TIFF
2012 – Films
Missed 2011 Festival (in China then),
but not this one! Stars and World Premières and “stars” galore!
Films in Industry category that I ended up
seeing!
Films in Public category which I got
tickets for( many seen
with Cy)
Films in Industry category that were in
my calendar but I ended up not seeing!
Coming soon to TO; Cy wants to see. Coming to TO; Cy not interested in seeing necessarily
Thursday Sept
6:
Rust & Bone
(De rouille et d’os) –
latest Audiard’s film – after Cannes Grand-Prix winner ‘Un prophète” a few
years ago (saw at TIFF in 2010). With Marion Cotillard (sans maquillage; and
without legs!) In the same style as previously – raw, harsh, matter-of-fact
approach, “underworld”- like.(I did not know that Audiard directed “De battre
mon coeur s’est arrêté”, which I saw in the fall of 2005...)
Laurence Anyways – latest by Xavier Nolan, Québec director sensation (J’ai tué ma mère et Les amours imaginaires).
Long
(161 minutes!) on-and-off romance of a transgender (Laurence, author and
teacher, played by French Melvil Poupaud) with a good Montreal girl (Suzanne
Clément, full of energy). Gives rise to frighteningly direct scenes (Nathalie
Baye as Laurence’s mother; Denise Filiatrault as owner/manager of a popular
restaurant where Suzanne “pique une crise”, etc.). Enjoyed it more that his
last film...
On the Road – a classic;
based on Jack Kerouac’s celebrated novel – American mythology; the Beat
Generation; not afraid of breaking the rules; Neal Cassady; etc. Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, among others). A
few big names: Kirsten Dunst; Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen. But the palm
goes to the lesser known actors of the travelling males...
Amour (first few
minutes!) –
with aging Jean-Louis Trintignant (he has not aged nicely – I saw him in Paris
a few years ago -awful!) and Emmanuelle Riva...will have to see it in full...
Men at Lunch - Documentary
(Irish) about the “most celebrated picture” about New-York – fascinating!
Fidaï – Documentary:
what a veteran, El Hadi, the Fidaï, of
the “guerre d’indépendance”. What did he do exactly during that war? His
immediate family does not know, until it is revealed by the director himself,
Damien Ounouri. (this is when I lost my wallet coming out of the theatre, and
that the film’s executive producers found; they called me and I get it back by
meeting them at the opening party...)
Friday, Sept 7
The Pervert’s
Guide to Ideology –
iconoclastic! Featuring this madman of Slavoj Zizek, superstar academic and
philosopher, full of tics, professing his provocative (and entertaining)
interpretation of films (Taxi Driver, The
Sound of Music, etc.) Directed by Sophie Fiennes (she did with Zizek The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, 5 or 6
years ago).
Stories We Tell – Sarah
Polley’ cinematic memoir – almost a documentary , with real and made up
sequences – recounting her childhood and life through her fathers’ (actual and
biological – a revelation in the film: the biological one is a producer based
in Montreal, Harry Gulkin, who was involved in Lies that my Father Told me, back in the early 70s – dropped a note
to my brother who worked on that film...), brothers’ and sisters’, and other
family relatives’ accounts. Tender and revealing!
The Central Park
Five –
documentary on the 5 black kids falsely accused of a gruesome murder. They
served jail time and were later acquitted (when the real killer admitted, out
of compassion!) Their life nonetheless was irremediably affected!
Dangerous
Liaisons (Weixian Guanxi) – Inspired by Laclos’s literary classic,
set in 1930s Shanghai (and directed by Hur Jin-Ho, who has done several films
but that I don’t know...). Zhang Ziyi is excellent as the innocent victim; the
guy who plays the equivalent of Valmont, not so good! Very slick but too
“larmoyant”!
John dies at the
end – sci-fi. By a
veteran of the genre, Don Coscarelli. Paul Giamatti is the “bite”. No real
plot, just craziness, but funny!
Berberian Sound
Studio –
there is a “bite” (Toby Jones, memorable as and in Capote!) and a plot, but I would be hard pressed here to explain
it! Kafkaesque? To say the least! I would have passed...
Dead Europe – Australian.
About a Greek-born gay photographer who goes back to the old country, to
discover there (as well as in Paris and Budapest where his drug-addicted
trafficker brother lives) the unvarnished and awful truth about his father’s
life during the WWII (who has just committed suicide upon learning his son’s
plan to go back and visit “dead Europe”)...Not very joyful, for sure...Young director,
Tony Krawitz, on site.
Saturday, Sept
8
The Place beyond
the Pines (first hour) – latest Ryan
Gosling’s promotional vehicle! “Male anxiety and suppressed violence”!
Repetitive...
Mea Maxima
Coulpa: Silence in the House of God – Doc; American Alex Gibney (Client number 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot
Spitzer – have seen at 2010 Festival ). How Rome (right up to John-Paul II
and his successor Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI!) and the “Canon Law”
itself is to be blamed for the cover up of the sexual abuse Roman Catholic
Church scandal. Excellent!
Everybody has a
Plan –
Argentine director (co-production Argentina-Spain-Germany). Shot in the Tigre’s
delta (we visited that area near Buenos Aires in 2008 or 7). With Viggo
Mortensen. Falls flat – disappointing!
Roman Polanski:
Odd Man Out–
Doc of latest, silly, Swiss episode of this everlasting drama in/of the life of
Polanski! Directed by Marina Zerovich
who had done Roman Polanski: Wanted and
Desired 4 years ago, and who credits herself and her first doc as the main
reason for that loufoque episode!
Sunday, Sept 9
The Last Supper – Chinese
historical drama – first Han Emperor who defeated China unifier Qin (“The
Banquet at Hong Gate” – the signature event in Chinese history) Directed by Lu Chuan (we saw his City of Life and Death – Nanjing’s
massacre – at the 2009 Festival). China, Hong-Kong, Taiwan actors... Grand
deployment; lots of CGI (Emperor Qin’s Palace)...Well done!
A Royal Affair
(first half-hour) –
Danish historical drama – late eighteen century; Very polished. Main
protagonist (as guilty, social reformer, queen’s lover, court physician): Mads Mikkelsen (the “baddy” in Casino Royale against James Bond). Music
by Gabriel Yared. Danish director Nikolaj Arcel also screenwriter for The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo (Swedish
version!)…
The Act of Killing
–
Doc (American Joshua Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn, working as a team); how
killers did their deeds (very graphically – illustrating the use of metal wire
to kill, to avoid spilling too much blood!) during 1965 revolution in Indonesia,
on the back of “declared” communists and Chinese. A documentary about an amateur film made by
and with some of the executioners themselves. Chilling and gruesome!
Passion – De Palma’s latest (long career – Scarface; The Untouchables; Casualties of
War; Mission Impossible; Femme Fatale) . With beautiful Rachel McAdams and
Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Very Hitchcockian! Very slick! Enjoyed.
Monday, Sept
10
Jayne Mansfield’s
Car –
“star power”: Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Beacon & Billy Bob Thornton (who
also directs and wrote the script in collaboration). Family drama; generation colliding:
father-son opposition; two cultures (American and British) clashing as well, exposed
through their clichés.
A Fitzgerald
Family Christmas –
Ed Burns’ film (he directs his own screenplay, and plays main protagonist).
Family drama – father returns to abandoned wife and 7 children after 20 years
for last Xmas (he is dying of pancreatic cancer); amongst each kid’s personal
drama and mother’s opposition. Sentimental but in the end “feel-good” movie.
Enjoyed!
In The house – Ozon’s latest (Swimming Pool; Potiche). Fabrice Luchini; Emmanuelle Seigner (Polanski’s
wife) ...and the admirable Kristin Scott Thomas (she is here, with Ozon,
gracing the stage!) Is it Hitchcock or Chabrol – never quite! In the end, it’s
the relationship between the young intruding writer (nouveau venu German Earnst
Umhauer) and the teacher (Luchini) that defines the picture...
Tuesday, Sept
11
Cloud Atlas
(parts) –
Big ticket item: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, etc...Based on landmark
book by David Mitchell; 5 or 6 stories in parallel. It is suggested to read the
book first – that does not say much for the movie!
Capital – latest
Costa-Gavras. An illustration (and condemnation) of how banks/bankers work,
unscrupulously. Weak ending. Not as good as some of his previous films (such as
the iconic Z, going back to the late
sixties)
Sons of the
Clouds: The last Colony (parts) – Javier
Bardem’s personal crusade to raise public awareness (and the UN into action) to
deal with human rights violations occurring for decades in the contested
Western Sahara (by Moroccans) against the Sahrawi people
Song of Marion
(parts) –
little human interest story, involving iconic actors: Vanessa Redgrave and
Terence Stamp who is the main protagonist. Tender...
What Maisie Knew
(parts) –
The trauma of a young girl “shovelled” between two divorced parents. Julianne Moore
as the rocker musician woman, and Steve Coogan as the unstable father...Predictable,
if well-played...
The Reluctant
Fundamentalist – Great movie,
based on remarkable book by Mira Nair, who directs the film! How a young
brilliant Pakistani’s career in US finance world is shattered after 9/11…the
incomprehension (and its consequences) that developed between Islamic and
Western cultures...
9.79*(End) – Ben Johnson 1988 Olympic story and
broaches by athletes with drugs. Did he or did he not take the infamous drugs?
Was he set-up?...
Hannah Arendt – German-Jewish philosopher and
political theorist attending and commenting (article in the New Yorker – which
raised quite a controversy and criticisms from Jews) on Eichmann’s trial in
Jerusalem (1961). Directed by Festival’s
habituée Margarethe von Trotta (“Rosa Luxembourg”, “Vision”, etc.) Revealing…
Thérèse
Desqueyroux –
last film of French longstanding director Claude Miller (he died earlier this
year – his widow, along with main protagonist Audrey Tautou, were there to
present the film). Pretty dry melodrama
– just like Mauriac’s book – a triumph of the provincial-convenience-marriage-turned-sour!
Beautifully filmed though, “dans les Landes”.
Wednesday,
Sept 12
Free Angela &
All Poloical Prisoners – Documentary
on Davis’s jail time and trial in the late 60s /early 70s, World Première (as
many of the other films presented at the Festival!) Riveting! Her intellectual
association to the nascent Black Panthers movement. Struck by the international
reach of the events...Interviews with her – now and then – and other players.
Thursday, Sept
13
Lines of
Wellington –
from Chile, Valparaiso-born director Valeria Sarmiento (Raul Ruiz’s widow – he
had started on the preparation of the film before dying, but it is truly hers!).
Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal in 1810, seen from the struggling ordinary
people trying to survive (although a few “apparitions” of stars – Malkovitch,
as a non-flattering Wellington; Piccoli, Deneuve and Hubbert, as a gluttonous
expat Swiss family!) Film “à grand deployment”; an historical “fresque”.
Beyond the
Hills – from
Cristian Mungiu, director of “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”, winner of the
Palme d’or at Cannes a few years ago. Harsh and bleak story of nuns (and a
possessed woman!) in a poor, austere, orthodox monastery in Bulgaria (with
wintery, snowy scenes to “top it off “...) Not exactly, needless to say, “joyful”...
Friday, Sept
14
Penance – 270 minutes!
By Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no, another Kurosawa!) A suspense, a long one: 4 hours and
a half! 5 chapters. A revenge (against
the 4 girls that have witnessed the killing of the main protagonist’s daughter)
mixed to a mystery and a secret! Based on, we are told, a best-selling novel
“Confessions”; was shown as a mini-series in Japan (does make sense!)– TV
potential in North America or Europe?...
Emperor
–
what a subordinate to General McArthur goes through in Tokyo, immediately after
the war, to avoid a public condemnation (and likely execution) of Emperor Hiro
Hito (as a war criminal). Great theme, rather poor execution! That in spite of
the presence amongst the crew at the Premiere of UK director Peter Webber and
Tommy Lee Jones... I am reminded of a much better film on Hirohito (made by
Russian Aleksandr
Sokurov (his trilogy), “The Sun” in 2005, following “Molokh
“ (about Hitler, Eva Braun and their entourage) and “Telets”
(about the last days of Lenin – we saw the latter at the Singapore Film
Festival in 200?)...
Saturday, Sept
15
The Sessions – the story of a totally handicapped
male (victim of polio) and his professional sex “surrogate” – with whom he
eventually loses his virginity)! Very “authentic” and polished. Great
performances by John Hawkes (the handicapped man – Mark O’Brien), Helen Hunt
(the ‘surrogate”) and William H. Macy (the confessor). Based on a true story –
O’Brien died in his 40s, back in the late 90s...
End of Watch -
cinema-vérité type of film about 2 LA partner cops, their personal life, their daily patrol...and at times gruesome encounters/discoveries in the city’s squalid
underbelly . Until they fall! With Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pina).
Sunday, Sept
16
Dormant Beauty – Italian; director: Marco Bellochio –
he did Vincere, about the early years
of Mussolini which we say at TIFF in 2009. A drama around euthanasia that
created a political crisis in Italy a few years ago – the Enlargo case, 17
years in a vegetative state! Isabelle Huppert plays in it (supporting role).
Well done.
Gebo et l’ombre – Portugal. Directed by 103 years old
Oliveira – he must be the world’s oldest living filmmaker! We saw his previous
film, The Strange case of Angelica,
at TIFF in 2010. With Michel Longsdale, Claudia Cardinale, Jeanne Moreau and
other usual local favorites of Oliveira. Based on a Portuguese play of the 20s,
about a missing prodigal son who only comes back to ruin the family, in spite
of the father’s concealment for the benefit of his wife…
That caps up
the Festival for me – this is actually one the few films shown at the festival,
passed 9pm!
Films that were premiered / presented at TIFF 2012, but that I waited
to see when they came out commercially shortly after:
Looper (Bruce Willis) (Ch Oct 1; Cy wants to see)
Seven Psychopaths (Farrell, Harrelson,
Walken) (Ch & Cy, Oct 14)
Argo (Canadian capper in Iran... Affleck tells a different
story..) (Ch & Cy, Oct 20)
The Paperboy (McConaughey, Cusack,
Kidman) Ch Oct 21
The Master (Joaquim Phoenix; Philip Seymour Hoffman) (Ch only, Oct 27; Cy wants to see)
Midnight’s Children (Dir: Deepa Metha;
Salmon Rushdie) (TO Oct 26; Cy to see)
Great Expectations (Finnes, Bonham
Carter) (in TO Nov/Dec; Cy not sure)
Anna Karenina (coming to TO Nov 16; Cy wants to see)
Silver Linings Playbook (coming to TO Nov 21)
Hyde Park on Hudson (the British king’s
visit to Roosevelt) (in TO Dec 7; Cy to see)
On the Road (coming to TO Dec 21; Cy wants to
see)
Amour (Trintignant, Huppert, Emmanuelle
Riva) (in TO Dec 28; Cy wants to see)
The company you keep (Dir: Robert
Redford)
Seen later on
Much Ado About Nothing (Seen in June
2013)
Missed
out at TIFF (and so far…)
West of Memphis (Doc; Johnny Depp)
Me and You (Bernard Bertoluci)
The Patient Stone (dir: Atiq Rahimi –
war; Middle-East)
Perks
of being a wallflower (USA; contemporary comedy)
Thermae Romae (Korea. Comedy)
Camp 14-Total Control Zone (Doc on
North Korea prisoner)
Far out isn’t far enough: The story of Tomi
Ungerer (US; sex)
Show Stopper –The Theatrical life of
Garth Dabrinski
Peddlers (India)
Miss Lovely (India)
To the Wonder (Affleck, McAdams,
Bardem) –
will likely be in TO’s theaters in the fall
Leviathan
