As ever, the Toronto International Film Festival had high spots and
low ones, but also, as ever, the good and great films vastly outnumbered the
weaker ones. I look forward to returning next year to see what will come
then and I also look forward to seeing some of the over three hundred films I
had no opportunity to view.
WATER
This is a beautiful film by Deepa Mehta, part of a series, which deals
with the difficult subject of the treatment of widows in India. There
is a religious basis for this horrific treatment where they are
generally cast into a residence for widows with no financial
resources, and forced to beg (or worse) for the few coins it takes to
maintain their sad lives. Some of these widows are children because
of the practice of marrying girls as young as nine or so. This film
revolves around such a child who is torn from her family and thrown in
with bitter women whose lives have been ruined because of the death of a
spouse. The choices for a widow are to immolate herself on the same funeral
pyre with her husband, to marry his younger brother when that is possible and
the family allows, or to enter such an ashram for the remainder of her life.
The film is beautifully realized with incredible cinematography and
excellent characterization. There is a love story (not involving the
child) and there is hope in the person of Bapu (Mahatma Ghandi) whose words
illuminate the film and whose presence is felt in it.
LIZA WITH A Z
This is a reprinting, with spectacular detail and color, of a 1972 TV
special that some of us may have been lucky enough to see. Liza
Minnelli stars in it and Bob Fosse directed and choreographed it.
That's enough to make it a fabulous hour of entertainment.. and it is.
The dancing is so sexy and so are the Halston-designed costumes that
I wonder it ever passed the censors of the day. I highly recommend
seeing it just to bask in the incredible talents of the thirty-years-ago
Liza who is still pretty fabulous today.
I say that because she came to introduce the film and stayed
afterwards for a particularly generous 45-minute Q&A along with the
men who helped her to put it together. Go and see it and read their
names and be satisfied that there are already academy awards among
them, along with other well-deserved awards as well.
RUNNING and NOBODY WAVED GOODBYE
These are two docudramas of Canadian production and direction that
didn't really stand the test of time; both are from about the fifties
or so and I have little more to say about them.. puerile, naive.
THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG
This is a Korean film about the assassination of President Park
Chung-hee. It is a political satire full of gunshots, vulgarity and
unexpected humor. The skeleton plot consists of women being brought from a
brothel for a dinner party where the chief of the CIA decides that life
should end for the President and the rest of his party. It is bloody beyond
description and apparently not true to the actual
assassination but rather a black comedy. Once the premise is
apparent, the film is enjoyable and rather a good romp.
THE HEART OF THE GAME
This is a wonderful documentary about a man who decides to indulge a fantasy
and coach women's High School Basketball and the Cinderella team he
develops. For those who participated in school sports I'm sure this will be full of
the stuff your memories are full of. For this unathletic reporter, it was a
marvel, with the incredible energy
of the girls channeled by this first-time but wonderful coach. You'll
love his pep talks, you'll thrill to the excellent basketball played
by these young women and you'll marvel, as I did, at the twists of
fate that drive this story to its incredible end.
SORRY HATERS
This is a sorry film. It pairs a Muslim taxi driver with a
pathological self-hating young white woman. The story requires vast
funds of suspension of disbelief which I was not prepared to invest in
it. I slept through much of the film. I suggest you do so at home
and save the price of a ticket assuming it ever gets distribution.
SISTERS IN LAW
This is a wonderful documentary about the court system and about life
in Kumba, a small city in Cameroon, West Africa. The Sisters are a
judge and a prosecutor. Both are articulate and both care
passionately about the people who come before them. The three stories are
followed from start to finish and involve, sadly, rape and
violence against women and children (the latter by a woman). The
prosecutor becomes involved with the wounded parties and helps them to
handle the difficult business of appearing in court to face their
abusers. The stories have a universal appeal; they could have taken
place in the U.S. or Canada as easily as in West Africa. The
cinematography is excellent and you will really become involved with
all the characters in this documentary.
INTO GREAT SILENCE
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lead a cloistered
life? Philip Groening requested and, thirteen years later, received
permission to enter, alone, and film at the Monastery of the Grande
Chartreuse in the French Alps, considered to be one of the most
ascetic in the world. He spent half a year filming and two and a half
years editing what has turned out to be a masterpiece, giving the
audience a real feeling of how this sort of life is lived.
Naturally a great deal of time each day is spent in prayer,
meditation, reading of scriptures, but life also goes on as the thirty
monks require clothing, food, even a bit of secular life as a day a
week they engage in a long walk and can talk among themselves. Little
events become big; talking to the Monastery cats as a monk feeds them (quite
against the rules; however, the monks had the rights of elision and this monk
decided to allow the scene to stay in the film), sliding in the snow like skiers.
But the sense of peace, calm, the religious feeling comes through as the
overall experience of living in
such a place. Some have been there for sixty years or more and they
chat with the director a bit about their feelings about life, death,
God.
Documentaries give you an unusual opportunity to taste other lives and this
one is very well realized indeed.
SHADOWBOXER
This film is likely to be a box-office starter since it is by Lee
Daniels and stars the popular Cuba Gooding, Jr. It is sort of a
Prizzi's Honor, with two engaging characters who are paid assassins.
If it stopped there it would be just fine; however, there is a mafia
character who is simply so violent and this is quite graphic, that all
scenes including this person were disturbing rather than at the same
level of charm and interest of the other two characters. The ending
was predictable, with all the slo-mo tricks to illuminate the action
and frankly by the ending I was seriously looking for the exits.
THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN
'Indian' refers to an Indian Motorcycle, a brand with much cachet.
The driver of this thirty-year-old gem, who works on it in his shed
(that is also his living quarters) is a sixty-something New Zealander
with a passion for speed. This is a docudrama, taken from a true
story, by the same director who made an early documentary about it.
The attention to detail is spectacular - the workshop has been
completely reconstructed using the original contents wherever
possible, as an axample. The acting by Anthony Hopkins is, as
expected, masterful. It's a great story, with some exciting twists
and turns, and I loved it.
SUNFLOWER
This is a Chinese film, set just after the Cultural Revolution and in
the years succeeding up to the current century. It follows the family
dynamics of three generations of a family living in Beijing. There is
not a lot to be learned about China in those years (except to see the
increasing Western influence on Chinese daily life by electronics, etc.) but
it is an interesting look into family life in that country.
THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA
This is Tommy Lee Jones's first production and he stars in it as well.
The film is a Western with a poignant subject, the keeping of a
promise made by a friend to a friend. Westerns traditionally are
morality plays with a deep sense of justice and this tough film is no
exception. The scene is a small border town and the action continues
through rough territory to a tiny town in Mexico. The story is
contemporary; one can imagine it happening today.
Don't miss this one.
LEONARD COHEN
I'M YOUR MAN
I'm not a lover of Leonard Cohen's songs, though the poetry in them is
cerebral and beautiful. He has never been much of a singer and those
who sing his songs have, even today, the look of Hippies. This recent
concert honoring Cohen might have taken place in the sixties except
for the obvious old age of its honoree. There are some interesting
interview segments interleaved with the concert film and you do get a
look into the psyche of this peculiar man who has written some truly
beautiful poetry. His character is dark and the songs reflect that;
as well the songs have very little energy so one is left with a
let-down feeling even at a celebratory concert.
WHY WE FIGHT
Eugene Jarecki, who brought us The Case Against Kissinger, still has
much to tell us. This time he is examining what Eisenhower warned
about, the Military-Industrial Complex and how it is energizing
America's territorial imperative as seen by the few in power now. He
adds that the fourth element of this imperialism (after the Congress,
the Military and Industry) has now become the Think Tanks that feed
the words to the rest of the elements justifying wars and directing
policy. This is an important new film and I hope it will have enough
audience to keep it around for a good while.
WAH WAH
This is a largely autobiographical film from Richard Grant about
growing up in Swaziland. The setting is the time just before and
including Independence. Grant does a fine job of demonstrating the
sort of elitist colonials that Britain had around its empire at that
time and for far too long altogether. It is a coming-of-age story
where the youngster turns into a young man, dealing with his mother's
desertion, his alcoholic father's remarriage to an American who
doesn't take well to the behavior of the biddies who run the social
scene (Wah Wah is her way of mimicking their pip pip tally ho sort of
language) and his own psychological issues no doubt exacerbated by all this.
While the film is fairly predictable, the acting is excellent
and the landscapes simply fabulous.
A LITTLE TRIP TO HEAVEN
Baltasar Kormakur, an Icelandic filmmaker tries his hand with an
American story this time and succeeds very well indeed. I actually
picked this film for its star, Forest Whitaker and was rewarded with a
very fine sotto voce performance that was just right for this
insurance investigator who must determine if a death was truly an
accident or murder (which we, the audience, know right from the
start). There are an interesting group of characters to frame the
film and it is dark and well acted throughout with touches of the
supernatural that do not interfere with its grounding in reality.
TRUST THE MAN
New York filmmaker Bart Freundlich brought this film to the Festival
with no distributor and, to no one's surprise, sold it at once at the
first screening. It is a romantic comedy, tip top in its genre, with
dialogue worthy of a Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy film. This
review is short but make no mistake, I loved the film, which was made
in New York City, not Toronto, with lots of New York pizzazz.
MEMORY FOR MAX, CLAIRE, IDA AND COMPANY
This Allan King documentary is a look at a fine Toronto residence for
the aged and in particular the section devoted to those with profound
memory loss, short-term and long-term. The three named individuals
are followed for a period of several months; they are aware of the
camera but there is no director. The saddest part for me was that
when Max died (midway through filming), his friend Claire suffered the
loss many times because she didn't remember being told and was
distraught each time she heard of it. After quite a few such
retellings, Claire finally internalized the fact that Max was gone.
The material, once gathered, went to Allan King for editing and this
is what turned it into such a fine, tender documentary.
For me the subject is evocative; my mother suffered a deep dementia
with memory loss in the months preceding her death. I recognized her
in these people - the film is very true to them.
BLACK BULL
I doubt this film will find a distributor outside of perhaps a
documentary TV channel. It is a distressing look at poverty in Mexico
and the bullfighter who tries to escape it. However; untutored and
with no real support system, he is doomed to suffer injuries and his
woman appears doomed to suffer his physical abuse for as long as they remain
together. There seems to be no escape for either of them.
U-CARMEN eKHAYALITSHA
This is a translation of Carmen into one of the click dialects of
South Africa and takes part in a township of Capetown. The star,
Pauline Malefane is a fabulous singer and actress and is very sexy
also, something North Americans don't seem to appreciate in a big
woman. The story is pretty much that of Carmen with the cigarette
factory and the troops intact but translated into local versions. The
music is Bizet's; close your eyes and you'll think you're at the Met -
open them and you'll have a good look into life in the South African
townships after Apartheit.
JOHN & JANE
This is a documentary about the calling centers that have started
cropping up in India (where the film was made) as well as numerous
other countries around the world. John & Jane refers to the
pseudonyms that are assigned to the young workers when they start
their jobs. The film follows their work and home lives as they are
trained by speech teachers as well as sales managers, for the work
generally is telephone sales. They are no different from young people
in America except for their limited knowledge about American culture.
And they are generally as indifferent to their work as young people in
similar jobs appear to me to be (I have some experience in calling
rooms). The big difference is that they are working shifts that keep
them up through the night and sleeping at home to the consternation of many
of their moms who expect to see the young people up and awake during the day.
A post-screening discussion with the director yielded the information
that these young people are earning about $300 per month (which
explains why the outsourcing is so popular and will continue to be
used). Interesting material collected near the beginning of such
phone rooms being moved to the subcontinent and chances are it will be our
only look since now the management will no longer entertain such filming.
APRIL SNOW
This is a Korean film about an automobile accident that kills a truck
driver and leaves a man and a woman critically injured. The only problem is
that they are not married to each other, but rather to two other young
people. And they were not traveling for work; the woman is on vacation.
As the other two begin to put the pieces together, they are distraught
at not only the terrible outcome of the accident but also at the
developing realization that their spouses were having an affair.
There is, not surprisingly, a point where the two reach out to one
another for physical comfort and that, naturally, changes the dynamic
of the story.
The cinematography is beautiful as are the actors. The film moves at
a very slow pace and the impression is one of unreality, perhaps to
reflect the feelings of the two as they put it all together.
IBERIA
This film by Carlos Saura (who brought us the fabulous "Flamenco" a
year or two ago), celebrates the music and regional dance of Spain.
It is a fabulous procession of incredible dancers, singers and
musicians, in minimalist settings. The music speaks for itself and
the dances are spectacular.
Saura decided to use the Iberia suite by Albeniz, a wonderful grouping
of Spanish themes, as the starting point for the film; hence the name
of the film. This is evocative music and each of the groups (from
twelve different locations in Spain) starts with one of the themes and
uses it or improvises around it. No attempt was made to translate
the few songs so there is no interruption by subtitle, leaving the
performers to speak for themselves.
Visually, the film is extraordinary - the dancing is fabulous as is
the choreography. The music, too, is fabulous - all told this is time very
well spent.
BLACK SUN
This is a narration over images made by filmmaker Gary Tarn. The
story is that of a French artist/film maker, Hugues de Montalembert,
who narrates. He was working in New York City in 1978 when he was
attacked in his home by robbers who, infuriated when there was no
money to be found, threw paint thinner in his face. There is no
antidote for this and within a day he found himself permanently
blinded.
He talks about the images he that formed in his brain and Tarn creates
them for us, in brilliant color but with soft edges and out of focus.
He talks about his travels - he was unwilling to give up his entire
life with its joy in travel so he continued going on long trips
unaccompanied (and tells a charming story about being denied access to a
plane in Asia somewhere and turning to the traveler behind him,
saying, "we are traveling together, are we not?" and being told,
"definitely!!") He has faced his new handicap with courage and
pursued a different sort of life, writing about his story and
continuing to live his life. The film is an inspiration - I can only
hope that I would have had the courage to proceed with life in the
same way had I had it interrupted by such a devastating experience.
Karen
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