Adoration Toronto favorite Atom Egoyan returns to the festival with "Adoration", another compelling and intelligent work from the gifted filmmaker. Like all of Egoyan's films, "Adoration" is no simple work, but a complex myriad of layers that unpeel before one with intoxicating complexity.
The film revolves around adolescent Simon, whose parents were killed in a car accident, leaving him to be raised by his uncle [a superb Scott Speedman]. One day at school, his French teacher reads a story about a terrorist, and Simon, who has blamed his father for his parents' death, suddenly reinvents his life, claiming that his father [Noam Jenkins] was in fact a terrorist, who used his pregnant wife [Rachel Blanchard] to smuggle a bomb on a plane to Israel. The story finds its way onto the Internet and has far reaching ramifications far beyond Simon's initial intent.
Egoyan constantly explores the notion of illusion vs. reality, and this theme is certainly dominant in "Adoration". A skillful, richly evocative multi-layered work full of beautifully nuanced performances, "Adoration" is clearly not a film for mainstream audiences. It's a very detailed film that requires much of its audience, but then Egoyan has never been one to let his audiences off too easily. This mesmerizing film is no exception.
Every Little Step Documentary directors Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern have directed what may be my favorite Festival offering thus far, "Every Little Step". Here is a film that is so emotionally rich, colorful and captivating, that the fact that it is a documentary soon seems irrelevant.
The film follows the plight of real-life dancers as they struggle through auditions for the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line", while also investigating the history of the show and the creative minds behind the original and current incarnations. Directors Del Deo and Stern weave original audio of the late Michael Bennett and the subjects that become the characters for the show, with audition footage of the revival and of course the now iconic music that almost acts as a bridge between and during pivotal moments.
The film mirrors the themes of the stage musical in such a deft way, that audiences find themselves rooting for particular actors to get the roles they desperately want. At its heart, "Every Little Step" is a glorious tribute to the Broadway hoofer, a film about clinging to one's dreams despite the abundance of odds.
Exhilarating, emotive and a joy from beginning to end, Every Little Step has the potential to be a huge, commercial crowd-pleaser.
The Duchess Saul Dibb's "The Duchess" is a ravishingly beautiful costume drama that personifies the elegance of British cinema. The film chronicles the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, [Keira Knightley] who was both reviled for her extravagant political and personal lives.
A vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time, she is trapped in an unhappy triangle with her husband [Ralph Fiennes] and his live-in mistress [Hayley Atwell]. Georgina falls passionately in love with an ambitious young politician, and the affair causes a bitter conflict with her husband and threatens to erupt into a scandal.
Stylishly crafted by Saul Dibb, the film features striking performances by its trio of principals, in a film that explores the place of women in 18th century British society. With an evocative score by the prolific Rachel Portman, and stunningly shot by Hungarian cinematographer Gyula Pados, the film is a gorgeous cinematic tapestry, but one that lacks an emotional resonance.
Commercial prospects in the US are slim, due to a lack of knowledge about the fact-based subject matter and a general disinterest in costume dramas, one suspects. But it is a ravishingly beautiful work that showcases the performances, rather than delve more deeply into the relationships. "The Duchess" is a flawed but entertaining work that is ultimately forgettable and simplistic.
