| Page 1 2 3 4 THIRTY YEARS OF FESTIVAL FEVER by Adam D. Miller & Cari CrosbyEvery year in early September, a chunk of downtown Toronto is transformed for ten days into a buzzing cloud of actors, directors, writers, producers, distributors, fans, paparazzi, and local and foreign press. The Toronto International Film Fest (TIFF) is rather unique in comparison to other film fests: Its focus is largely on the public rather than becoming an exclusive event for those within the industry. People travel from all over the world to attend, many purchasing 50-film passes, and spend those 10 days engrossed in film. While covering every film and event the festival has to offer would (literally) fill a book, we hope this can serve a nice overview of what TIFF is all about. But by no means take it as a complete guide to the festival – in fact, it is merely skimming the surface. Thursday Sept. 8, 2005 Typically, the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival starts at 7 PM and therefore only offers a limited number of films. This year, eight films marked the beginning of the festival, highlighted by the opening night gala, Water. Deepa Mehta’s controversial film was the third in a trilogy based on the elements, preceded by Fire and Earth. The film is the touching story of an eight-year old bride, Chuyia, whose husband suddenly dies, leaving her to follow the custom of living among Hindu widows in exile. In the film we are exposed to a wide range of widows left with the same fate, but the determination of the young Chuyia makes for an inspirational film experience. For those who were more interested in the typical Hollywood fare, Thursday night was also the premiere of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang starring Val Kilmer and Robert Downey, Jr. As the name suggests – this film seems to hold every aspect that typical Hollywood holds dear: murder plots, love interests, and beautiful people. Overall the first night was a fair representation of the festival on a whole, touching upon many genres of filmmaking, including historic documentary (Ballets Russes), homoerotic coming-of-age tales (Douches Froides), and absurdist comedy (Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, which kick-started the festival’s famed ‘Midnight Madness’ series). Friday Sept. 9, 2005 The first full day of the festival offered even more to choose from, even for those who could only catch evening screenings. The main gala events this night were screenings of Mrs. Henderson Presents and L’Enfer. Mrs. Henderson Presents paired two of the great British film actors, Bob Hoskins and Dame Judi Dench. Despite knowing absolutely nothing about the theatre, the recently widowed Laura Henderson (Dench) opens a theatre in London and hires Vivian van Damm (Hoskins) to run it. When nothing seems to draw in customers, Henderson decides to run a nude revue. Director Stephen Frears is most well-known to North American audiences for 2000’s High Fidelity, but this film is a better representation of his legacy for British character studies. Also receiving its premiere on Friday night was Terry Gilliam’s Tideland, something of a fantasy epic, which stars Jeff Bridges. Supposedly the film received an award at the San Sebastian film festival, but we didn’t hear much about it in Toronto. Aaron Licht was impressed by Friday night’s screening of Jason (son of Ivan) Reitman’s debut, Thank You For Smoking, which ultimately landed one of the biggest distribution deals of the festival with Fox Searchlight Pictures. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, William H. Macy, and Robert Duvall, Thank You For Smoking is a quirky look at the tobacco industry, politics, and journalism that should appeal to fans of cynical humor. Our Friday night screening was Brooklyn Lobster, an excellent film with a true independent spirit: Brooklyn Lobster  Starring Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin Written & Directed by Kevin Jordan  “They don’t make movies like this anymore, at least not in the United States, where I come from,” mused Danny Aiello in the Q&A that followed Brooklyn Lobster, the second feature from writer-director Kevin Jordan. Brooklyn Lobster, which received its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a touching, down-to-earth story about a typical dysfunctional family living in a seaside marine community that most wouldn’t associate with Brooklyn. Frank Giorgio (Aiello), owner and proprietor of Giorgio’s Lobster Farm is a devoted businessman, committed to the business his father started in the 1930s. All the while, he is alienating his wife Maureen (Jane Curtin) who has tired of the smell of seafood and the amount of time Frank spends in his office. When prodigal son Michael (Daniel Sauli) returns home with his girlfriend for Christmas, he is forced to deal with parents that are growing apart and a family business which has experienced hard times. Although the premise may sound simple and almost clichéd, the film serves as an excellent character study of an American family dealing with life’s complexities. The acting is suburb all around, with equally good performances coming out of the supporting characters. With Brooklyn Lobster, Kevin Jordan proves that you can make a moving and effective film without a Hollywood budget. The star power in this film is limited to Jane Curtin and the amazing Danny Aiello, who told us afterwards that he immediately knew the film was going to be an independent affair, but that he also immediately knew he had to do it. He thanked the director for making him feel new again, a sentiment which could only make the director beam. Saturday Sept. 10, 2005 The high profile premiere of the day was David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, which was actually one of two Canadian films that received its world premiere at Cannes earlier in the year. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, and William Hurt, A History of Violence promises to be a chilling psychological thriller about a seemingly innocent man’s mysterious past. The film is now playing in wide release and promises to be one of the year’s best. Apparently the high expectations people had for Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown proved disappointing, and supposedly the director quickly left Toronto after the screening to edit down the film to make it flow better and not seem quite as long. With Crowe, we’re always guaranteed a great soundtrack, but sometimes his films are on the overindulgent side. Still, his portrait of small town America starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst will hopefully benefit from some self-editing. We did end up seeing a film on Saturday, an afternoon screening of a film that had received its premiere the previous night, Linda Linda Linda. Linda Linda Linda Starring Bae Doona, Aki Maeda, Yu Kashii, Shiori Sekine Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita Wanting more than anything to be a part of their school’s festival, a group of Japanese schoolgirls run into problems when their guitarist injures her finger and their singer abruptly quits. The easy thing for them to have done was abandon the idea, but determined as they are to play, they set out to find a replacement. The only girl willing to give it a try is Son, a Korean exchange student who barely speaks Japanese and has never sung in her life. But the girls struggle to make it work, rehearsing day and night until the fateful day when they perform the song they have selected, “Linda Linda Linda” by 80s Japanese rock band The Blue Hearts. Anyone that’s ignorant enough to think that all Japanese films are about Asian mysticism or martial arts needs to see this film. Yamashita takes the setting of a typical teen movie and turns it into something much more meaningful. Maybe it was the private school setting and rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack, but Linda Linda Linda struck us as a Japanese Rushmore. It certainly had the awkward humor, especially from the girls’ male teacher, who seemed to sleep at the school. Although the primary music you hear in Linda Linda Linda is the Blue Hearts song from which it takes its name, it is also worth noting that former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha composed the music for this film. Page 1 2 3 4 |  |
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