Ryan McNeil
We’ve almost reached the end of the yellow brick road my little pretties. Two more days left until we roll up the red carpets for another year.
While the early part of my day today will be spent basking in the goodness that was last night’s U2 concert, my buzz won’t go away. Today, finally with two days to spare, I get to take a seat for my first – and only – TIFF 2009 Screening! Check back tomorrow for my thoughts.
As for today, I have the skinny on a good handful of films from a pair of fellow TIFF’ers. We’ll begin with Shane McNeil (on the left in the photo above), who has been man-about-town for the last ten days. Shane is volunteering this year, working at the Roy Thompson Hall TIFF box office. Impressively, Shane has also found time to catch about 20 screenings alongside his volunteer work. Not too shabby!
Shane has been kind enough to provide little pink spoons on four titles – DEFENDOR, ACCIDENT, BRAN NUE DAE, and THE ROAD.
Then there’s miss Franny Glass (Sorry Franny, no picture!). Franny’s a TIFF friend – we literally met in line at TIFF ’08, and witnessed the launch of the SULMDOG juggernaut sitting side by side.
Franny has taken in a very respectable ten movies this past week, and found they ran they gammut from wonderful to outright dull. She has been kind enough to jot down her reaction to UP IN THE AIR.
So while I send my supreme thanks to Shane and Franny for stepping in and writing about that which I couldn’t, please take a look after the jump for their take on five movies from TIFF 2009.
SOUL KITCHEN (Fatih Akin, GER)
I always enjoy when filmmakers do a complete 180. It’s too easy for filmmakers to stay in their boxes making variations on the same film time in and time out, so when a filmmaker as accomplished as Fatih Akin decides to go from the desolation of 2007’s THE EDGE OF HEAVEN to the pure joy of SOUL KITCHEN, it is- in a word- refreshing. The story goes that a young Greek cafe owner finds his life shaken by the departure of his girlfriend to Shanghai… meanwhile his not-so-faux dive of a cafe becomes a boho Mecca courtesy of a fresh and fiery Spanish chef and the wild antics of his soon-to-be-released convict brother. The film is jammed with good music, good food and sexual tension. Akin said he made a film that he thought no one would truly “get” his film if they lived even 60 miles outside of Hamburg, but the dish Akin serves up is (at worst!) a crowd-pleaser. At best, it may be my early tab for the Viewer’s Choice award.
BRAN NUE DAE (Rachel Perkins, AUS)
“There’s nothing I would rather be, than to be an Aboriginee… and watch you take my precious land away” Rocky McKenzie sings in Australia’s first-ever all-Aboriginal musical. Apparently, the stage production had been a huge domestic success and the film project has been about 20 years or so in the making. If you’re just looking for a good time, this is likely the film for you. It’s not groundbreaking cinema and to be honest, some of the plot points (the ending especially) are pretty far-fetched, but I think that’s probably the point. We’re dealing in fantasies here and a lot of the story, the songs especially, deal in the fantasies of a people that have by and large been shit on for the better part of the last two or three centuries. The musical numbers are engaging (and, often, not too lengthy!) even if some of the songs are not the type of lasting, hummable ditties that you’d hope for. But the joy of the film is there and is overwhelming… and Geoffrey Rush’s performance as a singing, dancing, puniching German cleric may be worth the price of admission alone.
THE ROAD (John Hillcoat, USA)
It is so, so dicey to film a book as beloved as “The Road”. In addition to this, much like last year’s “Blindness” it’s not a terribly easy book to adapt to the screen. Not a whole lot happens in terms of story arc. THE ROAD, as a novel and a film, is more about human emotion and what people would be willing to do for love and survival. Unlike Blindness, however, this adaptation is successful. Hillcoat did not get too bogged down in plot points and literary themes and, more importantly, Viggo Mortensen is one of the few superb actors working right now that could carry a film almost on his own. Though, it does beg mentioning that young Kodi Smit-McPhee puts in an incredible performance as ‘the boy’. It’s a grey film… both in mood and physical tint… but it’s the type of rewarding, gut-wrenching cinematic experience that reminds you of what can go right when a filmmaker is brave enough to tackle a masterpiece.
DEFENDOR (Peter Stebbings, CAN)
The streets of Hamilton are safe once again thanks to the efforts of the loveable, bungling vigilante Defendor! Our hero (Woody Harrelson) is a lovable oaf who just wants to clean up the streets to avenge his mother’s death by any means necessary… tossing marbles, unleasing mason jars full of angry wasps… you get the idea. It’s really a dleightful premise, but the exceution leaves a lot to be desired. Defendor isn’t a heart-of-gold, misguided, well-meaning kinda fella, he just comes across as an oaf. The character is uneven, seemingly able to evade the police at will while at the same time running smack into his enemies at every turn. There’s definitely some heart in this movie… I just failed to see it. It might amuse superhero fans, but overall, it was just too uneven for my liking. Oh, and did we really need that many scenes of people smoking crack?
ACCIDENT (Pou Soi Cheang, HK)
Is it wrong that saying “this film is destined to be remade for American audiences” is now a compliment? Regardless, in the case of ACCIDENT, it’s meant as one. The film focuses on a group of assassins whose M.O. is to make their hits look like freak ocurences that could not possibly be traced to human interference. Now we’re not talking a simple car crash, we’re talking chains of events that rely on such precision that a second’s delay means a failed mission. The action sequences, preedictably, are fantastic but that’s not all there is to it. The film shifts gears halfway through and becomes a superbly-crafted paranoia thriller reminiscent of Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION. What I loved most about ACCIDENT is that it’s not just a vehicle for original cinematic death sequences, the pacing is perfect. You’re never too long between talking points and, most importantly, the story never loses its arc. The film is a succinct 90 minutes and as the last shot was about to be held I found myself thinking “it’d be perfect if it ended right. now.” Few filmmakers have enough restraint to make such an energetic movie without completely losing the plot. It appears Cheang is one of those few. (Shane McNeil)
I have a PHd in Loyalty Programs. Last winter I bought $30 worth of Knorr Soup at Sobeys because of the promise of 500 Club Sobeys points. I accumulate Shopper’s Optimum Points with the same fervour that pre-Reformation Catholics accrued indulgences. I regularly transact simply to earn reward miles and If I could, I’d probably marry my CIBC Aerogold Infinite card. So imagine my delight when I saw a film at the Toronto International Film Festival which deftly weaves loyalty in its many forms through seven strong subplots. Up in the Air is directed by Jason Reitman (late of Thank You For Not Smoking and Juno) and stars hottie George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing specialist. Clooney is the guy on the other side of the table holding the compensation package that you’re getting not because you’re “fired”, but because you’re standing on the precipice of new opportunities. His dispassion for the emotion of his job is turned on its ear when his own high-flying life is threatened…pointedly when he’s on the cusp of achieving an incredible frequent flyer milestone. It’s almost impossible to separate the cinematic Clooney from his public persona. But make no mistake. He’s too good an actor to give a performance that isn’t nuanced. He’s at his best when matched with strong women. Who can forget his onscreen chemistry with Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton? In Up in the Air, he’s at his best with Anna Kendrick as Natalie – the fresh faced new recruit whose hiring stands to ground Bingham — and Vera Farmiga as Alex, one of the strongest female characters to come along in years. Farmiga is Bingham in female form. She holds up a mirror to his commitment issues. And her independence is to be revered. Up in the Air is worth a viewing. Even multiple viewings. I’d even go so far as to say that Clooney might get a nom for his performance. A film with a script this tight really deserves an audience. Sadly, Clooney was a no-show at the Sunday morning screening of the film. I guess he couldn’t commit. (Franny Glass)