TIFF Capsule Reviews (Last lot ) Vol. 2 Issue #2

The set of TIFF capsule reviews Vol #1, Issue #5 and this set make up the full complete set of TIFF capsule reviews for 2009.

Capsule Reviews:

ACCIDENT (HK 2009) ***
Directed by Soi Cheang

ACCIDENT is a meticulously executed thriller about a gang of professional assassins that stage a killing in the form of an accident.  But when something goes viably wrong during their next job, the brain (Louis Koo) suspects something amiss and that an accident has been planned for them.  He goes into action taking reciprocating steps.  Director Cheang’s film takes a while to get a solid footing but once the audience is aware of what is happening, the film moves briskly and efficiently towards its unpredictable conclusion.  One problem is the credibility of the little events that add up to the final killing.

BUNNY & THE BULL (UK 2009) ***
Directed by Paul King

Just when you thought agoraphobic Stephen Turnbull (Edward Hogg) was crazy, his friend Bunny (Simon Farnaby) is even more and the one that put Stephen there in the first place.  But the craziness is all in the head of director Paul King whose imaginative mind concocted this somewhat mixed movie.  The film basically retraces the duo’s road trip in Europe.  Bunny encounters a bull in Spain and hence the title.  Combining zany antics (the humor occasionally Monty Pythonish) with animation, King has created quite the fascinating and original idea.  Lots of laughs with the biggest one occurring when a tramp drinks doggy milk right from the animal, teats and all!  But the film, like the early Monty Python films, is all over the place with a few dragging segments that could be done away with.  Still, BUNNY & THE BULL is refreshing comedy!

CELL 211 (Spain/France 2009) *****
Directed by Daniel Monzon

The first 5 minutes of CELL 211 graphically displaying a suicide by the slitting of a prisoner’s wrists in a toilet bowl sets the tone of the director Monzon’s uncompromising film about the situation of Spanish jails.  Played as a suspense thriller, CELL 211 sets a message about humanitarian treatment, loyalty and betrayal.  The story centres on a new prison guard, Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann) who by accident is left in CELL 211 when a riot occurs.  Mistaken as another prisoner, Juan develops a relationship with the riot’s violent leader Malamadre (Luis Tosar).  But negotiations go haywire when Juan’s pregnant wife is accidentally killed by the guards and Juan takes the prisoners side demanding prison reforms.  Tosar delivers an unforgettable performance of the riot leader intent on keeping a tough image as does Ammmann as a sane man who finally loses it.  But CELL 211 is a director’s film, compelling from start to finish.  Monzon won the Spanish Goya award for Best New Director for his first feature HEART OF THE WARRIOR.  CELL 211 proves that Monzon is a director to watch for the future.

LES DERNEIRS JOURS DU MONDES (France/Spain/Taiwan 2009) **
Directed by Arnaud Larriey and Jean-Marie Larrieu

The English title, THE END OF THE WORLD, could refer to either the literal end of the world as it is happening on screen or the end of the world to Robinson (Mathieu Amalric) as his world falls apart.  Robinson has a prosthetic hand fixed to his arm, the reason explained later in the film.  He is chasing a very young and free-spirit Lae (Omahyra Mota) while flirting with his father’s lover (Catherine Frot) after his wife (Karin Viard) leaves him.  The film takes place initially on Wednesday July the 4th, though the year is not mentioned.  It becomes apparent that the directors are not intent to reveal the actual year or what the real happenings are causing the chaos on screen.  The last July the 4th (I checked) that fell on a Wednesday was 2007 and the next 2012, so I presume that the year is most likely 2012 as a few of the current events involve the Middle East.  The film follows the misadventures of Robinson as the world moves towards its end.  But the French still drink wine and wear the best clothes.  Amalric is the only reason the film is watchable.  Even the always excellent Catherine Frot looks ridiculous in her multiple roles here.  She plays a crazed madwoman who eventually slits he own throat during a ballet performance.  And the diva is a gay opera singer played by Sergei Lopez in perhaps the worst role of his career.

THE DOUBLE HOUR (Italy 2009) ***
Directed by Giuseppe Capotondi

Director Capotondi mixes thriller, ghost story and romance in an assured debut feature telling the story of Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport) a moody chambermaid in a Turin hotel.  She meets an equally moody Guido (Filippo Timi) on a speed dating service.  But something is not right in the relationship or with her, period.  Rappoport delvies an impressive performance as the troubled female garnishing her the Venice Film Festival award for Best actress.  THE DOUBLE HOUR refers to the timing on a watch like 20:20 which has a special significance in the film.  It also signifies the director as one to watch in the future!

THE JONESES (USA 2009) ****
Directed by Derrick Borte

Steve (David Duchovny), Kate (Demi Moore), Jenn (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) are the Joneses.  They are the dream family who have just moved into the neighbourhood.  Each is good-looking, sexy, smart and good in bed and sports.  They all wear nice clothing and own the latest gadgets.  But something is wrong when Kate who sleeps in different bedrooms with Steve sneaks into his bed only to find the daughter there with him.  Not to spoil the plot of THE JONESES, Derrick Borte’s debut film (which he produced, wrote and directed) is an excellent piece demonstrating his storytelling and observational skills.  The film is split into 3 parts – the set-up; the big problem that arises and the third.  The third part does not involve the solution at all.  Instead Borte takes his audience on a ride in a totally different direction that involves lots of humour as well as tragedy.  Very entertaining and I must admit the most surprising film with a message Borte has sneaked in as well.

KAMUI (Japan 2009) **
Directed by Yoichi Sai

Thankfully, the big screen adaptation of the seventies manga Kamui Gaiden is not animated but full live action.  Director Yoichi Sai’s tale of a ninja reject on the run is spectacular on screen – from the special effects, cinematography fight choreography and filming techniques including underwater photography, thanks largely to his visual style.  Unfortunately, his narrative is a mess, jumping all over the place with unconnected segments and characters appearing often out of nowhere.  KAMUI (heartthrob Kenichi Matsuyama) is a skilled ninja living in the hierarchical society of 17th century Japan.  He befriends Hanbei who chops off the leg of the horse belonging to a Lord leading him deeper and deeper into trouble.  KAMUI is filled with lots of fights, action and quite the amount of blood and gore.  Animal lovers will be flabbergasted at the matter-of-fact slaughter of sharks and other creature of the sea.  KAMUI has the feel of a matinee adventure for the family though the content is clearly not for children.

THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK (Netherlands 2009) **
Directed by Alex Van Warmerdam

Emma Blank is dying.  The immediate family members led by her husband as chief butler serve her till her dying days.  The trouble is that it is taking too long.  Everyone is cranky, but most of all Emma who never seems to be satisfied.  This is perfect material for some bedroom farce, and indeed some occurs.  But the comedy is delivered so straight-faced that it is difficult to tell whether certain segments are funny or not.  Nothing, for example why the family agree to serve her in this manner, is explained which results in a film in which no one really cares about the characters.  If only Emma would have died earlier!

LEBANON (Israel/Germany 2009) ***
Directed by Samuel Maoz

Writer/director Samuel Maoz based LEBANON on his true adventures of his days during the Lebanon war.  The film follows four soldiers during the 1st day of the war.  They are soldiers in the tank division.  When sent on a seemingly harmless first mission, things go terribly wrong.  Civilians are killed by accident; their tank is hit while they get lost on the way.  Maoz’s film is understandably claustrophobic with most of the scenes shot from the tank gunner’s point of view.  The film lacks a strong narrative oe any idea to tie the events together.  The result is a film that though riveting fails to keep attention after a while.  But LEBANON was garnished the Venice Film Festival most prestigious prize for Best Picture.  To his credit, Maoz’s film contains many remarkable closed shots of confined spaces. 

LIFE DURING WARTIME (USA 2009) ***
Directed by Todd Solondz

A sequel to the ultra disturbing HAPPINESS which had characters like a pedophile and sex phone operator, naughty boy director Todd Solondz’s LIFE DURING WARTIME is not bad a movie.  The atmosphere of the HAPPINESS is still present with sarcasm in the forefront of every sequence.  One problem with LIFE DURING WARTIME is the fact that most audiences would probably have not seen HAPPINESS and even if they did (I did twice), can hardly recall that much about the characters or their dialogue.  Thus, much will be missed when viewing this film though much of it will still be comprehensible.  The best segment is still belongs to the pedophile’s (this time played by Ciaran Hinds) as he returns to disrupt the family’s normal life.  But normality is prevented from the haunting of the deed that will never run away.  Funny, black to morbid and frightening accurate to a degree.

LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS (USA 2009) **
Directed by Don Roos

Director Roos’ latest feature bears many similarities with his best feature THE OPPOSITE OF SEX.  In fact, LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS may be appropriately titled THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE.  Both films are dramas with death in the background allowing touches of black sardonic comedy.  But while THE OPPOSITE OF SEX went straight out for black comedy, LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS heads for sentimentality.  The story concerns Emilia Greenleaf (Natalie Portman) trying to connect with her stepson William (Charlie Tahan) after winning Jack (Scott Cohen) away from his wife Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow).  If this is not already too much, the couple face the death of their baby daughter.  Roos’ film only picks up whenever Kudrow shows up on screen reminding how great an actress she is and what this love lacks compared to THE OPPOSITE OF SEX which also starred Kudrow.  The film’s message that a failed wife or a failed father can also be good people fails to hit the point home.

MAO’S LAST DANCER (Australia 2009) ***
Directed by Bruce Beresford

Aussie director Bruce Beresford’s (DRIVING MISS DAISY, DON’S PARTY) ambitious dance epic is based on the true story of dancer Li (Chi Cao) who stayed back in the U.S. and refused to return to China.  Beresford takes his time to weave his tale, incorporating scenes in China of his mother and father suffering as well as devoting large amounts of time towards Li’s training.  The film is at its most effective when the Chinese and American authorities argue on Li’s future.  It is clear that ‘human rights’ is the crucial issue in the film but Beresford allows his film to sink into sentimentality towards the end.  Enough of close ups of faces with tears already!  Newcomer Chi Caio does a marvelous job as the confused dancer and the dance sequences are nothing short of spectacular.  Beresford also provides shots of Russian defectors Baryshnikov and Nureyev to emphasize his point.

THE MISFORTUNATES (Belgium 2009) ***
Directed by Felix van Groeningen

The poor misfortunate of the film is Gunther Strobbe (Kenneth Vanbaeden), a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in the eighties, living in a household of drunks, led by his father postman.  Gunther is regularly abused by his father to the point that the grandmother reports him.  But the Strobbes keep it together no matter what.  Director
Groeningen spends a good first half of the film on the family’s drunken antics which may be amusing to some.  But these are largely politically incorrect actions like girl beating, drunken driving, bird shooting and singing filthy female degrading songs.  But the film takes a turn for the better when Groeningen makes some sense amidst all the chaos.  THE MISFORTUNATES has been selected as the Belgian entry for next year’s Best Foreign Film.  It may be too harsh a film for the Academy voters to like but the film does occasionally contain a certain charm.

MY DOG TULIP (USA 2009) ****
Directed by Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger

Sometimes love really is a ***censored***.  MY DOG TULIP is a really sweet retrospective account of a single man who rescues an ill-treated Alsatian to find her becoming the ideal companion of his life.  Hand drawn animation using computer technology in which no paper was used (as the credits say) tells the story.  The film works in two ways – one in educating the viewer, especially those who do not own or are unfamiliar with the canine species and the other a tale of two soul mates who communicate in different ways.  The most moving segment involves Tulip no sleeping inn his Master’s room one night.  Based on the novel by J. R. Ackerley, the story is set in Britain with the voices of Christopher Plummer sporting a Brit accent as the Master, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini.  MY DOG TULIP, an ode to man’s best friend would probably have trouble finding distribution or a solid audience as the content is very adult in nature though it deals with a family theme.

PANIQUE AU VILLAGE (A TOWN CALLED PANIC) (Belg/Fr/Lux 2009) ****
Directed by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar

This is the silliest piece of stop-motion animated nonsense to be shown ever at a midnight madness screening.  A family made up of Horse, Cowboy and Indian with appearances of thief bats, Santa Claus, flying cows, and 50 million bricks.  But A TOWN CALLED PANIC is the funniest film I have seen so far at TIFF.  Based on the manic TV series by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, the hilarity of their characters fortunately holds on the big screen.  It all starts when Cowboy and Indian decide to get Horse a cardeau for his birthday.  After all, what is a birthday without a gift?  So, when ordering 50 bricks on line, the ‘0’ key gets stuck and 50,000,000…..0000 bricks get delivered.  They hide the mistake by piling the bricks above their abode, which obviously collapses during the night.  PANIQUE AU VILLAGE has to be seen to be believed, imagination gone totally out of control, but in the most delectable way!

A SINGLE MAN (USA 2009) ****
Directed by Tom Ford

Fashion designer Tom Ford hit it super big with his debut feature A SINGLE MAN based on the 60’s Christopher Isherwood novel about love and a gay man’s grief about loss.  The film made the first $1,000,000 deal at the Toronto International Film Festival making Ford a happy man.  Buzz on the film started flying at TIFF after Colin Firth garnered the Best Actor Award at the Best Actor Award early this week.  All screenings were sold out and it was close to impossible to get into one of the press/industry screenings.  TIFF added an extra one last minute at on the bigger TIFF screening venues.  Though not perfect a film, Ford’s thoughtful and intelligent film is arguably one of the most moving films of the festival.  50ish Brit professor who now teaches at Stanford, George Falconer (Firth) has just suffered the death of his partner (Mathew Goode) of 16 years.  While pondering suicide (a few subtly humourous scenes included in the process), George has a fling with a stalking student (gorgeous Nicholas Hoult providing appropriate nudity), an ex-love interest and best friend Charley (Julianne Moore) and a Spanish John Travolta look-alike rent-boy.  While all this is going on, Ford effectively creates the mood and atmosphere of the gay repression of the times through both the film’s setting and the characters’ dialogue and behaviour.  Though made up of primarily a few super charged and brilliantly executed set-pieces, Ford’s film has the problem of a smooth flow though the events all take place within a short period of George’s life. Needless to say, the man’s wardrobe in the film (some designed by Ford himself) is nothing short of stunning!  Though A SINGLE MAN contains no sex scenes, Ford’s film is the sexiest of the festival! 

SOLOMON KING (Fr/Czech/UK 2009) ***
Michael J. Bassett

A milder medieval action adventure though just as violent but without the sex from the creator of CONAN THE BARBARIAN.  The anti-hero here is SOLOMON KING (James Purefoy), unshaven and always draped in black who has sold his soul to the devil.  But Kane redeems himself saving his people from the evil forces of Malachi and the devil itself.  Bassett’s film is all dark and gloomy in look leaving a monotonous feel especially during the first half.  The action picks up during the second half with the excellent action scenes.  But the devil himself looks like something right out of Michael Bay’s TRANSFORMERS.  The film is backed by a solid supporting cast of Jason Flemyng, Pete Postlethwaite and Max von Sydow.

THE WAITING CITY (Australia 2009) **
Directed by Claire McCarthy

This is not the second time India gets thrashed by the Aussies. Jane Campion demonstrated (hilariously) within the first 10 minutes of HOLY SMOKE that India is NOT the place to visit or even stop-over.  Here , the waiting city is Calcutta so nicknamed as an Australian couple Ben (Joel Edgerton) and Fiona (Radha Mitchell) spend endless days waiting to adopt a child.  In the meantime, they discover problems in their marriage.  McCarthy’s film appears staged especially when Ben rebukes his wife’s advances for sex.  The couple turn toward their Indian guide, who as expected spews out spiritual advice as if he was the Hindu God himself.  The tagged-on happy ending does not help much either.  But McCarthy eases up and finally shows India as a place worthy of a visit.