10 Sep 05

Toronto International Film Festival '05 : Day 2

It started with a whimper and ended with a bang. That about describes Day 1. The first three movies were all very slow paced (read: not engrossing). "October 17, 1961" was the first really gripping, if disturbing, movie of the festival. Linda Linda Linda added some much needed levity to the day, and Banlieue 13 was an action movie on par with the best.

Seeing 6 movies in 1 day is something I have 3 more times over the course of the festival. It's a very long day and can be made longer by the movie selection - something to remember for next year.

The Sun

Paramount 1

2.5/5 Nice and Slow

The Sun follows Emperor Hirohito from August 1945 to New Year's Day 1946, during the American occupation of Japan. The Sun details Hirohito's renunciation of his divinity and his transformation from a deity into the humbled man who surrenders Japan in World War II. This was a very slow=paced film, really intent in getting across the minutiae of Hirohito.

Hirihito's bunker is much different from the one seen in Downfall, a stellar movie from last year. Unlike his allies, the Emperor was basically isolated from the war - and this is a key point of the film. The meetings between Hirihito and MacArthur are brief but insightful, MacArthur seems almost amused by the "Living God". Despite being for me way too slowly paced, the climax of the movie was worth sticking it out.

Gilaneh

Paramount 3

3/5 Motherhood

"Better to be a dog than a mother", says Gilaneh at one point during the film: her burdens are plentiful. The movie takes place in rural Iran at two points in history, first the end of the Iran/Iraq war and again 15 years later with Desert Storm. The first sequence does a very good job of showing the daily fears and feelings of Iranians after years of bloody and horrific warfare, especially chemical attacks. The later part of the film deals with the aftermath and the renewed fears(hopes?) that the American war will spill-over in to Iran.

But really It's about a mother and her loss and daily burden caring for an injured son - a burden she refuses to give up however, despite her own failing health. Overall I came away feeling very neutral about the film. It connected with me in some places but not as a whole. The performance of Fatema Motamed Arya I should add was very good.

Battle in Heaven

Paramount 1

2/5 Um, ya

This was just one of those films where I came away thinking: "What was the point of that?" There's a lot of eroticism at the beginning and end, but the middle is just a valley of tedium. The post movie consensus seemed to be it was seriously over-hyped. I didn't really pay much attention to it, but I'll definitely read the guide more thoroughly next year.

The plot in summary is that a man and his wife have kidnapped a baby of their (relative? neighbour?) and it died accidentally. Marco, the main character, reveals this to the daughter of the General he works for and has A) been taking care of for 15 years and B) is in love with. Some random sex scenes later, he has to do away with her to stop her from telling the police, but feels so guilty for it he goes on a pilgrimage and essentially kills himself. Um, ya see what I said at the start.

October 17, 1961

Varsity 8

4.5/5 Heart wrenching

Especially poignant at this time of Homeland Security, "October 17, 1961" goes through the months before and weeks after this day on which 1000's of Algerian other immigrants were rounded up and detained during a peaceful demonstration against the French war on Algeria. Unreported numbers also went "missing" that same night in the range of 20-100. The rage and hatred of the few spills out and affects the many, while the sympathy and respect of the few gets quashed. What was really a war between the FLN and the Paris Police escalated dramatically.

UPDATE: I will agree with those who said the cinematography was very "for TV", which is true. I definitely could have seen this as a TV Movie.

Linda Linda Linda

Cumberland 2

4/5 Great

Linda Linda Linda wasn't quite what I expected, but it was a great movie nonetheless. Kind of a Japanese Schoolgirl Rocker version of Stand By Me, the movie was really about the relationships between the girls and not so much the music. Really from there the plot was pretty straightforward, the girls band has to work towards the big Rock music festival and various things get in the way.

Banlieue 13

Ryerson

4/5 Action Packed

Okay, not I feel emboldened to finish that bad review of Ong Bak I have stored up. Like Ong Bak this movie also comes with the notice that the action is real - no wires etc. However here it is actually much harder to believe. These guys make amazing leaps, move at lightening speed and generally kick ass. On top of that the plot is actually good, very reminiscent of Escape from New York. Worth staying up for.

Posted at 08:30 AM to Film By: John Fairley