This final part of my Toronto report includes some unqualified gems and disappointments, beginning with the exquisite Girl in the Park.
The Girl in the Park Delivering one of her purest performances in years, Sigourney Weaver plays a mother, enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year old daughter 16 years ago, who has cut herself off from her ex-husband and son. However, when a troubled young woman [Kate Bosworth] with a checkered past enters her life, old psychic wounds painfully resurface, as does the illogical and increasingly irrational hope that the young woman may be the daughter she lost so long ago.
Written and directed by playwright David Auburn, this is a powerful, provocative work that so brilliantly explores the effects of grief and the power to believe in an unbinding sense of hope and optimism. Girl in the Park explores so many facets of human behaviour as the film's central character deals with an emotional emptiness that grows as she believes that this manipulative, troubled woman to be her long lost daughter. For Weaver, it's the role of a lifetime and an Oscar calibre performance that is richly layered and meticulous, beautifully controlled at every turn. One is reminded of how a powerful a presence she has on the screen, and here she is breathtaking.
But it's Kate Bosworth who is a revelation here. Always incredibly talented and insightful, her portrayal of the young girl who is manipulative, tough yet intensely fragile, is a performance steeped in emotional truths. She delivers a rich, mature and riveting performance, her best in her short but diverse career, and both actresses may receive Oscar noms if the film is picked up. Clearly, this is a tough little movie that explores some very emotive issues, but director Auburn treats his material with balance and sensitivity. This is a superb film that is bound to receive attention throughout the awards season.
Unfinished Sky Unfinished Sky from Australian director Peter Duncan is one of those unexpected films one comes across that is simply flawless, that rare breed of accomplished filmmaking that is pure narrative without any pretensions and characters that are beautifully and skilfully delineated. William McInnes plays an Outback farmer with a seemingly troubled past, who thrives and survives on isolation, with his dog, in rural Queensland, who takes in an Afghani woman (Monic Hendrickx) who is bleeding and bruised, but from what we don't quite know as yet. Initially a relationship of antagonism and mistrust, complicated by cultural differences and a lack of clear communication, the relationship develops while the couple's individual past issues catch up to them.
Duncan hasn't made many films, but looking at his work, from the heavily satiric Children of the Revolution, to the slight but affable Little Bit of Soul, none of his previous work would prepare one for this rich and quite staggering masterwork. A film of remarkable accomplishment, the film is essentially a two-hander, with much of the movie resting on the hands of its principals. McInnes is a huger talent in his native Australia, with a command of the screen that is both sardonically funny and dramatically powerful. No Duncan script would be complete without the writer/director's wry view of contemporary humanity, and in this landscape of bitter isolation, he finds much humour within the folds of two contemporary characters and their profound, cultural differences.
Newcomer Monic Hendrickx is actually Dutch and plays the ferociously independent but troubled Afghan refugee with great emotional depth and power. Her final scene is heartbreaking. Beautifully shot on location, cinematographer Robert Humphreys so perfectly captures the harshness of rural Australia with his browns and greys in a visually striking collage of scenes. International audiences will find much in Unfinished Sky to resonate outside of its parochially Australian setting, and one can hope that this stunning film, which is both funny and poignant, will find a home in the U.S and beyond. It truly is a masterpiece.
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly The Diving Bell And The Butterfly also combines a dark humour with dramatic and visceral power. The film, superbly directed by Julian Schnabel, revolves around Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at age 43, suffered a stroke that paralysed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind, to his past and recalling the events leading to his stroke. From the very first image of Diving Bell, his world is seen through his eye as one blink tells us that here is a man who is speaking to us from within.
Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski uses his camera as Bauby's eye, and the result is cinematic depth that truly reinforces what he is going through. Mathieu Amalric delivers one of the most original and startling performances of the year, one that relies on the purely visual to reveal so much. He is extraordinary. Yet this is not as depressing or as bleak a work as one might think. British screenwriter Ronald Harwood uses the source material but enhances it with some devilish humour and, with director Schnabel, creates various worlds that border on the imaginative and the real. This is a dazzling, fascinating and hypnotic work that is both a visual and allegorical masterwork, and a film of deep humanity and visceral power. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a shoe in for Best Foreign Film at next year's Oscars.
Cassandra's Dream Woody Allen returns to dramatic thriller mode in the sometimes compelling. The title of this dark piece refers to a boat that two brothers decide to buy despite their lack of success. one is a mechanic up to his neck in gambling debt (Colin Farrell) while the other works in his dad's restaurant and is filled with idealistic delusions of grandeur (Ewan McGregor). The two are abnormally close to each other and to their uncle who wants them to show their gratitude by murdering a business colleague. From this point on their lives unravel.
Phillips Glass's pounding music insistently suggests a continuous sense of foreboding in Allen's attempt at fusing Hitchcock with Shakespeare, and there are times when those elements succeed in teasing the audience. yet regrettably that's all this ultimately is, a tease that never quite resolves itself into a satisfying denouement. The pay off lacks any real suspense and presents the viewer with a kind of ho hum at the end. The movie lacks the wit and edginess of his Match Point , which remains the director's best film in this current period. though it is an admirable piece featuring a superb turn by Farrell in particular, the movie is slow and never lives up to its potential.
I'm Not There Todd Haynes cannot be accused of ever playing it safe. his latest film, I'm Not There, is a bold, audacious and truly original film that is bound to divide audiences. A meditation of fame and celebrity culture, the film explores the almost mythological life and times of a folk singer who may or not be Bob Dylan in various facets of his life. Each aspect of the character has a different name and his story takes on varied tones and styles.
Heath Ledger, in another arresting turn assumes the role of a young idealist falling in love with a French girl, played with eloquence by Charlotte Gainsborough. while the magnificent Cate Blanchett plays a conflicted public figural refusing to conform to 1960s expectations. Her scenes are lyrical and surreal shot in gorgeous black abductions white and Haynes' evocative use of music, sharp cutting and his visual exploration of those times that are a changing, all encapsulate the essence of the parts that up a complex musical poet. While the film may have a tough time commercially those who love being challenged will be enthralled and exhilarated by this totally original cinematic triumph.
Death Defying Acts Veteran Australian director Gillian Armstrong is in Toronto with her latest film, Death Defying Acts, a film that explores the nature of fantasy and romanticism through the eyes of a Scottish hustler and superstar of his day. The film revolves around Harry Houdini's [Guy Pearce] tour of Britain in 1926, during which time the master escapologist enters into a passionate affair with a Scottish psychic [Catherine Zeta-Jones]. The psychic and her daughter attempt to con Houdini during a highly publicized séance to contact his mother whose death has haunted him for many years. However all does not go to plan. Armstrong is a visual stylist, whose eye captures the detail of the periods she explores.
Her latest film is pure Armstrong, yet this time we see her doing justice to both sexes equally. A film that is lush, fascinating and compelling, this is a sumptuous masterful work, intricately plotted and stunningly crafted by a true filmmaker. It is also nice to see her take advantage of the true talents of Catherine Zeta-Jones, who delivers her finest performance to date as the fictional con artist, outwardly tough but seeking a degree of emotional solace. Guy Pearce is always good and here he is strong, masculine and vulnerable all packaged into a wonderfully rich and complex performance. The cinematography of the brilliant Haris Zambarloukos enhances the film's visual mood of time and place, and the film, as with any Armstrong work, looks stunning. A compelling and fascinating drama, Death Defying Acts should prove a modest hit for Weinstein Company when it hits the US in early 2008.
I also caught up with another slew of celebs and directors:
EMILY MORTIMER. Talked to me about Lars and the Real Girl, as well as Pink Panther 2. Despite the first one being panned she thinks the new one is funny in its own right "and it's a role Steve Martin was born to play." More on Mortimer close to the release of Lars next month.
KATE BOSWORTH has been kept busy, and we chatted about her upcoming caper movie 21, The Girl in the Park, and even some properties she is optioning on her own. Always gorgeous, there's more to Kate than meets the eye.
RYAN GOSLING, here for Lars and the Real Girl, talked about his role in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, his disdain of the press and parallels between Lars and Jimmy Stewart's Harvey.
JOAQUIN PHOENIX in as rare 1:1 interview was candid in his attitude towards acting, the media and lack of his own self-esteem. Always funny and honest, this was a great interview which will be posted shortly.
GILLIAN ARMSTRONMG and I first met nearly 20 years ago, and in a restaurant at her Toronto hotel, we talked at length about her latest movie, shooting in London, and her evolution as an artist.
GUY PEARCE and I spoke about the lengths he went into preparing to play Houdini, and all his latest films, including one he's currently shooting, in which he plays an FBI agent in pursuit of a terrorist played by Don Cheadle.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS is always great value and we spoke at length about King of California, how his priorities have changed and his role working for the UN on disarmament.
So for this tired journalist, Toronto 08 is at a close. Spoke to many people, saw a lot of films that continue to challenge and enthral. While not every film is great, it's good to see a small percentage of the festival's 340 films that truly represent who we are as a society. Well done Toronto ---.
