Everything is running full speed ahead in humid Toronto on the next day of this Festival overcrowded with the big and the small, the eagerly anticipated and the buzz titles:
No Country for Old Men Sometimes too much buzz and anticipation is not a good thing, as in the case of the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men. Josh Brolin stars as a man whose inadvertent discovery of 2 million dollars amongst a sea of dead bodies, leads to a vicious manhunt, spearheaded by the violent and psychotic Anton Chigurh [Javier Bardem]. Though the Coens' trademark, sardonic humor is sporadically sprinkled throughout this manhunt/revenge tale, the film is an otherwise desolate, meandering affair, slow moving to the point of irrelevant passages that simply do little to advance narrative.
There is no real sense of character, in a film that fails to create a sense of tension, or allow the audience to engage with any of the under-written characters. Despite a tour-de-force performance by Bardem, and the film's visually striking depiction of rural America, No Country for Old Men is the least satisfying of the Brothers' work in many years. The film's lack of any real conclusion will not go over with mainstream audiences, and serious cutting needs to take place to provide a stronger, more decisive narrative structure. Commercial success seems as bleak as the film's landscape.
Reservation Road Reservation Road, the latest work from Terry George, may be bleak at times, but is nevertheless a powerful and intricate drama. Joaquin Phoenix delivers another powerhouse performance as a loving father whose idyllic life is shattered when a hit-and-run driver kills his young son. Mark Ruffalo plays the driver, himself a father, but divorced, trying to consistently connect and savor the relationship with his own son, but his ever-present guilt destroys his life, as the two fathers inevitably meet.
Jennifer Connelly also stars as Phoenix's grief-stricken wife. George's emotionally resonant masterwork is a film that explores guilt, grief and fatherhood with meticulous emotional depth but rarely beats you over the head with it. Part human drama, part thriller, Reservation Road succeeds on so many levels, but remains an intricately drawn character study, featuring a trio of truly remarkable performances. Ruffalo, so under-used of late, is terrific here, often understated as a man coming to terms with interminable grief, with his climatic scene acting at its most pure. Phoenix remains one of the most accomplished and evolving actors around, who delivers a finely tuned, masterful performance. Skillfully directed by George, Reservation Road is an emotionally rich and exquisite film that deserves to find a wide audience.
Lust Caution Ang Lee's Lust Caution is a lengthy, but erotic and fascinating work. The film's setting is Shanghai, 1942 and the Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. The film opens as Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a cafe, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi. [Wei Tang]. With WWII underway, her father, who has escaped to England, has left behind Wong. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min. Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism.
As the theatre troupe's new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences--and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee [Tony Leung]. Each student has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yee's trust by befriending his wife and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario proceeds as scripted--until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Cut to Shanghai, 1941.
With no end in sight for the occupation, Wong--having emigrated from Hong Kong--goes through the motions of her existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit.
A study of identity, the blurry line between lust and love, and the evolving sexual identity of the film's main character, Lust Caution is another extraordinary work from a world-renowned filmmaker. Lee knows how to make emotionally vivid films, but nothing compares to the complexity and eroticism of this film. Bold and irresistible, full marks to US distributor Focus for not cutting the film to get an R-rating here, for its graphic depiction of raw, uninhibited sexuality enhances the film's sense of character. Masterfully acted by Leung and the extraordinary, beautiful and hypnotic Tang, Lust Caution depicts the period with visually arresting detail, and provides audiences with a sharply detailed picture of unique world. This is a dazzling, sumptuous and erotic masterpiece that only Ang Lee can deliver in spades.
