I have finally seen my fav film of the festival. Its possible that I will love one on Friday or Saturday even more, at this point though my favourite film of the festival is Empty Nest (El Nido vacío). The poster really doesn't do it justice, its really not about the couple in the picture, its about the journey of the husband, how he deals with aging, his kids leaving home and generally having a midlife crisis. The director Daniel Burman is a new Woody Allen. Empty Nest calls to mind the original Woody Allen films, I felt like I was watching Annie Hall if Woody and Annie stayed together...my kind of film. But more on that later.
Ok, Day 6, saw 3 movies. Thankfully I enjoyed 2/3 a lot. The first film was Un Conte Du Noel, a fabulous French film. It was very French like the movie from the day before that I did not like, but it was the good kind of French rather then the bad. How do I differentiate...well a good French film is one which reveals bits about characters and their relationships without spelling it out to the audience, its the nuances and the quiet moments between members of the cast rather then the big, bold expressions that make it French. You are intimately involved in conversations and familial relationships without truly understanding them, but it doesn't lessen the feelings you get whilst experiencing them. The bad French is all of the above but you feel nothing while watching it, you are constantly questioning where the film is going, what does it mean, do I even care?
Un Conte De Noel stars the luminous Catherine Deneuve as a family matriarch who learns she has cancer. There has been a rift in her family between one of her sons and her only daughter who have not spoken in 6 years. Catherine asks the family to come together for the holidays so she can spend time with them, and see if any of her children or grandchildren are a match to be bone marrow donors and will be able to help her cope with her cancer. Catherine was fantastic, but the man who played her husband was so warm and genuine he holds a special place in my heart, Abel played by Jean-Paul Roussillon. The children of the family were played by Mathieu Amalric, the lead of last years Diving Bell and Butterfly, and the crazy son of the family, Anne Consigny, the daughter, and my new SUPER CRUSH
Melvil Poupaud as the youngest son. It was a warm, loving, dysfunctional, understated, confused, befuddled film that I enjoyed immensely.
The 2nd film is being called the possible People's Choice Winner of the festival, I've never actually seen the film that won the People's Choice award while the film was still showing at TIFF (I believe the award winner is announced tomorrow). The film was the new one by Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. I LOVE Danny Boyle and he was so charming and eloquent while introducing his new film, Slumdog Millionaire. He got a great introduction, of course, and he said, 'wow, that's a lot of pressure, I'm sure I won't be able to meet it now, so let me just start by saying I'm sure you'll hate my movie, its just awful...let me introduce you to the screenwriter of this awful film, and our poor two lead actors' just hilarious. The film is based on a true story of a young Indian guy from the slums of Bombay who makes it on to Who Wants to be a Millionaire and wins the grand prize of 20million rupees. The host of the game show thinks Jamal, the lead, is cheating somehow and has him arrested. The police try and coerce Jamal, not very gently mind you, into admitting that he cheated, and Jamal's life story comes out through flashbacks, from growing up in the slums to now, working as an 'errand boy' for a telemarketing company. The story is touching, a bit over dramatic, tough to watch, hilarious and lots of fun. The music was GREAT, of course, and the colours of the film were brilliant, AND the credits roll over a huge Bollywood dance sequence at a train station! How perfect is that? As I left the theatre and was walking along Gerrard street, who did I see slowly sauntering back to the theatre, late, for his Q&A, yep Danny Boyle, not a care in the world. He's just that cool.
My 3rd film was a German film, it was based on this diary turned into great book, A Woman in Berlin. My stepmother bought me a copy of A Woman in Berlin a year or two ago and I really enjoyed reading it. A very hard read its a diary written by a woman living in Berlin right after the Soviet occupation at the end of World War II. Its very graphic about many rapes and how the citizens of Berlin, mainly women, all had to make compromises with the men of Soviet Army to make their lives bearable. The film took on its own interpretation of the book and seemed to focus too much on short scenes rather then the overall theme of the book. I was a bit disappointed with the movie as it didn't capture the essence of the diary...
Ok, now for my favourite film, Empty Nest. What can I say without spoiling it...you just have to see it, to laugh while you watch it. Its a comedy, a very funny one at that. A famous playwright in Buenos Aries begins to write a play. As he sits in his armchair he looks up, waiting for his daughter to come home from an all night party, he begins to write. He looks up, keys unlock the door and we see his wife, she is suddenly aged, it pans back to the lead and he has aged as well. We learn that all 3 of their children have left home and moved half way around the world, the wife is now taking classes at the university and is deeply committed to school, and our hero is trying to get by. He, Leonardo played by Oscar Martinez, is just brilliant, the escapades he gets into, his contempt for all the writers constantly asking him to read their work. Leonardo falls for his dentist and believes his wife is involved in an affair of her own. The entire film was a wonderful romp, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, it was a true comedy, and it really was a great tribute to the original style of Woody Allen.
I had another film that I was supposed to see tonight, but after loving Empty Nest so much I couldn't do it, I didn't want to be disappointed. I will, however, awake early tomorrow, make my way down to the Ryerson for my 9am showing of Che, and prepare to sit in the theatre for 4 and a half hours!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment