Ryan McNeil
As June creeps toward July, my thoughts are slowly turning toward the next Toronto International Film Festival. As if on cue, this morning I happened upon a piece from Living in Cinema, where the writer actually states that reviews from film festivals really shouldn’t be trusted.
He says that the stress of a festival experience (running around town, operating on less sleep than usual, spending an eternity getting hearded to and fro like cattle) alters the reviewers perception. Likewise, he details that films submitted for festivals are victims of underestimation or over-exaggeration.
Gotta tell ya folks…I’m not sure I agree.
This will be my eighth go-round at TIFF, and thinking back on the hundred and some-odd movies I’ve seen in the previous seven, I can’t recall a moment where the festival experience altered my overall take on a movie. The ones that I loved (IN AMERICA, DR. PLONK, MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, CAPOTE) I still love. The ones I didn’t like (ALL THE KING’S MEN, ENDURING LOVE, TRAUMA) I still don’t like. When I go back and watch film fest movies for a second or third time, it’s seldom that I say to myself “Maybe I was wrong”.
Is it perhaps it’s because I try to let things digest a little bit before scampering to the nearest Starbucks with a Wi–Fi connection wanting to be the first to corronate the next-big-thing? Just askin‘.
I guess my point is that anything that happens before or during a person’s viewing of a movie – critic or not – will affect their overall impression of it. Hype, backlash, stress, luck…all of it can skew your mood when you watch a film for the first time, and thus your impression when you spread your word to the masses.
As a fellow LAMB (#30), a regular at LiC, and a lover of Toronto – welcome! Nice to meet you.
I’ve always thought of TIFF as one of the biggies that doesn’t get much attention. It would probably be my first choice over Cannes or Berlin, believe it or not.
Welcome to the LAMB!!!
Reviews from film festivals not to be trusted? Wow, I don’t think I agree with that. I think the experience of watching a film is interconnected to your reaction to a film.
I have to say there are some films that I will always look fondly to because of the nature of how I saw them, even if it wasn’t a great film – but I always make that clear to not mislead the reader.
I’m really looking forward to TIFF this year. Just over 2 months away!
Yea, I haven’t been to that many festivals (TIFF doesn’t seem a likely addition any time soon, as I’m in Phoenix), but I agree with you as well. Sure, there are factors that could sway one’s mood a few ‘points,’ but it’s not as though people undergo a brain transplant or anything. Sounds like much ado about nothing.
Oh, and welcome to the LAMB!
The only reason I would agree would be, because unless you’re seeing the big opening night/closing night film, then you’re probably watching a movie which is really counting on the festival to help it out and even then, it might not be the final version of that film. Don’t forget about Roger Ebert and Brown Bunny.
True Michael, but I find re-tooling after a negative reaction doesn’t help all that much.
Case in point, ELIZABETHTOWN. Now I dug it – didn’t flip over it, but dug it. However, after its original screening it got slammed by critics.
Fast forward 36 hours to the second screening, and as the programmer is introducing it, he mentions “This is still a working cut, so please hold your reviews”.
Know what? The difference between the cut I saw, and the theatrical version?? One scene – and it didn’t help the overall result.
I still dig it, but it wasn’t like it underwent an amazing metamorphisis. And there’s the rub – good press or bad, *most* of these movies don’t undergo deep changes after the fact.