TIFF Monday, September 12
I didn't attend any films on Sunday, Sept 11, as I had other obligations. Because there were no screenings on Monday morning, I didn't start until 1.30 pm with a Brazilian drama called The Silver Cliff.
It focuses on one day in the life of a female dentist in Rio. The movie starts off with the dentist and her husband having sex, and then her husband having a shower. Sex and nudity...always a nice way to start a movie. Once the dentist goes to work, she gets a cellphone message from her husband telling her that he is leaving her. At first she tries to fly to the city where her husband was supposed to be going, but there are no planes. She wanders about the city, eventually finding herself at the beach, where she befriends a young girl, and the girl's father, who are homeless, and wandering about the country. The three travel about the city for a while, and by doing this, the heroine comes to an understanding that life does not always go the way one wants, and she returns to her home and her son.
The film was well acted, particularly the three main characters, and some shots of Rio were beautiful. It gave you an idea of the lives that are lived in what we see as a vacation city. However, there were impressionistic moments of just flashing lights, that I found irritating. Apparently, the film is based on a popular Brazilian song.
The second film was a Japanese film, I Wish, directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, who directed the well regarded Nobody Knows in 2004. Here again he works with children, and does an amazing job with them, in a kind of kids' journey movie. It starts off in two cities, and focuses on two brothers who have been separated, because their parents have split, so one lives with each parent. The brothers maintain a phone relationship, and each has a group of friends at school.
They plot a trip to a location where two bullet trains pass each other, because the theory is that an energy is created, where wishes will come true, and each one of the friends has something that they are wishing for. The adventure is how they are able to get out of school, get train tickets to the right place, and trick their parents into not worrying about this overnight trip.
The film runs a bit long at 2 hrs 10 minutes, but it is charming and an enjoyable journey movie.
It focuses on one day in the life of a female dentist in Rio. The movie starts off with the dentist and her husband having sex, and then her husband having a shower. Sex and nudity...always a nice way to start a movie. Once the dentist goes to work, she gets a cellphone message from her husband telling her that he is leaving her. At first she tries to fly to the city where her husband was supposed to be going, but there are no planes. She wanders about the city, eventually finding herself at the beach, where she befriends a young girl, and the girl's father, who are homeless, and wandering about the country. The three travel about the city for a while, and by doing this, the heroine comes to an understanding that life does not always go the way one wants, and she returns to her home and her son.
The film was well acted, particularly the three main characters, and some shots of Rio were beautiful. It gave you an idea of the lives that are lived in what we see as a vacation city. However, there were impressionistic moments of just flashing lights, that I found irritating. Apparently, the film is based on a popular Brazilian song.
The second film was a Japanese film, I Wish, directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, who directed the well regarded Nobody Knows in 2004. Here again he works with children, and does an amazing job with them, in a kind of kids' journey movie. It starts off in two cities, and focuses on two brothers who have been separated, because their parents have split, so one lives with each parent. The brothers maintain a phone relationship, and each has a group of friends at school.
They plot a trip to a location where two bullet trains pass each other, because the theory is that an energy is created, where wishes will come true, and each one of the friends has something that they are wishing for. The adventure is how they are able to get out of school, get train tickets to the right place, and trick their parents into not worrying about this overnight trip.
The film runs a bit long at 2 hrs 10 minutes, but it is charming and an enjoyable journey movie.
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