The 12th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival unspools November 12–16 and the schedule announced yesterday features more than 50 films from 14 countries. I have to admit that I’m not particularly knowledgeable about the breadth of Asian cinema, so I’ll need a little more time to research the lineup (and consult with my more well-versed colleagues), but one film I have heard something about is the Closing Night Gala. Tenten (Adrift in Tokyo) sounds like just the sort of off-kilter Japanese film I enjoy. Takemura, a “shambolic and wild-haired loser” takes a walk across Tokyo with a debt collector, creating what sounds like an intriguing take on the road movie (and the buddy picture as well).
I’ll be digging more into the program in the weeks to come, and will add to my picks here. If you’re going to Reel Asian, what looks good to you?
Tagged as:
#reelasian08,
japan
Despite being saddled with a rather goofy name, the Eh! U European Film Festival is worthy of being included in your film calendar for a number of reasons:
- Participation from 24 European countries might make this the most comprehensive local survey of European film apart from TIFF
- Stretches over two full weeks in late November, when my film festival schedule is otherwise clear.
- Though it’s been around since 2004, it seems to be finally coming into its own, screening a combination of festival hits, prize winners and undiscovered gems.
- Best of all, all screenings are completely FREE, thanks to the sponsorship of the various consulates, embassies and cultural institutes.
I’m particularly excited about the lineup this year, which has a number of high-profile films I’d missed at previous festivals. To wit:
- France: Entre les murs (The Class) — This Palme d’Or winner never actually made it to TIFF this year, so I’m delighted it’s coming to Toronto in a free screening.
- Ireland: A Film With Me In It — The presence of Dylan Moran (Black Books) is reason enough to see this black comedy.
- Poland: Katyn — From Polish master Andrzej Wajda (Ashes and Diamonds), the story of the massacre of Polish intellectuals and army officers by the Red Army in 1940. Wajda, now 82, has said he’s waited many years to make this film, and only now has the political climate and relationship between Poland and Russia made it possible. This is sure to be be an emotional screening if members of Toronto’s large Polish community attend.
- Portugal: Colossal Youth (Juventude em Marcha) — Pedro Costa’s 2006 film was written about in all the film magazines but has so far been an elusive screening around here.
- Germany: And Along Come Tourists (Am Ende kommen Touristen) — I remember this playing TIFF in 2007. Intriguing subject matter: A young German is assigned to Auschwitz to perform his civil service and must care for an elderly Polish Holocaust survivor who never left the camp.
- Denmark: The Art of Crying (Kunsten at græde i kor) — Another 2007 TIFF selection, this film is the story of a very dysfunctional family, seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Allan.
And those are only the films I’m already familiar with. Boasting such a strong lineup this year, and at an unbeatable price, Eh! U looks like a can’t miss event.
Tagged as:
#euff08,
denmark,
europeanfilmfestival,
france,
germany,
ireland,
poland,
portugal
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008, Director: Mike Leigh): I’ve been a fan of Mike Leigh since I first saw Life is Sweet back in 1991. He’s a director who has a knack for telling small stories about people who are usually overlooked. With Happy-Go-Lucky, his ninth feature, he turns his attention to Poppy, a preschool teacher living in North London with an unusually sunny outlook on life. Sally Hawkins plays the Pollyanna-ish Poppy with just the right touch. It’s a role that could easily slip into annoying territory, but Hawkins gives us a real sense that for Poppy, optimism is not the same thing as naïveté. Despite her goofy wardrobe and slightly ADHD demeanour, she can see the pain and violence in the world around her. In her work as a teacher, she has to deal with one of her students bullying his classmates, and when the boy confesses that he’s being beaten at home, her eyes register the blow even as her smile stays fixed.
Parallelling that small example is the more significant character of Scott (Eddie Marsan), her uptight driving instructor. It’s clear that he’s a bit of an emotional timebomb, and it’s no surprise that her sunny outlook makes him seethe. Though it’s played for laughs at the beginning, by the end of the film the darkness has crept dangerously close and Poppy is left a little bit staggered, though we know she’ll pick herself up. It’s almost as if her happiness is genetic. And the film actually got me thinking about whether certain people are just genetically (chemically?) predisposed to optimism or pessimism.
Though I love Eddie Marsan, his character is a bit one-dimensional, so I was glad that Alexis Zegerman, playing Poppy’s flatmate Zoe, does such a fine job providing some ballast to her relentless optimism, while managing not to look like a killjoy.
Though I generally enjoyed the film, the storytelling is surprisingly clumsy in a few places. For instance, a long scene featuring Poppy and a homeless man felt out of place and unnecessary. And given the episodic nature of the story, it could easily have been trimmed. Another criticism of the film I’ve read is that many of the characters have essentially already appeared in Leigh’s films. Poppy reminded me of Alison Steadman’s character in Life is Sweet, and Eddie Marsan has been compared to David Thewlis in Naked. Despite these echoes, the film succeeds because it provides a new situation and new interactions between these types of people. The rather less-than-Pollyanna conclusion seems to be that some people are just happy, and some may never be.
Official site of the film
Trailer
(7/10)
Tagged as:
uk
Vienna’s international film festival, the Viennale also begins this weekend and runs from October 17–29. Apart from giving me an excuse to post an image of the very cool poster, it also alerted me to the existence of Austrian documentarian Erwin Wagenhofer’s new film. Entitled Let’s Make Money, it promises to be a timely exploration of how the financial industry has reached all around the world, putting the security of the whole world at risk. Both screenings are already sold out, and I’m hopeful this will make it to Toronto by the 2009 version of Hot Docs, or hopefully, even sooner. Doc Soup programmers, are you listening?
Tagged as:
austria,
vienna,
viennale
Since getting back from Reykjavik, I have been insanely busy and this year’s Toronto After Dark film festival has sort of snuck up on me. One of the most well-organized small fests I’ve attended, this annual showcase for “horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema” is now in its third year. And despite my continuing overscheduling, I’m desperately hoping to find some time to catch a few screenings. The fest runs from October 17–24 (yes, it starts tomorrow!), and all screenings take place at the Bloor Cinema (Bloor and Bathurst). Here are a few films that caught my eye (ew, that sounds so much gorier when talking about a festival like this one):
Of course, my plans and my schedule rarely get along, so I’ll just have to cross my fingers that I can get to at least some of these. If you’re in Toronto and planning to go to After Dark, what are you excited about seeing?
Tagged as:
horror,
scifi
