TIFF - DAY3

I'm still kicking myself for missing Jennifer Baichwal's acclaimed "Manufactured Landscapes", too bad i had a scheduling conflict, otherwise there would be no way i miss such a good doc. With Peter Mettler doing the cinematogrophy and based on Edward Burtynsky's industrial landscapes great photos, the movie examines contemporary themes such as globalization, industrialism and the impact of industry on nature and our ecosystem.

Today I have 2 movies on my list :

The long-awaited Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn" with christian Bale . I'm such a Herzog fan, and it should be interesting to see how Christian Bale mesures up to Klaus Kinski, I've read both bad and good reviews on his performance, nevertheless the fact it's a Herzog movie guarantees it's goodness.








Review:

I have mixed feelings about Herzog’s last work. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting such a pro-American film (in the Q&A he proudly admitted his fascination with the Americans because of their love of freedom and admiring great spirit) which was borderline commercial (MGM snapped it in a flash, I could see why this could be a huge box office hit in the US of A).Not like any of his previous work but rather (as he claims) a complimentary to his doc “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” this is based onthe true life of a personal friend of Werner the late Dieter Dengler.

Think of it as Herzog meets Hollywood (although all these years of documentary making has made him a master of making commercial movies with low budgets, so not your typical high budget hollywood movie ) , not in style or tackiness but rather taking his usual art-house documentary style movies and making it more accessible for the masses. The same themes of “The Wrath of God” are applied here: alienation, struggle of man against nature (Herzog considers mother nature violent and hostile) and human connections.

The upside is Christian Bale’s superior performance (with a strong supporting cast like the enigmatic Jeremy Davies) . He truely proves with this movie that he his such a talented and underrated actor.Also there are sequences in the movie where the movie feels right at home with Herzog’s documentary style.

For me the highlight of the film was the opening scene were US planes were bombing Laos with a classical opera piece playing in the background, that was one of the most stunning contrasting effects I have ever seen in a movie, brutal violence contrasted with subtle romantic music.

So did I like it? Yes and no, I like the human struggle -ala “The Pianist”- and the urge to survive even under the most brutal conditions of war camps, hostile nature and all.

And the only reason Dieter does it? love of flying.

Was it entertaining? Absolutely, it’s a movie that you would recommend to your friends and family, it’s light and engaging, ends with a happy ending and is very patriotic (in an American sense). But NOT a movie that you would expect from Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, My Best Fiend, The Wrath of God, etc) a deep, thought provoking gem of the master of German cinema.

Also "Roads of Kiarostami" , the documentary on his B&W landscapes with commentaries by the master himself.





Review:

The Wavelengths program 2 was cool, a bunch of experimental films that were too avant-garde for my taste, but I really liked Jay Rosenblatt’s 3 minutes “Afraid So”. Very clever collage of pictures and commentary that was disturbing/humorous and provoking.

Cynthia Madansky’s The PSA project was interesting with focus on the American-led war in Iraq, a little bit vague but thought-provoking and done in 35mm.

Kiarostami’s “Roads of Kiarostami” was brilliant as I had expected, too bad he’s shooting in Spain for his next project and couldn’t make it to the fest. Slow-paced yet contemplative and philosophical take on Roads and journey, I love how he weaves poetic and philosophical motives together in a very minimalistic and simple approach, while showing his landscape photos/clips of him traveling through winding roads and providing some deep comments about life, human nature and fate. Cleverly guided the audience through a mesh of photographs and built the final political statement about God’s wrath/mercy on human actions (war).

TIFF -Day2

Michael Moore @ TIFF
Originally uploaded by AndyMmm.

Tonight I got lucky!
After seeing Guy Maddin's "Brand Upon the Brain!" ran outside to see Mr. Moore and lo and behold , 5 minutes later he jumps out of a cab and people go nuts.

Review of BUTB to follow.

TIFF - Day1

The feeling is back again!

Caught myself grinning while looking a the long lineup in front of Varsity cinema today, yes it's back again.
Kind of slow day I guess, as it wasn't packed as you'd expect, but the movie freaks were out with their swinging festival passes and whatnot.

Many good films out there for day 1, such as The Bothersome Man, kore-eda's HANA, Slumming and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema.

But the highlight of Day 1 is Sasha Cohen's appearence as Borat for the midnight madness screening of Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

I tested the waters around 8 p.m to see if I stand a chance of getting a rush ticket for Borat, but as soon as I saw the already 100 people lined up there , just headed back to home.

Now to my review for Day1:

Requiem (Hans-Christian Schmid)
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With Sandra Hüller (winner of best actress from Berlin film festival).

Based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a 23-year-old student, who died of starvation after an exorcism in Miltenberg, Germany (1976)
"
This is no emily rose crap, it's a gutsy and brave documentation of a "possesed girl" situation, no dramatazation, no sentimalism, just a calm, sympathetic and brave observation of the situation and the sufferings of the subject - a simple and lovely faithful college girl who yearns for Ste. Caherine and suffers from the same trials as she did. Sandra Huller gives the performance of her life and her presence on the screen is so strong that robs all the other cast of any importance (favorite scene : where she's dancing in the bar, so freely and innocent).

the film maintains a very balanced line between the 2 rival forces here : Science and religion without siding with either one, nor does it venture in the "deamon showing" business like the american exorcism movies, we never see them, nor we hear them, we just see michaela's reactions and suffering in the most subtle way, a clever take on the subject which made the movie a head and shoulder better than all the typical similar movies, kind of reminded me of "Rosmary's baby" (there are some similarities in tones and style without the paranoid feeling of RB).

I loved how in 1 1/2 hours the momentum is cleverly built and the film driven by the gradual complexity of the situation and tension built, but at the end there's no climax.

the movie ends in a very romantic and poetic scene, where we see Michaela heading back to home to go through more suffering and exorcisms and eventually die, as she said "following my path and for the better cause, a better reason".

TIFF starts today

I'm so hyped up for this year's TIFF, I laready have 15 tickets and 15 films to see (probably more to add to my list).

I'll be covering the films i see every day.



Here's my list so far:

Thusday Sept 7
Requiem 6:15 p.m (think The Exorcism of Emily Rose but done in the right way)

Friday Sept 8
Brand Upon the Brain! 6 p.m (Guy Maddin the genius Canadian filmmaker strikes back with his slient movie accompanied by TSO).

Saturday Sept 10
Wavelengths 6:30 p.m. (so looking forward to seeing Kiarostami's documentary)
Rescue Dawn 9 p.m (Werner Herzog + Christian Bale need i say more?)

Monday Sept 11
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone 9 p.m
(Master Tsai Ming-liang is back, after last year's wayward winds that wowed and shocked everyone, can't wait to see what he has for us this year)

Wednesday Sept 13
A Few Days Later 7:30 p.m (Niki karimi's directorial debut? hmmm)

S&man (Sandman) 11:59 p.m (MM presents another sick movie, a doc about perverts, sadists, psychos, etc).

Thursday Sept 14
(this is the day i go crazy, i need help!)

Renaissance 12:45 p.m (Blade runner meets Metropolis? futuristic animation? so much hype about this movie)

The Fountain 3 p.m (Yes that's the same director of PI and Requiem for a dream, one of the most promising directors and on of the most hyped movies this year).

Mainline 6:30 p.m (The victorious lady of Iranian cinema returns with another great movie).

Cœurs 8:45 p.m (Alain Resnais is back with another masterpiece based on the play by Alan Ayckbourn "Private Fears in Public Places")

Friday Sept 15

The Book of Revelation 5 p.m (you like films about obsession, sexual torture? this is for you)
Peter Mettler's Elsewhere party @Berkley church (8 mad hours of music + dance +shows =insanity and a night not be forgotten)

Saturday Sept 16
Invisible Waves
Paris, Je T'aime 6 p.m (it's about Paris, 'nuf said with an ensamble bigger than Cannes film festival)