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Toronto – Day #9+ – 2013

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Dear Readers,

I’m back in Dayton.  Yesterday evening and this morning were a whirlwind, so I didn’t have time to type this review until just now…sitting in the comfort of my living room.  Yesterday morning was taken leisurely, and I eventually saw 2 films in the afternoon and evening…then I went out for some cocktails.  Upon waking up this morning, I decided to fit in one more film before scurrying to the airport at Noon.  Thus this update includes films I screened on Friday and this morning.

EASTERN BOYS is a film about a French man who hires a male prostitute only to have his entire life uprooted by an entire gang of Eastern European hustlers.  It’s a scary film with long takes that forces us to deal with the situations, and it eventually makes way for a sort of love story that changes course.  There are moments in this film when my heart was beating so fast that I found myself holding my breath.   The film is sexually frank, and the lead hustler is both sexy and terrifying.  Though there are moments when we don’t understand a character’s motivations (like not immediately calling the police…though I’m guessing shame played a role), I ultimately really liked this film.

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ROCK THE CASBAH is a beautifully directed film about the gathering of a family for an important funeral.  Set in Morocco, this film is both funning and touching…and it’s full of amazing performances by a couple women I love – Hiam Abass and Nadine Labaki.  The film is narrated by the ghost of the recently deceased, played by Omar Sharif, and the film tackles some important issues – one being the role of women in Moroccan society.  Directed by Laila Marrakchi, this is a really solid crowd-pleaser by a woman who is shaking things up. (Abass, Marrakchi, and actress Morjana Alaoui came out for a Q&A after the screening.)

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Oy9qKsCig’]

A PROMISE was my last film of the festival.  Unfortunately not the best.  From veteran director Patrice Leconte, directing for the first time in English, this film is based on the novel JOURNEY INTO THE PAST by Stefan Zweig.  The story follows a love triangle about an ailing steel factory owner (Alan Rickman), his young wife (the lovely Rebecca Hall), and the factory owner’s assistant (the adorable, but new to me, Richard Madden – I’ve never seen GAME OF THRONES).  The costumes and sets are lovely, but the story is relatively bland with some clunky dialog and there’s some questionable camerawork (some camera moves actually made me angry).  There’s an audience for this film…but it just didn’t cut it for me.

une promesse

So here I am.  Back at home and just beginning to think of all the films I saw.  32 in fact!!  It seems like weeks ago that I was heading into CLOSED CURTAIN.  In 9 days, I’ve been to far off lands, outer space, and familiar territory.  I’ve seen a couple masterpieces, and I walked out on a couple stinkers.  TIFF is always a highlight of my year, and I appreciate your interest in reading my thoughts.

All the best.

I hope to see you soon at THE NEON!

Jonathan

Toronto – THE FILMS – Day 9

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Hello Everyone.

Yesterday was jam-packed, and I had to be up at 5:30 this morning in order to get to the airport on time (I’m sure glad I got there 2 hours in advance as suggested – that place was crazed at 6:30am).  Anyway, the following are the films I saw on my final day in Toronto.

First off, I saw a documentary called PATRON SAINTS.  This short piece about residents in a nursing home could have been even shorter.  In fact, I think that the poor image quality combined with the mostly poor camera work lend itself to being a better audio piece.  The only thing that makes this piece interesting are the characters – and though it’s certainly compelling to see their images, it’s their stories (and sometimes heartbreaking questions) that really count.  (Of course this trailer makes my criticism look off the mark…but perhaps a 30 minute film would have been better than 72 – given the minutes and minutes of shaky, outdoor, non-interesting photography).

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm64o00Mvwc’]

Next up, I saw THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH – a French film (though with lots of dialog in English) with Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas.  The story involves a man who has returned to Paris (we’re led to believe that he just released from prison – but we begin to question all of our beliefs) in order to try and get time with his young daughter – from whom he has a restraining order.  Though he gets a few brief moments with her, he begins to write her a long letter – and eventually meets a muse (Kristin Scott Thomas) who insists that he return to writing a novel.  I liked this film, but it has me wondering if there were key details that I missed (as the last 15 minutes left me a little puzzled).  The trailer below is the French trailer (the only one available) – but there’s plenty of dialog in English.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B47yUeEQpg8′]

After that, I saw THE AWAKENING – a supernatural thriller with Rebecca Hall (with a supporting role by one of my favorites – Imelda Staunton).  This period film is about a woman who is called to an all boys’ school in order to disprove the rumors and fears that a ghost is responsible for the recent death of a student.  Interestingly, each time she disproves the presence of ghosts, she falls into a depression – because she wants nothing more than to be able to communicate with her dead lover.  The film will undoubtedly be linked to recent movies like THE OTHERS or THE ORPHANAGE…and that’s fair.  That said, I think it’s quite good.  The production values and performances make it stand out in its genre – and I jumped and shrieked with the rest of the audience.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gShlq8cFUs’]

Lastly, I saw BEAUTY – a film set in South Africa.  The film is about a man who leads a very polished and respected life with his family – but secretly meets for group sex with a local group of closeted men.  The lead character becomes interested in the son of a family friend, and the movie becomes a spooky tale of obsession.  There are several critics/members of the gay community who loathe the depiction of gay men as leering, predatory creatures portrayed as nothing but wicked characters.  Though I certainly understand their point (it doesn’t do much in helping to create positive images of the lgbt community), this film is actually a cautionary tale about repression.  It’s the married men, hiding their true sexual identities, who should concern us.  They’re the ones who tend to be filled with self-loathing, resentment, jealousy and thus potentially unleashed anger…the ones who tend to seem the most homophobic and vote against lgbt rights (see numerous news stories regarding political and religious leaders who have been caught hiring rent boys and had public restroom encounters).  Though I don’t think this is a great film, it is well done and certainly unsettling.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGfzaIJRLBo’]

So that’s it!  34 Films in 9 Days!

I’m home now…doing laundry, catching up on a bit of rest, and beginning to put all my thoughts into next weekend’s LGBT Film Fest at THE NEON.  (You know about that, right???)  www.daytonlgbt.com Tickets are on sale now!  If you can’t make it to everything, I personally suggest WEEKEND, TOMBOY, Top Drawer Shorts, and CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE.

Hope to see you soon,

Jonathan