TIFF Final Report

FULL REPORT – TIFF and Round Up (by Gilbert Seah)

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) officially wrapped up on September 16th, with the movie going audience of Toronto finally being able to get good decent sleep.

As usual, people ask typical questions relating to the quality of this year’s crop of films (which is: the best in a while), the current trend is (more films on war and peace)and which films are the Oscar contenders (lots here). 

I broke my records by viewing a total of 82 TIFF films over a period of 4 weeks.  Still with 349 films screened this year - that makes only 23%.  But I believe I covered most of the interesting ones and reviewed 60 or so of them.  I have consolidated all the capsule reviews and these are listed in this article.  On the other hand on the industry side, it was reported that buyers were not enthusiastic as in prior years, with most leaving on the Tuesday of the festival week.

On the whole, TIFF is a movie going experience.  We complain but we love it!  Some moments are priceless.  Example is the final Midnight Madness of A L’INTERIEUR at the Ryerson Theatre.  Beach ball was played by the audience before the film started.  When programmer Colin Geddes introduced the two French directors up on stage, one said that Colin had told him that Toronto audiences are the best in the world and he is as yet, not disappointed.  That sure got the crowd roaring as the credits rolled.

As press, we get to attend a different schedule of films classified under press and industry screenings.  For the first time this year, TIFF allowed press to pull 5 public screenings.  (Thank you, TIFF!) Attending TIFF as public as opposed to press/industry is a whole different experience, which I missed since I have been given press privileges.  Though queuing can be murderous, a chat with the next person in line fosters good festival spirit.  Though inconvenient, rushing from one theatre to another and lining up for hours do make the experience.  But the public screenings are the ones that the directors and stars introduce their film and offer a Question and Answer after.  These sessions are often eye-opening.

Listed below are the best 10 films (alphabetical order) I viewed this year:-
(The strongest entries are from France)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)
A L’interieur (Inside) (France)
Control (UK)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France)
Dr. Plonk (Australia)
L’Ennemi Intime (Intimate Enemies) (France)
Frontiere(s) (France)
Ne Touchez pas le Hache (France)
No Country for Old Men (USA)
La Zona (Mexico/Spain)

TIFF gives out prizes every year to films.
The TIFF winners this year are:-
BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM - Pool
BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM – Continental, Un Film sans Fusil
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM – My Winnipeg
DIESEL DISCOVERY AWARD - Cochochi
ARTISTIC INNOVATION AWARD - Encarnacion
PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE) – La Zona
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – Eastern Promises

60 Capsule Reviews out of the 82 films viewed at TIFF (till I could write no more….)

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND TWO DAYS (Romania 2007) ****
Directed by Cristian Mungiu
This low budget Romanian film, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND TWO DAYS deservedly won the grand prize for best film at Cannes this year.  Găbiţa (Laura Vasiliu) is pregnant and undergoes an abortion with the help of her girlfriend, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca).  Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) performs the deed, but not without problems.  The film also takes a look at the current living standards of Romania, the current social climate and the issues of relationships and of course, abortion which was illegal during the time the film is set.  Made simple with single takes mainly on a steady camera (first one is hand held though), director Mungiu demonstrates that you do not need lots of money or special effects to make a compelling, effective movie.  From the acting, carefully planned and executed segments and pacing, 4 MONTHS emerges as one of the most effective films of the festival.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (USA 2007) ****
Directed by Julie Taymor
Director Julie Taymor’s (the excellent TITUS) vision of an original film using 33 Beatles songs is a visual feast for the eyes and heavenly music to the ears.  ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is a love story of two star-crossed lovers, Jude (Jim Sturgess) from Liverpool and (Evan Rachel Wood) from Detroit.  Taymor and writers Dick Clement and Ian Frenais (THE COMMITMENTS) blend in racial riots in the U.S., the killing fields in Vietnam and peace demonstrations in the NYC.  The songs, performed with great zest, are as fresh as they were in the 60’s and Taymor’s passion for her art clearly shows.  Scenes of nude Viet girls lying alongside masks in the river waters, lovers frolicking in the dilapidated buildings by a pier and queues of dockworkers collecting their pay do not all necessarily make sense, but the images are nevertheless unforgettable.  ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is the best Beatles film ever made and sung without the BEATLES, with a fantastic soundtrack.

LES AMOURS D’ASTREE ET DE CELADON (Fr/It/Sp 2007) **
Directed by Eric Rohmer
LES AMOURS returns nouvelle vague director Eric Rohmer to his stagey period costume pieces of PERCIVAL LE GALLOIS and THE LADY AND THE DUKE.  But in spirit and narrative, LES AMOURS is more similar to his talky tales of the four seasons (TALE OF WINTER, TALE OF AUTUMN) series, in which young lovers Celadon (Andy Gillet) and Astrée (Stéphanie Crayencour) quarrel, argue and talk in and out of relationships.  LES AMOURS is a story centred on shepherds that plays like Shakespeare’s romantic comedies involving switched identities like TAMING OF THE SHREW and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.  Celadon pretends to go with another girl to please his parents during a party.  Astree notices them making out beneath a tree and jealousy leads Celadon to drown himself.  This is all romantic melodrama – 16th century-style.  But Rohmer seems to be in auto-pilot mode here.  Though the story is interesting and the actors spew out prose with ease, LES AMOURS feels laboured and weighed down.  The problem here is that the actors look uncomfortable in their costumes and heavy uttering the older French prose.  It is difficult enough for older TIFF audiences to identify with teens and hardly still to identify with teens in the 16th century.

AMAL (Canada 2007) ***1/2
Directed by Richie Mehta
AMAL Kumar (Rupinder Nagra) is a rickshaw driver in New Delhi with a heart of gold.  When he accidentally causes a young girl (Priya) to be hit by a car, Amal uses all his hard earnings to pay her hospital fees.  But an eccentric billionaire (G.K. Jayaram) who had once ridden his rickshaw recognizes this man’s humanity and leaves him a fortune, if he can be found in time.  AMAL is based on the short film of the same title expanded effectively to a full length feature.  AMAL is set in contemporary India where everyone is out to make a quick buck and where no one can be trusted.  One of the key lines, repeated in the film is that richness can be found in Amal’s poorness.  Writer/director Mehta gets his point across effectively to show that the best ending to his film need not be the happy one that normal audiences would expect.  The girl dies and Amal does not get the money.  Yet, the beauty of it all is that the audience still leaves the theatre on Cloud Nine.  Indeed, as there is richness in a poor man, there is also pleasure for the audience in non-Hollywood endings.  AMAL is a tale of virtue brilliantly told.

ANGEL (France/UK/Belg 2007) ****
Directed by Francois Ozon
ANGEL is Francois Ozon’s (LES AMANTS CRIMINELS, SITCOM) adaptation of 50’s English novelist Elizabeth Taylor story of a grocer’s daughter (Romola Garai), Angel.  Angel is a literary prodigy (if there is such a thing) and she rises to fame though she has never written a book or been anywhere.  All in my imagination… she quips.  But, Angel is a nasty little ***censored***, spoilt, arrogant and mouthy.  Garai is quite good in the role, strutting around pretty much like Traci in HAIRSPRAY.  It is difficult to like an unpleasant character like Angel.  But who cares?  In the hands of Ozon, the film works wonders.  Ozon knows camp, melodrama and plays it to the hilt.  Many surprises like the gay subtext introduced into the film 1/2 hour through in the form of her admirer, Nora (Lucy Russell).  Sheer over-the-top delight with lots of quotable choice lines!  The best scene has Angel and her publisher (Sam Neil) riding a carriage with London sights in the fake background.

THE BABYSITTERS (USA 2007) ***
Directed by David Ross
THE BABYSITTERS has the best dialogue line so far of all the films at TIFF.  “Hurry up so you can wait for me!” is how husband Michael John Leguizamo would title his wife’s biography.  Director David Ross makes an impressive feature debut about a group of babysitters led by an enterprising Shirley (Katherine Waterston) that turns work into prostitution because at $200 a pop, the easy money pays the bills.  The film works primarily because Leguizamo makes the perfect dirty husband, all nice and well behaved in front of the missus, but cracking snide remarks and screwing the babysitter and Waterston the ideal MEAN GIRL.  If not for anything else, the two are a pleasure to watch.  But THE BABYSITTERS is all over the place, beginning as a light comedy, then becoming more serious delving into MEAN GIRLS then HEATHERS territory.  The film also shifts focus of its characters from husband Michael to babysitter Shirley.  Still Ross’ film is extremely watchable as it is so full of surprises and based on a very interesting and credible topic.

BARCELONA (A MAP) (Spain 2007) **
Directed by Ventura Pons
Incest and adultery and homosexuality are intertwined in the lives of 6 characters who meet in an old apartment in Barcelona.  Yet, Ventura Pons’ (ACTRESSES, AMAT) film is neither offensive nor controversial.  The film is as flaky as its characters.  Each of the 6 characters talk too much, do not know what they want and are less interesting than they sound on paper.  Pons has directed a rather talky film in which the characters are not really related, except by chance.  Unimaginatively directed, stagey with mostly unimpressive performances made more pretentious by opening newsreel footage about the history of Barcelona.

BLIND (Netherlands 2007) **
Directed by Tamar Van Den Dop
The premise of Tamar Van Den Dop’s film BLIND is the test love between recently blind Ruben (Joren Seldeslachts) and the girl (Halina Reijn) hired to be his reader.  As Ruben gradually regains his site, Marie stays away as she is not the girl he thinks her to be.  She is 10 years older and neither beautiful.  BLIND is beautifully shot and carefully crafted but not much happens The film drags on till the final climax when the two eventually meet after Ruben regains his site.  The confrontation scene is moving.  BLIND also has minor plot flaws such as Ruben being able to read perfectly after regaining his site.  And there is no strong reason for Ruben behaving so wild in the first place.

BOY A (UK 2007) ***1/2
Directed by John Crowley
BOY A is 24 called Jack.  Released from prison from a terrible crime, Jack (Andrew Garfield) aims at a new life, with the aid of social worker, Terry (Peter Mullan).  Based on the novel by Jonathan Trigell and written for the screen by Mark Rowe, the second collaboration between Rowe and director Crowley after INTERMISSION is another assured piece of filmmaking.  The film can be considered to be two stories, one told in flashback, of Jack and the other of him as an innocent boy, led astray by a new but vicious friend.  BOY A is largely compelling as Crowley and Rowe feeds the audience only bits of information at a time letting the audience piece the bits together like a puzzle. 

THE BRAVE ONE (USA 2007) ***
Directed by Neil Jordan
The vigilante theme has been done many times before from Charles Bronson’s DEATH WATCH films to last week’s DEATH SENTENCE with Kevin Bacon.  This new entry THE BRAVE ONE, directed by Irishman Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO) updates the genre by having a female heroine (Jodie Foster) and by taking the theme much more seriously.  The script of THE BRAVE ONE (by Roderick and Bruce Taylor) has victimized NYC radio DJ, Erica (Jodie Foster) go through a character change from traumatized victim to confident killer as she uses her vocation to source out the killer. The story is also updated to the modern context – her attack is posted on the internet; another victim has his ipod stolen.  The script is admirably anti-racial.  Erica’s fiancé is African American and so is the investigating detective (Terrence Howard).  So, the film gets away with the attackers being dark (could be Hispanic as well).
THE BRAVE ONE tries hard but ultimately takes the vigilante genre too seriously.  The script contains far too much monologue – uttered as Erica speaks to herself or when she talks over the radio.  The writers also give themselves a pat on their backs by having the radio listeners praise Erica’s radio talk show.  THE BRAVE ONE eventually emerges as a film in which the action scenes are too far in between.

BREAKFAST WITH SCOT (Canada 2007) ***
Directed by Laurie Lynd
Just as the name of the film title is Scot is different and spelt with one ‘t’ so is the couple looking after the boy Scot (Noah Bernett).  The couple, Sam (Tom Cavanaugh) and Ed (Ben Shenkman) is not stereotypical gay couple. A former pro-hockey player, Sam is a straight acting sports broadcaster.  When Ed’s nephew, Scot (Noah Bernett) enters their lives following the death of the boy’s mother, things change.  Scot knits, sings musical numbers, wears make-up and kisses everyone freely.  Director Lynd’s film is intriguing for the main reason that the audience has no idea where the film is leading to – at least till the last half hour.  Charming, tearful and with winning performances, especially by the boy Noah Bernett, BREAKFAST WITH SCOT may be the best gay comedy this year.  The message is a universal one about coming to terms with oneself.  The best line in the film is uttered by Sam: “We are all a little sissy around here!” The film is also full of little surprises such as Scot learning to fight and impressing Sam with figure skating.  Also with cameos by Canadian icons like Sheila McCarthy, Graham Greene and Megan Follows.

BRICK LANE (UK 2007) ***
Directed by Sarah Gavron
Based on the novel by Monica Ali, BRICK LANE is the story of Bangladesh bride, Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) married off to a London educated man, Chanu (Satish Kaushik).  The ever so obedient Nazneen finds herself when she buys a sewing machine to make some money while falling in love with the younger and handsome Chanu (Satish Kaushik) who brings her jeans to sew.  For a small budget film, director Gavron has concocted an engrossing tale of a coming-of-rites passage of an older lady.  She brings into the backdrop current social problems like the prejudice against Muslims resulting from the 9/11 terrorist attack.  Apart from the fact that Gavron uses wee too much voiceover, she tells her story with conviction.  Actors Chatterjee and especially Kaushik deliver impressive performances.

CASSANDRA’S CROSSING (USA 2007) ***1/2
Directed by Woody Allen
Allen must be desperate for a hit.  His last film SCOOP which he starred in flopped as did most of his recent films except for MATCH POINT.  Expectedly, Allen’s CASSANDRA CROSSING follows closely to the formula of his last critical and commercial hit MATCH POINT.  For one, Allen is not in it at all.  There is little humour in it and the film is a serious murder mystery like MATCH POINT.  Allen’s story of two borthers Terery (Colin Farrell) and Ian (Ewan McGregor) are in dire straits for money.  In order to get financial aid from their rich but dodgy uncle (Tom Wilkinson), they have to commit murder.  Allen’s restraint on humour is evident with the only time he let loose being the segment where the three argue out the pros and cons of murder underneath a tree in a park.  Like in all of Allen’s films, CASSANDRA’S CROSSING is stunningly shot, this one by Oscar winner Vilmos Zsigmond.  Music is by Philip Glass.  Allen must have allowed his actors to change the dialogue as there are quite a few British terms (e.g.  simpering) or phrases (you must be joking instead of you must be kidding) that are not used in North America .A Woody Allen film, whether a flop or not, is still an annual event to look forward to.  CASSANDRA’S CROSSING is one of his better and more controlled works.

LE CEDRE PENCHE (Canada 2007) *
Directed by Rafael Oullet
The fancy French title translates to the English one MONA’S DAUGHTERS.  The film opens with the uniting of the sisters while rendering the song Ave Maria, Mere de Dieu.  It is a melodious piece and director Oullet allows the audience the time to breathe in every moment of the song.  The film traces the journey during which Brigitte (Marie Neige Chatelain) and Candide (Viviane Audet) Provencher finally complete a CD for a radio station while coming to terms with their loss.  Unfortunately, all this is as boring as it sounds.  With hand held camera and a cinema verite feel, Oullet’s film is worst than watching a neighbour’s home movie.  At least your neighbour is a familiar character.  Here, Oullet does not bother with background, character or the behaviour of the Provencher sisters.

CONTINENTAL, UN FILM SANS FUSIL (Canada 2007) **
Directed by Stephane Lafleur
The films begins with a man’s disappearance in the woods after leaving a bus.  His wife is given solace through a get well card (only card they could find) from her colleagues and from there, director Lafleur weaves together the lives of four others.  The stories are of ordinary fragile folk, which make them realistic and heartfelt.  His films works when he turns up the humour a notch or two, most of it from smart observations from daily routines that somehow appear funnier on screen.  But Lafleur’s film pacing is monotonous.  Not building up to a climax, the film eventually turns to an everyday unimpressive yawn.  The wife’s story is the most interesting pf the lot.  Fragility need not be equated with weakness and hopelessness, which is the identical theme among the 4 stories.

CONTRE TOUTE ESPERANCE (Canada 2007) ***
Directed by Bernard Emond
CONTRE TOUTE ESPERANCE (English title, SUMMIT CIRCLE) is director Emond’s second film of a trilogy dealing with the virtues of faith, hope and charity. SUMMIT CIRCLE tells the story, in flashback of the events leading to a blood stained woman’s arrest.  The woman turns out to be an ordinary, quietly attractive wife, (Guylaine Tremblay) forced by fate to see her current life get from bad to worse to unbearable.  It all begins well when she and her husband (Guy Jodoin) purchase a beautiful home by a river in a Montreal suburb.  Then she loses her job, her husband becomes an invalid, depression sets in and so on.  Emond’s film like his first, LA NEUVAINE (THE NOVENA) moves at a snail’s pace giving the effect of the events unfolding in real time.  Still, he manages to jolt the audience out of their seats occasionally.  Emond is more interested here in the emotions, actions and behaviour of his protagonist rather than the storyline.  Tremblay delivers a subdued yet moving performance that keeps the film interesting.  Yes, and the audience does care for her character.

CONTROL (UK 2007) ***** Top 10
Directed by Anton Corbijn
Based on the book WALKING AWAY FROM SILENCE, CONTROL is the story of Ian Curtis (Michael Riley), the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led him to commit suicide at the age of 23.  Filmed in black and white and set in 70’s Manchester, CONTROL has a real feel of the times and passion of the band’s lead singer thanks to details of costumes, props down to the minute mannerisms and actions of the actors.  The way Curtis and his wife (Samantha Morton) cuddle while walking under his cloak reminds one of scenes right out of a 70’s Brit movie.  It helps that the music is fantastic as well.  As the music of Joy Division is easy to play, the actors actually performed the songs on stage.  CONTROL, which is director Corbijn’s first feature film, won special mention at Cannes this year.  A remarkable and moving feature that demands to be seen!  The film has an odd shift from Ian’s music to his infidelity though the second half of the film slowly blends the two issues together.

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (France 2007) ***** Top 10
Directed by Julian Schnabel
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLION, based on the memoir by Jean-Dominque Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) is a brilliantly shot (by Janusz Kaminski) incredibly moving film about Jean-Do’s life.  Jean-Do is a successful fashion magazine editor who wakes up one day totally paralyzed from a stroke.  He is only able to move one eyelid (the other sewn shut to prevent it getting septic), blinking once for yes and twice for no.  The film tells of his rehab to the writing of his memoir.  Writer/director Schnabel (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, BASQUIAT) wisely films his story from Jean-Do’s (as he calls himself) point of view, the camera lens replacing the protagonist’s one eye.  The screen often goes black once or twice as the protagonist communicates his answers whether affirmative or negative.  DIVING BELL takes an hour to document the rehabilitation and the other hour to describe what happens after.  What makes the film tick is Schnabel’s portrait of Jean-Do as a man full of human failings.  He is a womanizer before his stroke and even after, he insists on seeing his mistress despite the fact that the wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) who he has left, selflessly attends to his needs.  The agony, regrets, frustration and achievements are well documented cinematically.  Director Schnabel deservedly won the best direction award at Cannes for this remarkable piece of humanity on film.

DR. PLONK (Australia 2007) ****
Directed by Rolf de Heer
The sky is falling!  Chicken Little in this case is DR. PLONK (Nigel Lunghi) and the year is 1907.  DR. PLONK has proven by mathematics that the world will end in 2007.  No one believes him.  So he, with the help of his time machine, his deaf assistant (Paul Blackwell), plump wife (Magda Szubanksi) and object fetching dog travel to 2007 to obtain proof that the world will end.  If this all sounds silly, director (TEN CANOES) generates even more laughs by telling his story in silent, black and white form using a hand cranked camera from the good old days.  DR. PLONK works because his film looks exactly like the old silent films – only that this one is better and more entertaining.  De Heer understands movement, comedy, moustaches and coat-tails.  The result is a surprisingly original entertaining that will likely become the sleeper hit of the festival.  Credit goes especially to Graham Tardif whose delightful score integrates the action onscreen perfectly.

EASTERN PROMISES (Canada/UK 2007) ***
Directed by David Cronenberg
Following close to the heels of his last hit A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (and also starring Viggo Mortensen), Cronenberg’s latest TIFF entry centres on the Russian mafia in London.  Mortensen plays the mysterious Nikolai, chauffeur and confidante to ruthless chief, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and unstable son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel).  Nikolai’s conscience is put to the test when he discovers an infant is about to be murdered during Christmastide.  One wishes EASTERN PROMISES to be as taut and violent as Cronenberg’s HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and SPIDER, but EASTERN PROMISES suffers from an ending that begs for a more exciting and satisfactory climax.  Still, PROMISES shows Cronenberg in top form – from his images, play on ambiguities and build-up of suspense.  The fight in the London Finbury Park sauna will surely go down in movie history to be one of the grittiest.  It is also an odd pleasure to hear Dane Mortensen, German Mueller-Stahl and French Cassel don Russian accents.

L’ENNEMI INTIME (INTIMATE ENEMIES) (France 2007) *****Top 10
Directed by Florent –Emilio Siri
The beginning shot of a two scorpions fighting on the soldier’s corpse indicates the detail and craft of director Florent –Emilio Siri’s film.  INTIMATE ENEMIES is set in 1959 Algeria.  France sent troops to quell the Algerian rebels so that Algeria can remain a part of French.  As everyone knows, this is a useless war with wasted casualties on both sides as Algeria would eventually become independent.  The film begins with military operations stepped up in the mountains of Kalylia where a rookie lieutenant, Terrien (Benoit Magimel) takes command over a platoon run by the cynical and much more experienced sergeant Dougnac (Albert Dopontel).  The INTIMATE ENEMIES of the title imply that the new lieutenant has more enemies in the platoon than the outside rebels, known as fellaghas or the FLNs.  Through three battles/assignments, director Siri brings the audience to identify with the men in the platoon as well as the two leads (the sergeant and lieutenant), the folly of the war and men’s breaking point.  The film takes no sides, offering mindless slaughter and torture performed by both the French and fellaghas sides.  The film ends with one of the soldiers screening his home made film shot of the platoon during Christmas time.  If the images of many of the young faces of the soldiers (then dead) in that film do not wring tears in your eyes, nothing will. 

FADOS (Spain 2007) ***
Directed by Carlos Saura
Master dance film director Carlos Saura (TANGO) tackles FADO in his latest song/dance film.  FADO is one of the oldest forms of urban folk music.  Director Saura traces its evolution from early to contemporary times through 5 minute segments from the film’s start to finish.  He climaxes his film with Fado Flamenco blending Fado with his specialty, the flamenco dance.  For this film, the audience has just to sit back and enjoy the music and dance.  The film features performances from FADO legends as Mariza and Carlos do Carmo.

LA FILLE COUPEE EN DEUX (France 2007) ****
Directed by Claude Chabrol
TIFF boasts three French novella vague (new wave) directors.  Claude Chabrol is one of my most admired film directors with Hitchcock like suspense murder mysteries as LE CRI DE HIBOU, POULET ET VINAIGRE and INSPECTEUR LAVARDIN.  THE GIRL CUT IN TWO contains the classic Chabrol characters – the suave super efficient attorney, the over-protective wealthy mother, the rejected spoilt son, flirting sisters and the innocent heroine caught in between.  Set in the countryside around Lyon, a pretty young fille, Gabrielle (Ludivine Sagnier) falls for a much older lover, the famous writer, Charles Saint-Denis (Francois Berléand) who happens to be married.  Though a flirt, Charles ditches Gabrielle to return to his wife (Valeria Cavalli).  Gabrielle ends up marrying a rich spoilt brat, Paul Geudens (Benoît Magimel also in L’ENNEMI INTIME screened at TIFF).  Jealousy leading to murder (Chabrol is best at this) ultimately follows.  LA FILLE is shot with all the elegant stylishness of Chabrol’s best works and is reminiscent mostly of LE CRI DE HIBOU and the CHAMPAGNE MURDERS.  Wickedly entertaining!

FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE (Austria 2007) ****
Directed by Antonin Svoboda
Three men are trapped on a remote road in their car in the midst of darkness.  They are later discovered by an angelic boy who turns out to be pure evil.  It takes an hour or so in this 88 minute film before the car plunges into the woods.  It is clear then that director Svoboda’s film is not a horror flick involving a battle of wills.  It is rather difficult to classify the kind of genre this film falls into.  For one, Svoboda takes his time to show his audience just how irritating his characters are.  One is a little talented accordion performer who tells bad jokes and abuses his audience.  Another is a drunk who attends his sister’s book opening only to hit at the ladies after.  If not at each others throats, his characters are screaming and annoying the audience.  Svoboda’s film is fresh, edgy, never boring and impressively shot, down to the mechanical details.  The segment of a field mouse scurrying through the car’s electronics system is brilliantly done.  FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE (as the title implies) might not take its protagonists anywhere, but it jolts its audience with quite the hell ride.  This is the most satisfying annoying film of the festival.  Existential loathing is the term Svoboda uses to describe his characters.

FLASH POINT (HK 2007) ***
Directed by Wilson Yip
Donnie Yen is the fight choreographer (HERO) and star of fist action power film FLASH POINT.  Yen plays hot-headed cop, Jun.  Together with his partner, Wilson (Louis Koo), who after infiltrated a drug gang undercover, they pursue brothers Tony (Collin Chou) and Tiger (Yu Xing).  “My duty as a cop is to catch thieves.” Jun’s words ring true as the film proves his point.  High octane car chases, kung-fu action and foot chases are piled one after the other.  Director Yip adds in a bit of emotions to the actioner in the form of mothers – that of Jun and off the drug brothers.  Action fans will not be disappointed with this midnight madness entry.  The climatic fight between hero and villain is an exciting 15 minutes of violent, blood filled, old-fashioned one on one combat without use of CGI. 

FRONTIERE(S) (France 2007) ****
Directed by Xavier Gens
Yasmina (Karina Testa) wants to make a better life for herself.  She and her gang of thieves escape the slums but encounter the savage neo-Nazi Von Geisler gang.  A combination of SAW, MISERY, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and DEVIL’S REJECTS movies, the French prove once again that they know how to get this genre done right.  Director Xavier Gens gets his audience rooting for his heroine, Yasmina even though she is no perfect lady.  FRONTIERE(S) contains more blood and gore than any horror flick as far as I can remember but the film works.  The best scene (at the end) has Yasmina all bloodied up after chopping her pursuer with an axe and pushing him on to a rotating circular saw.  Gens got even us hard hearted critics cheering!

FUGITIVE PIECES (Canada/Greece 2007) **
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa
Based on the novel by Anne Michaels, FUGITIVE PIECES, the opening night gala for TIFF, is a lyrical sometimes moving film about loss, love and redemption.  Directed by Jeremy Podeswa (he last made the Cannes hit, THE FIVE SENSES in 1999), the film is beautifully shot, slow paced and full of flashbacks and inter-cut stories.  After young Jakob Beer witnesses his parents murdered and sister abducted, he is rescued and moved to Greece by archaeologist, Athos (Rade Sherbedgia).  When Jakob (Stephen Dillane) grows up, he and Attos emigrate to Canada, where Jakob comes to terms with his loss and falls in love.  All this is fine, but the flashbacks are at times too many with flashback inter-cuts sometimes causing some confusion.  The narrative contains too many conveniences - the job Attos has at the University of Toronto; the girl Jacob meets to rekindle his feeling; the new neighbours being Jewish and also musically inclined etc.  If one is to complain that too many films have already been made on the holocaust, Podeswa’s film has the answer to that in a line of dialogue that insists that all those who have lived through those times have to, as human beings.

I AM FROM TITOV VELES (Macedonia 2007) **
Directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska
TITOV VELES is a small industrial village poisoned by the fumes of a steel factory that spews fumes into the air.  The film is the story of three sisters, told from the poin t of view (why?) of the youngest 27 year old who refuses to speak.  Each searches for a better life, which means leaving the village at all costs.  TITOV VELES is beautifully shot, considering its mainly barren surroundings.  Director Mitevska tracks her shots and positions her camera well.  Unfortunately, she neglects to put in more realism into the characters who seem to flow in and out of scenes like images in a landscape.  It is difficult to feel for a film if we hardly have enough background given to the characters for us to care for them.

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (USA 2007) ***
Directed by Paul Haggis
It is IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH that young David defeated Goliath of the Philistines.  Oscar winning scriptwriter Paul Haggis delivers a compelling tale of a desperate father, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones) searching for the truth of what happened to his son (Jonathan Tucker) who disappeared after returning from Iraq.  With the help of the local police detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), Hank discovers his son had been murdered.  Haggis’ script is the film’s strength.  Haggis shows imperfections in all his characters, showing them to be human beings.  The first half is monotonously paced but Haggis picks up the action in the second half.  He plays too with his narrative.  At the film’s start, a salesman tells Hank that he has to trust someone when asked if the gadget he bought fitted.  Later on, Haggis shows that on the contrary, Hank cannot trust anyone.  While watching MILLION DOLLAR BABY which was written by Paul Haggis, I wondered what the film’s message or theme was as the film progressed.  It felt that it was redemption at one point, then proving (or being) ones true self at another point before it settled to be an old fashioned love story between boxing trainer Clint Eastwood and his protégé Hilary Swank.  VALLEY OF ELAH which Haggis wrote and directed has the same feel of shifting themes as Hank searches for the truth.  The climax of the film, to me, is discovering what he intends to relate to his audience.  Not to spoil it what it is, this message relayed is a wickedly unpopular truth that nevertheless packs quite the powerful punch.

INTO THE WILD (USA 2007) ***
Directed by Sean Penn
Based on the non fiction book by Jon Krakauer, Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD traces the life of Christopher McCandless, a college graduate who gave it all up to pack up and go INTO THE WILD.  The film plays like a fairy tale in which the protagonist, Christopher (Emile Hirsch) takes a journey where he meets an assortment of people in order to learn how to love and hence be comfortable with himself and life once again.  Penn’s tale is a meandering one with highs of laughter and lows of tears and hardship.  Penn often allows his actors a free hand to do their thing – Vince Vaughn in particular hams up in his scenes – but it is in the controlled ones when the film is in its most effective.  The discussion on life between his adoptive grandfather (the excellent Hal Holbrook not seen in films for almost a decade) and Christopher is one of them.  The main trouble of INTO THE WILD is that though the film is gripping and brimming with emotions, the assembly of the flashbacks (the time reference being the time he sets up home in the magic bus) is at times clumsy.  One wonders why filmmakers insist ever so often to film in non chronological order.

IT’S A FREE WORLD (UK/Germ/It/Sp 2007) ***
Directed by Ken Loach
Director Ken Loach always has some relevant statement to make in his movies. In IT’S A FREE WORLD, he tackles illegal immigrants in London that provide a cheap pool of labour.  Single mother, blonde and pretty Angie (Kierston Wareing) is fed up and opens a recruiting agency with her best mate, Rose (Juliet Ellis).  They decide to hire cheaper labour with no papers until they run into major payment problems.  Though no less important a topic than his last year’s Palm d’Or winner THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, FREE WORLD finds the veteran director in lighter mood.  He turns up the seriousness a few notches up in the second half by having his heroine beaten up and her son kidnapped.  As in his other movies, he takes in too many subplots than he can chew but he does stage compelling confrontation set pieces.  While he provides no solutions to the problem, he at least keeps audiences aware and thinking of this social problem.

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB (USA 2007)