As summer winds down, that time of the year starts up for me again. For the 6th year in a row I’ll be heading out to Toronto for 11 days of seeing as many films as humanly possible. It’s been a slow start for 2013 film-wise, but the fall festival season has been heating things up again. At Telluride 12 Years a Slave and Prisoners have gotten plenty of praise, while at Venice Philomena is being described as perfect Oscar material. At both festivals, Gravity and Under the Skin have left critics agog for entirely different reasons.

As with every year, sacrifices have to be made. Several titles from our Must See feature proved to be too popular to get into, but at TIFF it’s always best to never give up (tickets can be available last minute sometimes, and I hope that I can still snag a ticket for myself). Of course, it’s hard to really complain about missing out at a festival where over 300 features and shorts are playing. There will always be something to watch, and sometimes it might turn out to be better than a lot of the bigger films playing each year.

So to kick off my second year of coverage at TIFF, I’ll give you all a preview of what films I’ll be seeing this year. I’ll be playing catch up with some films we’ve already covered, including The Past and Stranger by the Lake; the aforementioned Gravity and Under the Skin; new films from Ti West, Johnnie To, Tsai Ming-Liang, Sion Sono and Kelly Reichardt. There are plenty more titles I expect to check out during TIFF, and you can check our Twitter (@WayTooIndie) for immediate reactions. Be sure to check the site for more detailed write-ups about what’s playing at the festival as well. Until then, I’ll be relaxing as much as possible to prepare myself for the onslaught of films coming my way.

Next up:

The Past, which earned Berenice Bejo a Best Actress award at Cannes this year. One of our reviewers was a big fan, and if it’s anything like A Separation it shouldn’t disappoint.

From February 7-21, a giant celebration of independent film will be running wild across the San Francisco Bay Area in the form of SF IndieFest, an independent film festival which will be celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, and Way Too Indie will be there to give you comprehensive coverage of the festivities. San Francisco exhibits an open-mindedness, advocacy of cinematic experimentation and innovation, and general artistic acceptance that no city in the world can match, making it the ideal environment for a festival like SF IndieFest to thrive in.

San Francisco hosts a slew of film festivals throughout the year, but what makes SF IndieFest unique are its special events, which include a The Big Lebowski -themed party (to be followed with a 35mm midnight screening of the film), a Roller Disco party (because, why not?), a Valentine’s Day 80’s Power Ballad Sing-Along, a Quinceanera-themed opening night party, and much more. These events are sure to provide a hell of a time for the thousands of festival-goers, but it’s the stellar lineup of films that has attracted independent filmmakers and enthusiasts from around the world to the city by the bay since 1998.

Our coverage will include: Film reviews and impressions, photos, video blogs, and coverage of the various special events and parties.

The films on deck this year are phenomenal; any and all lovers of independent film (that means you) should be getting very, very excited. Here are some films from the festival to keep an eye on, with reviews to follow as the festival commences.

The We And The I

(Director Michel Gondry)

In the festival’s big opener, the endlessly imaginative Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind, The Science of Sleep) plants us on a bus sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with a group of mischievous Bronx teenagers on their last day of school and watch as their relationships evolve, or perhaps dissolve. It will be interesting to see what kind of imagery and situations Gondry, with his surrealist visual style and mad-scientist flare, will offer up with such a small, cramped space to play with. We watch Gondry’s films to see just how far he can stretch his imagination, and The We And The I looks to be an inventive, humorous, emotional, and wholly unique showcase of his one-of-a-kind creativity.

The We And The I trailer:

Days of Grace

(Director Everardo Valerio Gout)

Set in Mexico City, Days of Grace follows the intertwining destinies of three men, who fight for their lives inside the vicious, corrupt, wicked environment that envelops them. Jumping between the years 2002, 2006, and 2010, Everado Valerio Gout tells a relentless tale of deception and vengeance that puts its characters through hell to see who comes out in one piece.

Days of Grace trailer:

All The Light In The Sky

(Director Joe Swanberg)

In All The Light In The Sky, the festival’s closer, Joe Swanberg invites us to spend time with Marie (Jane Adams), an actress in her 40’s who lives on a house by the sea in Malibu. Marie feels there is something missing in her life, and we watch as she contemplates which direction to go in to find what she’s looking for.

(No trailer yet for All The Light In The Sky)

Antiviral

(Director Brandon Cronenberg)

In this gruesome, thrilling take on body-horror, director Brandon Cronenberg delivers a fantastic feature debut that channels his father’s legacy while successfully establishing his own cinematic style. Antiviral follows Syd March, played by the gifted Caleb Landry Jones, as he uses his own body as a vehicle to smuggle viruses harvested from celebrities to sell to rabid fans who want to make a connection with their favorite stars on a biological level.

Antiviral trailer:

Wrong

(Director Quentin Dupieux)

Dolph Springer (Jack Plotnick) wakes up to find he has lost the love of his life: his dog, Paul. He embarks on a strange, wacky, comical quest to reunite with his beloved canine friend, and uncovers an unexpected spiritual conspiracy along the way. In Wrong, the follow-up to the outrageously absurd Rubber, director Quentin Dupieux creates a weird, nonsensical world where it rains indoors, dog sh*t has memories, and clocks read “7:60.”

Wrong trailer:

There are a lot more wonderful films to look forward to at the festival. Here is the rest of the lineup.

SF IndieFest 2013 Lineup:

28 Hotel Rooms (Matt Ross)
Be Good (Todd Looby)
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland)
Blue Dream (Gregory Hatanaka)
Born Innocent (Donald Wrye)
Bound By Flesh (Leslie Zemeckis)
Days of Grace (Everado Gout)
Faceless (Tristan Albrecht)
Faces in the Mirror (Boyd Tinsley)
Funeral Kings (Matt & Kevin McManus)
The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (Paul Bunnell)
Ghosts With Shit Jobs (Chris McCawley)
Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (Jorge Hinojosa)
I Declare War (Jason Lapeyre & Robert Wilson)
Inside Lara Roxx (Mia Donovan)
It’s a Disaster (Todd Berger)
The International Sign for Choking (Zach Weintraub)
The Last Elvis (Armando Bo)
The Legend of Kaspar Hauser (Davide Manuli)
The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus (Alexandre Phillippe)
Manborg (Steven Kostanski)
Not in Tel Aviv (Nony Geffen)
The Other Side of Sleep (Rebecca Daly)
The Revisionaries (Scott Thurman)
Sightseers (Ben Wheatley)
Simon Killer (Antonio Campos)
The Story of Luke (Alonso Mayo)
Sun Don’t Shine (Amy Seimetz)
Toys Are Not For Children (Stanley Brassloff)
Video Diary of a Lost Girl (Lindsay Denniberg)

Shorts Program

An Animated World
Bouquet of Pleasures & Pains
Cults, Manholes & Slide Rail Riders
Defying the Limits
Hilarious & Entertaining Adventures
Innocence Bursting
Uncanny Shorts-Past & Present

The third day of the Chicago International Film Festival began with the Czech film Flowerbuds. The first time director Zdenek Jirasky introduced the film by telling us that he brought us somewhat of a depressing film. Flowerbuds certainly adhered to the director’s statement.

Centered on a dysfunctional family living in a small Czech town, the film highlights the tragedy of that family and how they miss the opportunities to better their life. The father works as a train signal operator that requires him to simply push buttons to close off the road when a train comes through. After work hours he continues to push buttons, because of his serious video lottery gambling addiction. He digs himself deeper and deeper into debt with this addiction. With seemingly no options left the man is willing to give his life to save his family. Each of the other family members are equally as flawed and struggle to unite as a family.

The tone was perfectly set by the lack of saturation in the colors of the film. Had I not met with the director afterwards, I would have made one small criticism about the ending, but hearing his intention, which I will only allude to, a bridge over troubled tracks, makes completely sense. If you get a chance to see the film, it would have my recommendation.

RATING: 7.6/10

Flowerbuds

Because I had plenty of time between my next scheduled film, I decided to randomly walk into Alaskaland. The film relies heavily on fish-out-of-water circumstances of a Nigerian man living in Alaska. The man wants nothing to do with his heritage despite his family (especially his younger sister) eagerly waiting him to embrace it.

Alaskaland had good intentions, but it felt too personal to the filmmaker for an outsider to enjoy. The acting was downright atrocious, except for the sister, who had to often work with over-acted performances. The only other bright spot was the cinematography which was done very well. The dialog felt very awkward and some scenes flat out contradicted themselves. It will stick with you for all the wrong reasons.

RATING: 5/10

Alaskaland

The final film I saw today was Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise: Love. This is a film that leaves you speechless after you see it and will stick with you for a long time. It is bold, it is provocative, it is challenging.

From the very beginning Paradise: Love made it clear that the film is about fulfillment. The opening shot of autistic people running into each other in bumper cars with sheer satisfaction was a great way to show our human desire for enjoyment. The film expands off that when it follows an overweight German woman named Teresa who travels to the beautiful beaches of Kenya in search for fulfillment through love.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film was it’s use of exploitation. At first the locals there were engaging in sex with her in order to get to her money. But by the end she was using her money in attempt to purchase love, essentially using them.

The other observation that can be made is the progression of her character. When she first arrived she disinfected everything in her room but by the end she was practically rolling around in it naked. She was shy towards the men at first but became very dominating to them over time.

The only criticism I could come up with for Paradise: Love is that it drags on just a touch at the end. The point was made well before the scene towards the end finished. But that is only an extremely small issue that is easy to overlook considering the rest of the film. I think will be hard for another film to top this at the festival.

RATING: 8.5/10

Paradise: Love

COMING UP: The Portuguese character study Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica and Cristian Mungiu’s follow up to his 2007 hit 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days with another existential drama Beyond The Hills.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival!

First film today will be FLOWERBUDS with director Q&A afterwards. Haven’t heard much about this one yet. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 14, 2012

Director of FLOWERBUDS explaining his film to the audience. twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 15, 2012

The director of ALASKALAND introducing her film. #ChiFilmFest48 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 15, 2012

is hanging with @waytooindie at the @chifilmfest Filmmaker’s Lounge. #CIFF

— Nelson Carvajal (@nelsoncarvajal) October 15, 2012

PARADISE: LOVE leaves you speechless and will stick with you for a long time. One of the better films of the year. #ChiFilmFest48

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 15, 2012

War Witch follows our heroin Komona over three years starting at the age of twelve. The small community she belonged to get raided by a rebel army. The unthinkable occurs when she is forced to kill her own parents. Shortly after that the army brainwashes the kids into killing machines.

Some parts worked better than others, in particular the middle part (thirteen years old) was busy setting up the plot that it got away from the things that worked the best. But it remained a very touching and powerful film. Komona went through more difficult situations by the age of fourteen than most people endure in their lifetime. I guess you could say that it is an inspiring film despite showing depressing scenes majority of the time. The film was hard to watch at times but compelling nonetheless. Rachel Mwanza was astounding in the lead role and the cinematography in War Witch was spot on.

RATING: 7.4/10

War Witch

Following War Witch was the famous Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love. Having been told what to expect from his previous work, I knew that I was in store for a slow burning film. The fact that the film was delayed after I had been standing in line for an hour was par for the course.

By far my two favorite parts of the film were it’s very beginning and the very end. It begins at a Tokyo bar where we hear the voice of a woman fighting on the phone with her boyfriend. During this time the camera is focused on a group of other people in the background. When the camera does pan to the woman talking it is clear that she is lying about where she is. Her boyfriend seems over-protective but it is probably because he has been tipped off that she is an escort. Although, she denies it to him, she is an escort who is about to be sent on a special trip to an elderly professor.

As I mentioned the very beginning and end where the parts that seemed to work best for me but it was everything in between that could have been better. Part of the problem was that the pace of Like Someone In Love could have been kicked up a notch or two. The film was handled with extreme care and meticulously shot so it was evident there was a veteran filmmaker beyond the camera. I suspect our writer CJ will give this a watch and chime in with his thoughts.

RATING: 6.6/10

Like Someone In Love

My last film of Day 2 was After Lucia, which I sensed could be a film with a ton of potential considering the subject matter and that it won the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. And I can see why. It is an unsetting film about a teenager named Alejandra that just moved to a new town after her mother passed away. Her school life quickly becomes a nightmare when a video of her having sex leaks out to everyone at her school. She becomes chastised and bullied by everyone in her class.

After Lucia is a gut-wrenching film where no one wins unless you count the audience. It is emotionally disturbing because even the silver lining is depressing; a good person doing bad things to a bad person for a (relatively) good cause. It sounds much more confusing than it really is. You could tell that After Lucia had an affect on the audience as you practically heard everyone wince and shift in their chairs. There were a couple of questionable actions (and frankly lack of action) that occur but that does not prevent the impact of the film. After Lucia has been the best film I have seen so far at the Chicago International Film Festival.

RATING: 7.8/10

After Lucia

COMING UP: Tomorrow I will be seeing Flowerbuds which earned 4 top Czech Lions (the Czech Oscars) and Ulrich Seidl’s controversial Paradise: Love.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival!

For me today is probably the strongest day of films which includes; WAR WITCH, LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE, and AFTER LUCIA. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

WAR WITCH: Some parts worked better than others but it was still touching and powerful film. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

Rain clouds are hiding the #chicago skyscrapers. twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

Welp LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE is delayed. Even the wait time to see it is slow. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

You could tell that AFTER LUCIA had an affect on the audience. Affective cinema. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 14, 2012

My first day at the Chicago International Film Festival one is a relatively light one considering that I will only be seeing one film. That film happens to be the one I am most excited to see here, Holy Motors. Before the film I got a chance to meet up with one of the coordinators of the festival. When I mentioned that I would be seeing Holy Motors first, his eyes light up and said, “Wow. You are jumping right in.”

Leos Carax’s Holy Motors was incredibly well received at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year where it was nominated for the top prize of Palme d’Or and won Award of the Youth. Going into Holy Motors blind (not seen any of the directors previous work nor read too much about the film) seemed like a good idea but you must prepare yourself for this film. Even though I figured it would not be your average film, it was impossible to expect this.

I could not argue that this film is not intriguing, because it is very much is. In fact, I applaud its efforts to push the envelope in cinema. However, as much as I wanted to love the film, I could not. It was a shame that the film I was looking forward to the most at the festival was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe that means some of the others will surprise me.

(Full review to come)

Holy Motors

RATING: 6.3/10

COMING UP: I start my first full day with a bang; the inspiring story of War Witch, Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love and Un Certain Regard prize winner After Lucia.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival!

Welcome the Chicago International Film Festival. I could smell the popcorn from the street. #CIFF12 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 12, 2012

My first film of the festival, HOLY MOTORS, is the one I’m most excited for. But before I make my way to that, filmmakers lounge! #CIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 12, 2012

HOLY MOTORS was completely baffling. It didn’t take itself seriously which was both a blessing and a curse. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

HOLY MOTORS: You will never look at limos the same way again. #CIFF

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) October 13, 2012

Fall is a great time to watch films. The combination of the days beginning to get colder and the nights getting longer makes the perfect excuse for staying inside to watch films. Festival season is now in full swing which means award season will be following just around the corner. So what better place to enjoy a film festival in the fall than the Windy City of Chicago?

The Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is a two week film festival that prides itself on the abundant offerings of world cinema. During the five and a half days I will be there 80% percent of the films I am scheduled to see are foreign. More than half of those foreign films premiered overseas at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year. Generally what works best for me is going into films without a whole lot about it, so that is what I will be doing for most of what I see. For the majority of the films I have not even seen the full trailer.

Below are the films that I am planning to cover for Way Too Indie while I am there. However, this is slightly tentative depending on press screenings that may pop up but for the most part this will be it. In addition to festival coverage I will be posting on here, I will also be tweeting like crazy so make sure to follow @WayTooIndie on twitter.

Day #1: Holy Motors

Day #2: War Witch – Like Someone In Love – After Lucia

Day #3: Flowerbuds – Paradise: Love

Day #4: Once Upon A Time Was I, Veronica – Beyond The Hills

Day #5: Empire Builder – Not Fade Away

Chicago International Film Festival Trailers:

Holy Motors trailer:

War Witch trailer:

Like Someone In Love trailer:

Flowerbuds trailer:

Paradise: Love trailer:

Beyond The Hills trailer:

Not Fade Away trailer:

The last day of TIFF was comprised of only one film for me, but its length could easily make up three separate movies. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Penance premiered on TV earlier this year as a 5 part miniseries, and now it’s been compiled into one long 270 minute experience. Kurosawa, who hasn’t made a film since 2008’s Tokyo Sonata, works well with the larger scale that comes with the television format even if it cant really break free from its origins (if you want to see a great example of a miniseries that’s beautifully cinematic check out the late Raul Ruiz’s Mysteries of Lisbon). Penance‘s production values can be distracting at times, and it was clearly designed to be seen over a longer period of time instead of being played all at once.

The central character in Penance is Asako Adachi (Kyoko Koizumi), the wife of a successful businessman and stay at home mom for her daughter Emili. Emili and her friends Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko are playing together one day when a man asks Emili to help him. She goes with the man and is found dead hours later by her four friends. The four girls, despite seeing the killer’s face, refuse to give any details which fills Asako with fury as there are no other leads in the case. Asako tells the four girls that one day they will all have to do an act of penance she approves of if they won’t help her find the killer.

The first four episodes each focus on one of the girls 15 years in the future as they coincidentally start finding out what their atonement will be. Sae marries a young wealthy man only to become more of a prisoner than a wife. Maki, now a teacher, is consumed with guilt over Emili’s death and tries to redeem herself. Akiko is a shut-in who discovers a dark secret in her family, and Yuko obsesses over her brother-in-law. Each chapter operates as a stand-alone story, with Asako serving as the connective tissue. It comes as a surprise that these four segments are all consistently good. There’s a running theme involving the four women being oppressed either externally (usually a male villain) or internally (their remorse over Emili’s murder) which Kurosawa explores in various ways. The only exception would be Yuko who selfishly hurts the people around her with no sense of morals (this is also the lightest chapter, operating more as a dark comedy).

It’s unfortunate then that, after the first four engrossing chapters, the final act doesn’t stick the landing. The fifth chapter finally puts the focus on Asako as she hunts down her child’s killer to get revenge. While it wraps everything up in a nice bow, the answers are far from satisfying and end up making this the worst part of Penance. Plot twist after plot twist are thrown in until it feels like soap opera territory, and even during the climactic confrontation the pace started to drag. It’s an unsatisfying and cliched ending, but luckily the bulk of Penance is absorbing enough to make up for its shortcomings. Kurosawa still has a great eye, even with the murky look that dominates the majority of the film. All five leads do a great job with Koizumi being the obvious highlight along with Sakura Ando as Akiko. Penance is definitely a well-made film despite its flaws, but it should probably stay on smaller screens as good TV.

RATING: 7/10 (7.5 for chapters 1-4, 6 for chapter 5)

Penance

And with that, my TIFF coverage for 2012 ends. All in all it was a good experience, with 14* films seen in 7 days (not consecutively). Like every year, I usually end each festival waiting for next September to roll around so I can try to see even more films than before. Here’s hoping for a great TIFF 2013.

* Technically 15 but since I didn’t finish Spring Breakers I won’t count it

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

Alright, PENANCE is about to begin. See you all in 5 hours #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 16, 2012

PENANCE: Engrossing but a flawed final act drags things down to soap opera territory. #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 16, 2012

It was a fun 4 hours and 47 minutes though!

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 16, 2012

For day 8 I delved right into TIFF’s Wavelengths programme which has been expanded this year. The programme used to cover avant-garde film only but now feature films that straddle the line between conventional and experimental are included as well.

My first film, Post Tenebras Lux, might be familiar to some as one of my most anticipated titles at Cannes from earlier this year. I still approached Carlos Reygadas‘ newest film with some hesitation since the guy is anything but predictable, and sure enough Lux is one strange film. There’s a story (involving a family living in Mexico’s countryside and a contractor working at the family’s home) but there’s no narrative whatsoever. At the drop of a hat Reygadas will suddenly flash forward to a family reunion, go back in time to a couple’s vacation at a disgusting bath house, or just focus on different characters entirely. Characters who appear in flash forwards will die in the present story, and plenty of fantastical elements come into play. Reygadas has explained exactly how personal Lux is for him; the house they shot as was his own, the children in the film are his own and a lot of scenes are directly lifted from personal experiences. It would be best to take in the film as a mood piece, but Reygadas rarely hits the emotional highs he’s shooting for. Running nearly 2 hours long, Post Tenebras Lux eventually feels like Reygadas is just farting around. Alexis Zabe’s cinematography is drop dead gorgeous (he’s definitely one of the best cinematographers working today), but as a whole Lux rarely impresses. I still can’t deny that parts of the film resonated with me, and down the road I might come to appreciate it more, but right now I feel mostly indifferent to what I saw.

RATING: 6/10 but a question mark would be more appropriate

Post Tenebras Lux

Next up was When Night Falls, a Chinese film that’s well-known for the story surrounding it. In a lengthy opening using narration and various images from the true events that inspired the film, Wang Jingmei (Nai An) explains what happened to her son Yang Jia. Years ago Jia was taken in by police after they suspected he stole a bicycle, was brutally beaten after not co-operating and endured constant harassment when he tried to report the officers. According to the Chinese authorities, Jia had enough and murdered six officers in a brutal attack on his town’s police station. It may sound like an open and shut case, but the government acted in a way that cast doubt on what really happened. CCTV footage of the attack vanished, and Wang Jingmei was illegally detained in a mental hospital for 143 days so she couldn’t have a presence at her son’s trial. 

When Night Falls picks up immediately after Jingmei is released from her imprisonment. With only days left before her son is executed, she frantically tries to submit evidence in her son’s favour to try and hold off his death. Of course Wang Jingmei’s battle is a losing one before she even decided to fight, and we see how the deck has been stacked against her as she faces more and more obstacles. Subject matter aside, When Night Falls is a tough film to watch. Director Ying Liang sticks to long, well-composed shots that go on for several minutes at a time. While other directors have worked well with a minimalist style, When Night Falls feels like a slog to get through at times despite its 70 minute length. At the same time I can’t deny that the film’s existence is essential with how it brings this tragic story into the spotlight. With news of the Chinese authorities threatening to arrest Liang if he steps foot in China again while trying to buy the film off of him in order to bury it, When Night Falls has probably gotten more coverage than it would have if it was left alone. I just wish that it could have been as interesting to watch as the story surrounding it.

RATING: 6.5/10

When Night Falls

NEXT UP: I’ll make my way back to TIFF on the final day to check out Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 5 hour miniseries Penance. Wish me luck!

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

POST TENEBRAS LUX: Uh… #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 13, 2012

WHEN NIGHT FALLS: An essential film,but one that isn’t an easy watch.#TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 13, 2012

It turned out that the day I was most cautious about was the best experience I had at the festival so far. Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt has been one of the hotter titles here, with praise thrown at it left and right from people who got the chance to see it. I didn’t know much about The Hunt going in, and despite my little knowledge beforehand it didn’t buck the current trend of ‘good not great’ that I’ve been experiencing. Kindergarten teacher Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) has his life turned upside down when a student at his school falsely accuses him of molesting her. The girl has a crush on Lucas, but when he rejects a gift she made for him (which she snuck in his coat shortly before trying to kiss him on the mouth) the girl angrily tells another teacher that he exposed himself to her. What makes this situation even more complicated is that the girl’s father is Lucas’ best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen). The Hunt is a crackling drama that benefits greatly from taking what would be a morally black and white situation and forcing it into a grey area. Every character behaves justifiably (I can’t say the same for their actions), and Vinterberg milks out the intensity of the situation as much as possible. The first hour of the film, with Lucas slowly being ostracized by the town, is mostly predictable until Vinterberg brings in Lucas’ son. The movie shifts its POV to the son, and when we see how the townspeople deem him guilty by association things take an interesting turn. Mads Mikkelsen is terrific as Lucas, but some praise should also go to Bo Larsen who easily sells how conflicted his character is over whether to condemn or stand by his best friend. The Hunt may have been too see-through for me to truly enjoy it, but Vinterberg has crafted a very good movie here.

RATING: 7.5/10

The Hunt

And just as I was lamenting the lack of truly great films at TIFF this year, along comes Leviathan to save the day. As we’ve already mentioned in our trailer post, Leviathan is an abstract documentary that was filmed on a fishing boat working around the eastern seaboard. The opening sequence starts out from the point of view of a fisherman hauling in a catch, but suddenly the camera is thrown into the ocean. As the camera bobs up and down in the ocean we get brief glimpses of seagulls flying in the sky. Describing these kinds of scenes don’t do justice to how visceral watching Leviathan is. The use of small GoPro cameras not only gets some amazing footage, it lends an otherworldly quality to what’s on screen. The constant movement makes it impossible to orient oneself, so when the camera catches a net being pulled in during the night it can easily look like some sort of monstrous creature coming out of the water. I don’t see how anyone could watch Leviathan outside of a theatre and get the same impact as watching it on a giant screen. After being assaulted for nearly 90 minutes, the lights came on in the theatre and I suddenly realized that I seemed to have lost my place. Everything around me looked foreign, like I was suddenly dropped into the theatre and trying to figure out where I was. It’s the kind of reaction I’ve never had after watching a film, and it left me feeling euphoric afterwards. Leviathan is the best film of the year for me right now, the kind of movie that makes me realize why I love going to TIFF in the first place.

RATING: 9/10

Leviathan

NEXT UP: Post Tenebras Lux which gained Carlos Reygadas a Best Director prize at Cannes this year. It’ll be followed by When Night Falls, which annoyed the Chinese government so much that they offered to buy the film just so they could bury it. Plus, a review of Motorway.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

In line for THE HUNT right now after arriving early at #TIFF12 today. Don’t know much about this film other than it pisses some people off.

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

Thomas Vinterberg at a Q&A for THE HUNT which got a standing ovation twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

Now in line for the premiere of LEVIATHAN which @cinemaguild has picked up for distribution! That already tells me it must be good #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

Someone just asked Vinterberg if he could explain dogme 95. KILL ME.

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

Overheard someone say they thought Morgan Freeman died a week ago, so anyone who thinks that #TIFF12 is for intellectuals can rest easy

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

Audience sat in stunned silence throughout credits of LEVIATHAN. Here’s a pic of the very shy directors #TIFF12 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 13, 2012

Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio is very much a movie about movies. In it we follow Gilderoy (the excellent character actor Toby Jones), a sound man who accepts a job offer in Italy on a giallo slasher. Its 70s setting helps put the focus on Gilderoy’s analog sound work which requires some creative ways to get desired sounds. All we see of the giallo film is a psychedelic credit sequence but there are plenty of times where we watch Gilderoy stabbing cabbages, pouring hot oil on a pan or blending tomatoes to mimic the sounds of the heinous acts we aren’t able to see. Eventually all of the fake brutality gets to Gilderoy, and he slowly becomes unable to tell the difference between the film and his own life. Strickland uses plenty of tools to show Gilderoy’s feelings of alienation (there are no exterior shots) and loosening grip on reality, but the results are a mixed bag. Some sequences, like one where Gilderoy is mimicking sounds of the night, are executed beautifully in a way where it’s hard to tell what’s real and fake. On the other hand, Strickland makes a big mistake by subtitling all of the Italian in the film which, since Gilderoy can’t speak a word of the language, doesn’t give us the same feeling of confusion or alienation that he has. By the end Berberian Sound Studio dives right off the deep end with a moment similar to Bergman’s Persona, but its abrupt ending doesn’t make for a conclusion that’s too fulfilling. Berberian Sound Studio is definitely unique with some wonderful moments that nail what Strickland is going for, but it’s too uneven to be something truly great.

RATING: 7/10

Berberian Sound Studio

Next up was Here Comes The Devil, a US/Mexican horror film that left me feeling baffled after its screening. It starts off with a graphic sex scene between two women which ends with a machete wielding madman trying to murder one of the women before fleeing to a mountain. Suddenly the focus shifts to a vacationing family who let their son and daughter go hiking up the same mountain. The children don’t come back but are found by the cops the next day. The parents soon notice that their kids seem very distant, and when a check-up at the doctor reveals that the daughter doesn’t have a hymen the mother assumes that they were sexually assaulted by someone. Of course things aren’t that simple, and soon enough the mother starts to believe some sort of evil presence is involved while her husband takes the usual ‘skeptic/rational’ role. At the beginning of Here Comes The Devil I wasn’t enjoying the cheap and cheesy execution. The thing was shot on what looks like a poor DV camera, the compositions were laughable with their extreme close-ups and similarity to comic book panels, and the aggressive sound design was grating. But as it went on I started to warm up to director Adrián García Bogliano’s weird methods. His use of quick zooms and shoddy special effects felt like they came straight out of a student film, but the story kept the film going at a nice momentum. Towards the climax I even started to warm up to some of the absurd framing, but it wasn’t strong enough to salvage too much. Here Comes The Devil may be awful a lot of the time, yet I can’t deny its power at keeping me invested throughout.

RATING: 6.5/10

Here Comes The Devil

NEXT UP: I take on Thomas Vinterberg’s seemingly divisive The Hunt and try to not get seasick while watching Leviathan.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO: Some fantastic moments but it gets too bogged down in its insanity to be truly great #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 11, 2012

Now in the hot docs cinema waiting for HERE COMES THE DEVIL to start #TIFF12 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 11, 2012

HERE COMES THE DEVIL: A very strange movie that almost (Almost!) won me over in the end

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 12, 2012

A shorter day compared to yesterday’s 4 films, but just as fulfilling. Starting off I was afraid that Cloud Atlas would be a terrible film to watch after getting 4 hours of sleep. Before I start hearing cries from people about how this site is about indie films, let me clear something up. Cloud Atlas was independently financed with a $100 million budget, with Warner Brothers only offering distribution. Once you see Cloud Atlas you’ll understand why the thing had to be made outside of the studio system. Using six different storylines with each one taking place at different time periods (the 1800s, 1930s, 1970s, 2012, 2144 and thousands of years in the future), the movie uses its ensemble cast throughout each segment to emphasize its themes of reincarnation and the cycle of life. It’s a massive undertaking from directors Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis (Andy and Lana) which they amazingly pull off for the most part. Cloud Atlas is a massive, sprawling piece of work that puts the spectacle back into big budget films. The radical structure of the book is dropped for the film, with all six stories cross cutting each other. There have been complaints of the movie being too messy or confusing, but the structure is no worse than an episode of Game of Thrones. And while Cloud Atlas has its flaws, there are plenty of moments where I found myself seeing the big picture and fully realizing the weight of every storyline linking to one another throughout time. That alone makes Cloud Atlas a success, and worthy of exposure to the largest audience possible.

RATING: 7.5/10

Cloud Atlas

I followed Cloud Atlas with Sion Sono’s The Land of Hope. As a longtime fan of Sono’s work I came away from this film disappointed. Last year Sono was one of the first filmmakers to address Japan’s disastrous tsunami with Himizu, which used a teenage boy’s coming of age story as a symbol for Japan’s identity crisis after enduring another massive tragedy. While Himizu‘s immediacy made the film feel like an open wound as characters tried to understand what happened to them, The Land of Hope goes into the opposite direction. Using a more restrained style, Sono observes a family who get separated after another earthquake and tsunami hit the country. The family lives near a nuclear power plant, and we follow the parents as they stubbornly fight to stay while their son and daughter-in-law become paranoid of radiation exposure after re-locating. Sono, who is usually a master of pacing, takes his time here. The result is a mostly boring film, with melodramatic scenes that feel too staged and mawkish to earn any emotional response. Eventually The Land of Hope feels like it’s simply trudging along its bloated 140 minute length, with another subplot involving a neighbor going nowhere and the main family’s struggles creating a feeling of total indifference. The ending is a big eye roller too, as one of the characters states the movie’s message which could basically be summed up as “All you need is love.” Sion Sono is a total workhorse (he couldn’t make it to my screening because he was in the middle of shooting another film), and it’s a given that his work is hit and miss. Unfortunately, The Land of Hope is a total miss despite its heavy subject matter.

RATING: 5/10

The Land of Hope

NEXT UP: Nothing! Well, just for one day as I take a break before diving back in with Berberian Sound Studio.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

Say hello to the directors of CLOUD ATLAS #TIFF12 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

CLOUD ATLAS: Welp, they did it. Huge epic, it’s faults are overshadowed by its huge ambitions. #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

THE LAND OF HOPE: Sion Sono tries his hand at a ‘serious’ film and suffers for it. Probably the first film of his I’d call boring. #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

A considerably better day at TIFF this time around thanks to the lack of delays and other logistical nightmares, but the festival’s troubles are starting to be felt. The comments today from people all around town were critical of the way things have been run so far. Hopefully the rest of TIFF will improve on its rocky start, but let’s get to the movies.

Tabu has been getting a reputation as a silent film (or just partly silent) since its Berlin premiere, but it isn’t true. The second half of the film has no dialogue (but sound effects are still present) but it’s dominated by a voice over running throughout the entire thing. Hopefully the second half won’t turn people off from watching Tabu since it’s a gorgeous piece of work and my favourite film at the festival so far. Miguel Gomes, shooting in black and white and 4×3, creates some truly beautiful moments. The first half, which follows a character obsessed with films and other people’s lives, is my favourite part of Tabu with Teresa Madruga doing an excellent job as Pilar. The well-known second half, shot on 16mm, operates as the kind of film Pilar would usually watch. The African landscapes in this half are beautiful to look at, and Gomes directs it with a huge level of enthusiasm. A romantic film about lost love and classic cinema, Tabu is definitely worth seeking out.

RATING: 7.5/10

Tabu

Next up was Amour, the big Palme D’or winner and front-runner for the Foreign Film Oscar. As a huge fan of Michael Haneke, Amour was a step down from his previous film The White Ribbon. This is definitely Haneke’s most ‘human’ film yet, but don’t expect him to soften up. We start out with an old couple living a happy life until the wife has a stroke. From then on it turns into scene after scene of degradation as the husband has to take care of his wife while she slowly dies. There are powerful moments throughout Amour, but Haneke’s cold, precise style doesn’t work well enough. This definitely feels like a mainstreaming on Haneke’s part, and there is little of the thought-provoking content that’s easy to find in his previous films. Amour is definitely a good film, but I’m judging this on the scale of Haneke’s previous films where it just doesn’t stand up.

RATING: 7/10

Amour

While I waited for my last film of the night I decided to rush 90 Minutes, a new Norwegian film. Things got off to a good start with some nice camerawork and its ominous introductions to the three storylines in the film, but the feeling quickly went away. 90 Minutes clearly wants to be a provocative movie, which we see when a sex scene covered by a doorway cuts to the bedroom to reveal (shock!) that the woman on the bed is tied up and badly beaten. But that’s not all, as the camera cuts back further to reveal (double shock!) a baby in the same room. And just to make sure the film’s message is understood, the scene dissolves to a shot of people walking in a busy intersection. If the director opted to just cut to a title card that said SOCIETY instead I’m sure it would have saved her some money while giving the same impact. The other two stories don’t leave anything worth looking back over. At one point in the film a character describes an art piece that’s pointless because it shows how the human mind is limitless. I’m sure the scene was meant to sum up what 90 Minutes is about, but probably not in the way the director wanted.

RATING: 5/10

90 Minutes

Finally I checked out the Midnight Madness film No One Lives. This is the return of Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura who last made the underrated Midnight Meat Train. Unfortunately, this is not a triumphant return for Kitamura, as No One Lives is a pretty stupid movie. Most of the blame is on the writing, which is filled with such atrocious dialogue that no one could make it remotely passable (key example: someone sees their friend’s truck with the tires slashed and says ‘Something isn’t right!’). Luke Evans delivers most of his lines with the charisma of a 2×4, but luckily the awkward first act makes way for the carnage that makes up the rest of the film. Evans plays a psychopath who has his kidnapped victim unwittingly taken by a group of amateur robbers (they steal his car, not knowing that a girl is locked up in the trunk). It’s when these robbers realize exactly who they’re dealing with that No One Lives becomes a lot more entertaining. Kitamura directs some hilariously disgusting scenes, with one involving a hiding spot that’s too good to spoil. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends, as the eccentric violence can’t elevate this beyond the DTV (or should I say DTVOD) trash it truly is.

RATING: It would have been a 3 or 4, but the insanity bumps it to a 5/10

No One Lives

NEXT UP: I try to muster enough strength to finish the weekend with two 2+ hour epics. One being Cloud Atlas and the other Sion Sono’s Land of Hope.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

TABU is a well-done love story. Gorgeously shot and romantic. Excellent music as well. #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 8, 2012

Filling in for AMOUR #TIFF12 twitter.com/WayTooIndie/st…

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 8, 2012

AMOUR: Good, but far from Haneke’s best. Simple case of his style not matching the subject matter.

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

90 MINUTES: says nothing interesting at all because it has been done before. Bland.

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

NO ONE LIVES: A terrible script elevated by Kitamura’s insanity. There’s no reason why this guy had to stop making movies #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 9, 2012

It seems like the word of the day was “delay.” After arriving at Toronto the line-up for picking up tickets took nearly an hour. That’s not a complaint though, anyone who has been to TIFF is fully aware that waiting in line is just part of the festival. Either way, gone were my hopes of rushing Imogene or Paradise: Love so off I went to Spring Breakers.

Unfortunately Spring Breakers ended up getting delayed by over a half hour, meaning that in order to catch my next screening I had to bail out on the film towards the end (I’m guessing there were 15-20 minutes left). I can’t give a proper review, but from what I did see it seemed like Harmony Korine hasn’t really changed for me. With his previous films like Mister Lonely and Trash Humpers, Korine was able to pull out some beautiful, amazing moments but couldn’t sustain that feeling throughout. Spring Breakers starts out strong with a montage of college kids partying which is the first of many montages peppered throughout. These were the best parts of the film, but as a collective whole the film became exhausting. I’d rather not get into too much detail since I haven’t seen the entire thing, but I do know one thing for sure. James Franco kills it in this. Believe the hype.

RATING: N/A

Spring Breakers

But of course, after Spring Breakers was the main event. I got in line for The Master and…ended up waiting some more due to an hour long delay. To add even more insult to injury, aside from a quick intro by Paul Thomas Anderson there was no sign of the cast and no Q&A. Considering the screening was charged at a premium because of a Q&A with the cast/director I’m guessing a lot of people weren’t too happy.

But on to the movie, which is sure to confuse many once it gets a wide(r) release. The film, which is simply about a mentally disturbed seaman (Joaquin Phoenix) becoming friends with the leader of a cult (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in 1950, has plenty of powerful moments. The use of 65mm film and feel of There Will Be Blood from the trailers might suggest a similarly epic story, but this is much more intimate than the insane bombast of Daniel Plainview. Phoenix wipes away his entire misstep with I’m Still Here in this, becoming so involved with his character that he’s unrecognizable at certain points. Hoffman is terrific as well, and the two of them getting Oscar nods is probably set in stone. My issue is that none of the great moments (and a shout out to the use of 65mm which was gorgeous) came together as a whole, which led to a very slow pace. I would need a rewatch to really settle in on how I feel about The Master, but my initial reaction is that it’s good. It’s just not the masterpiece that his last film was.

RATING: 7 (tentative)

The Master

COMING UP: I start to head into the Wavelengths direction with the half-silent Tabu, followed by Haneke’s Cannes winner Amour and the return of Ryuhei Kitamura with No One Lives.

Recap of some of my Tweets from today:

Follow @WayTooIndie for full coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!

Went to pick up tickets, and now in my first of many lines for the fest. Can’t wait for SPRING BREAKERS and THE MASTER #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 7, 2012

Front of the spring breakers line is almost entirely young girls who are here for the cast. Poor souls have no clue what they’re in for.

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 7, 2012

From what I saw SPRING BREAKERS was a typical Korine movie for me. Hit and miss, with incredible highs and dull lows. #TIFF12

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 8, 2012

THE MASTER: going to take another watch before I get a better idea of what to think. Plenty of amazing stuff but it doesn’t come together

— Way Too Indie (@WayTooIndie) September 8, 2012

This year will be my fifth time heading out for the Toronto International Film Festival (or TIFF for short). The festival, which takes place over 11 days throughout downtown Toronto, has become more influential after the last several years. Back in 2008 TIFF premiered Slumdog Millionaire which went on to dominate the major award shows. In 2010 TIFF premiered The King’s Speech which, like Slumdog Millionaire, went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Now TIFF is seen as the starting line for the Oscar race, with studios premiering their films hoping for a breakthrough hit.

Don’t get the impression that TIFF is just a collection of celebrities promoting their Oscar hopefuls. This year there are 289 feature films playing at the festival, with the bigger premieres (Argo, To The Wonder, Hyde Park on Hudson) taking up a small percentage of that number. Films from all over the world play every year, and whether you’re interested in a certain country, genre, venue, etc. you should be able to find a line-up of films that will cater to your interests.

The festival starts today, but I will not be attending until tomorrow. Cameron Bailey, the artistic director of the festival, has admitted that people tend to think the festival starts on the second day which is basically true. The festival has tried to combat that this year by selecting Rian Johnson’s Looper as its opening film, but Thursday only has a handful of screenings that are all sold out. While I wait to become a part of the madness, here are some general pieces of information about TIFF that I’ve learned over the years.

You are a slave to the schedule (AKA You can’t always get what you want) – There are plenty of films I would have loved to see this year at TIFF but timing and scheduling end up becoming my worst enemy. I plan on seeing more than half of our most anticipated films at TIFF, but the perfect world where I can watch them all simply doesn’t exist. Like Someone in Love conflicts with The Master and Cloud Atlas. To The Wonder conflicts with Berberian Sound Studio. Other films I would have loved seeing, like Pablo Larrain’s No, conflict with other screenings. While it’s unfortunate I have no reason to complain, I’m perfectly happy with my current line-up. The fact that I have to make these kinds of tortured decisions goes to show how much content TIFF really has. It’s better to have an embarrassment of riches than a shortage.

Emotion versus Logic – There’s a debate that usually goes on between TIFF-goers every year that can be summed up like this: Is it worth the extra money to see a popular film at TIFF, even if it comes out in theatres shortly after? The ‘Emotion’ side says yes. With the cast and crew attending, a Q&A, and an audience of hundreds of enthusiastic fans watching it certainly feels like it would be the ideal experience to watch a movie. The ‘Logic’ side doesn’t consider those factors worthy of the premium pricing, and that time at the festival is better spent checking out something that won’t get a major theatrical release. Personally I sway back and forth between both sides of the debate. The reason why I won’t be checking out Argo at TIFF is because it’ll be out in theatres shortly afterward, but seeing Cloud Atlas at TIFF appeals to me a ton even if it’ll be out in October. And this point brings me to…

See something different – A trip to TIFF or any other film festival wouldn’t be complete without stepping outside one’s comfort zone. Every year I make sure that I see one film I know little to nothing about. The greatest opportunity that TIFF brings to viewers is discovery. It’s no surprise that out of 289 films some of them will be duds, but there are plenty of hidden gems as well. There’s something exciting about discovering a great film no one else knows about, and in a lot of cases no one ever gets the chance to see these films again in theatres. Some people might see it as risky to spend their money on a film they don’t know about, but the reward would be something worth remembering for a long time.

Besides the Looper premiere today should be relatively quiet at the festival. Jason Reitman is hosting a table read of American Beauty, while Rust and Bone and On The Road will screen for North American audiences before Dredd 3D kicks off the festival’s Midnight Madness programme. It should hopefully be a nice start to another great year for TIFF.

Coming up tomorrow: I start my festival trip with one of the weirdest double features in my life, starting with Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master.