Now in its seventh year in Toronto, the European Union Film Festival is still a little under the radar for most film fans in our city, and that’s a shame. For one, it’s the only film festival I’m aware of where all screenings are FREE. But quite apart from that, it offers a huge selection of cinema from a wide range of cultures, and in a multicultural city like Toronto, that makes some of the screenings feel like impromptu gatherings for various outposts of the European diaspora. Just last year, I was in a screening of Slovenian film Landscape No. 2 (review) and realized that long-distance swimmer (and subject of the fascinating documenary Big River Man (review)) Martin Strel was in the audience too.

This year’s festival takes place from November 17-30th and all screenings take place at the Royal Cinema (608 College Street).

The films are a mix of new and old, stuff that plays high profile festivals like TIFF and films that rarely play outside their country’s borders. In other words, it’s really an unmissable opportunity to peer into some rarely-glimpsed corners of the world through cinema. Here are a few I’m looking forward to seeing:

The Other Side of Sleep (Ireland, Director: Rebecca Daly) — screening Tuesday November 29th at 6:00pm

Having recently played at Cannes and TIFF, this film might have the finest pedigree in the program. Arlene is a young woman prone to sleepwalking. One morning she wakes up outside next to the dead body of another young woman. As suspicion grows in her small community, Arlene finds she’s unable to sleep, mixing her dreams and reality.

Stricken (The Netherlands, Director: Reinout Oerlemans) — screening Tuesday November 29th at 8:30pm

Featuring the gorgeous Carice van Houten (Black Book) as a woman diagnosed with breast cancer, Stricken focuses on her husband Stijn and his choices. When her illness shatters his perfect life, he escapes into a world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And soon into the arms of another woman.

Lapland Odyssey (Finland, Director: Dome Karukoski) — screening Wednesday November 23rd at 6:00pm

A treat from TIFF 2010, Lapland Odyssey is a road comedy about a trio of losers who head out one winter night in search of a “digibox” for Janne’s girlfriend’s television. He’s screwed up so many times with her that her ultimatum (get one by morning or I’m out of here) sends the friends off on a ridiculous and frozen quest. I’ve seen and reviewed this already but would recommend it if you like Nordic comedy. I’m hoping to catch it again, in any case.

P.S. Vancouver also has a European Union Film Festival running from November 25-December 8. They might have a nicer website and get to see The Artist, but they also charge for tickets. Ours is FREE!

Post from: Toronto Screen Shots

European Union Film Festival 2011

Years before he was persona non grata at the Cannes Film Festival, I discovered the films of Danish “bad boy” Lars von Trier at the old Cinematheque Ontario. So it’s fitting that the folks behind the Cinematheque are bringing a mini-retrospective of his work to their new digs at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Beginning tonight and running through November 19, six of von Trier’s earlier films will be shown as a sort of appetizer for his latest, Melancholia, which opens on Friday November 18.

Still from Melancholia (2011)

Though I’m disappointed with the omissions, both obvious (no Antichrist?) and not-so-obvious (The Kingdom would have been perfect running over a few nights, and Epidemic seems not to be shown much), I’m most excited to revisit the (literally) dark early films that were my introduction to his work. The Element of Crime (1984) is a sort of police procedural, with a protagonist who practically goes mad trying to track down a serial killer in a post-apocalyptic and dreamlike environment that just might be the inside of his own head. And Europa (1991), the very first of von Trier’s films I saw, which follows a naive young American working as a porter on a very strange train in post-World War 2 Germany. Both films are dripping with style, evocative images, and dark, dreamlike plots.

Still from The Element of Crime (1984)

I’d also like to finally see The Idiots and Dogville, both of which seemed reliably provocative when I saw clips during Adam Nayman’s excellent class earlier this year at the Jewish Canadian Cultural Centre.

Still from Europa (1991)

Here are the details for the schedule. Don’t forget that in addition to the retrospective, you can see Melancholia beginning Friday November 18.

• Breaking the Waves (1996) — Wednesday November 9, 6:30pm
• The Element of Crime (1984) — Friday November 11, 6:30pm
• Europa (1991) — Saturday November 12, 8:00pm and Thursday November 17, 9:15pm
• Dogville (2003) — Wednesday November 16, 6:30pm
• Dancer in the Dark (2000) — Friday November 18, 6:00pm
• The Idiots (1998) — Saturday November 19, 8:00pm

As always, tickets are available online.

Post from: Toronto Screen Shots

Waiting for the End of the World: Lars von Trier Retrospective at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Celebrating its 15th year, Reel Asian returns this year to both Toronto (November 8–13) and Richmond Hill (November 18–19) with a strong lineup of cinema from East and Southeast Asia. Here are a few highlights I’m looking forward to:

Saturday November 12 at 10:30pm — Piercing 1 — An animated film which very pointedly criticizes the growing wealth gap and political system in China. This sharp satirical film was able to slip past the censors because they assumed that anything animated must be for children. Ha!

Thursday November 10 at 3:00pm — Resident Aliens — A documentary about three Cambodian-Americans who are deported to Cambodia as a result of their criminal records, despite the fact that they were brought to America as infants or young children. Sounds like an interesting take on assimilation, criminal justice and (re)discovering your heritage.

There are several more films which I’m hoping to catch, including some of the shorts programmes, which are often home to some of the festival’s hidden treasures. This year, I’m hoping to see A Drummer’s Passion, which explores the life of the Korean drummer Kwon Soon Keun, made (in)famous by a YouTube clip of his intense performance. Now 70 and living in Toronto, I’m sure he has a lot of stories to tell.

Tickets and passes are on sale now, so I hope you’ll check out some of the films, either in the 416 or the 905.

Post from: Toronto Screen Shots

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2011

The Last Gladiators (Director: Alex Gibney): Filmmaker Alex Gibney is clearly a very busy man. The Last Gladiators, in which he examines the world of National Hockey League pugilists, focussing in on the story of former Montreal Canadiens enforcer Chris “Knuckles” Nilan, is his tenth feature film since 2005, an unusually prolific output for a documentarian. And you can add in a couple of shorter segments he contributed to some other collaborative documentary projects during that period. Gibney has a track record for matching the quantity with quality, as his latest film proves, even if it’s a departure from the kind of politically-charged topics he’s best known for, such as the downfall of politicians (Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer and Casino Jack and the United States of Money), corporate malfeasance (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), and American military torture (Taxi to the Dark Side, which won an Oscar in 2008 for best documentary feature). But as a lifelong hockey fan, Gibney, an American, saw rich source material in examining the subculture of one of the most controversial aspect of Canada’s game, with Nilan’s own intriguing story providing about 75% of the film’s content.

Retiring in 1992 after being plagued by injuries (he’s undergone 26 surgeries), Nilan’s most notable achievements from his 13 year NHL career are more than 3,000 penalty minutes, a Stanley Cup win with the Canadiens in 1986, and a selection to Team USA for the 1987 Canada Cup series. After being drafted by Montreal, he played nine seasons for them before being traded to the New York Rangers and eventually his hometown Boston Bruins, before ending his career back with Montreal. Nilan’s pride and love for the Canadiens still runs deep and it seems as if he never got over the devastation of being traded away from them. His troubled post-NHL history, which proves to be the most substantive part of the film, could make Nilan the poster child for pro athletes who struggle with their post-playing lives. A toxic combination of substance abuse (alcohol, prescription painkillers, and heroin), employment problems (Nilan hated the insurance job he worked at), and legal troubles (including a 2009 arrest for shoplifting) destroyed his relationship with his wife and child and nearly killed him. Nilan, who has a very dark and intense side, may be a rough-around-the-edges character, but he’s still a likeable one. Part of his appeal is his blunt honesty, openness, and a willingness to take full responsibility for his failings. Interviews with his father who, like his son, projects a hard-ass demeanour and speaks with that always-fascinating thick Boston accent, add real emotional depth to the film, as the senior Nilan holds little back in conveying the profound heartache and shame he felt (and still feels) over his son’s struggles.

The non-Nilan portions of the film find Gibney tracing the evolution of the enforcer’s role in the game from its mid-70s heyday with the Philadelphia Flyers’ “Broad Street Bullies” through to its greatly diminished need in the current game. Numerous interviews with the most prominent fighters over the past couple of decades provide insight into the enforcer mindset, with players like Marty McSorley, Tony Twist, Donald Brashear, and the late Bob Probert weighing in (Probert’s interviews, conducted shortly before his death, are sad to watch). The scenes with Brashear are sad for a different reason, as we see the former fan favourite playing in D-list hockey league games and still itching to drop his gloves.

The Last Gladiators is a timely piece in light of the recent deaths of three NHL enforcers that called into question the possible link between their occupations and its negative residual effects on their lives. Nilan, who I heard give an interview on Toronto’s Prime Time Sports radio show the week before The Last Gladiators’ TIFF premiere, discounted the connection. Nilan’s stance apparently escaped the attention of TV’s Hockey Night in Canada neanderthal Don Cherry, who criticized him and two other former fighters (also without basis) on the telecast for supporting the supposed theory.

Gibney, who began filming a general portrait of hockey fighters, chose wisely in deciding to make Nilan the central subject. The Last Gladiators is consistently gripping and only misfires when the director chooses some disappointingly obvious music on the soundtrack (Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild”) or engages in unnecessary scene re-enactments to advance his narrative, dragging the documentary into cheesy E! True Hollywood Story territory. Being a hockey fan isn’t even a necessary component in appreciating the film, as I haven’t given a toss about the NHL since the inept Toronto Maple Leafs killed my love for the game in the mid-90s.

Post from: Toronto Screen Shots

The Last Gladiators

It’s been a long 14 months since the last edition of Toronto’s best genre film festival. Toronto After Dark decided to move back to their traditional October (think Hallowe’en!) time slot after a couple of years in August. It was just too hot to wear zombie makeup in the summer, I expect.

Although the fall can be pretty crowded with film events in our city, After Dark attracts a fiercely loyal audience. Even the move to a new venue (all screenings are being held at the Toronto Underground Cinema while the storied Bloor Cinema undergoes renovations) shouldn’t hurt attendance. It also helps that Adam Lopez and his crack team of programmers have put together a very solid-looking lineup of horror, sci-fi and other genre cinema. Here are a few I’m excited about:

• Friday October 21, 7:00pm Exit Humanity — a zombie western? Why not? It seems like blending genres is the thing to do now, and this promises to be more campy fun than Cowboys & Aliens.
• Saturday October 22, 4:15pm Redline — a Japanese anime film seven years in the making, with character designs from the truly wacky Katsuhito Ishii (Funky Forest), this film promises Speed Racer thrills in its story about a high-stakes race that takes place on a distant planet.
• Sunday October 23, 4:15pm Love — a cerebral sci-fi tale about an astronaut stranded on the International Space Station after he hears that civilization on Earth has been destroyed. If this reaches the heights of Moon or Silent Running, I’ll be very pleased indeed.
• Monday October 24, 9:45pm A Lonely Place to Die — Drawing comparisons to The Descent, this film is about a group of young mountaineers climbing in the Scottish highlands who stumble across a kidnapping plot and soon find themselves on the run from a pair of professional killers when they try to save the young victim.
• Tuesday October 25, 7:00pm The Divide — Eight people survive the Apocalypse in the basement of their apartment building only to slowly turn on each other. Promises to be suitably bleak for a film about the end of the world.
• Tuesday October 25, 9:45pm Manborg — at After Dark a few years ago, I saw a short called Lazer Ghosts 2: Return to Lazer Cove from director Steven Kostanski and thought it was just brilliant. Hilariously campy and yet affectionate, his work is here extended to feature length in a Robocop homage/sendup about a dead soldier brought back to life as a cyborg killing machine.

The fun starts tonight, so what are you waiting for? See you AFTER DARK!

Post from: Toronto Screen Shots

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011