Hey folks, Harry here... The Flying Monkey has the golden ticket to allows him the ability come, go, disappear and reappear if by whim. He's best friends with Margaret Hamilton and he's out to get you, my pretty... Yep, looking for pretty good films that is. He's got eclectic tastes as well, as is evidenced by an Italian flick, Iranian film, French pictureshow, a Hungarian movie and a Thai work of cinema. That covers the gamut of international cinema... don't it? Here ya go, hop on his back and he'll fly ya around the world...
Hi Harry,
I thought I'd chime in with my capsule reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival. I have an industry pass this year, so the movies I'm seeing are in a slightly different order from some of your other contributors. Hope this helps anyone who's angling for rush tickets or figuring out what to bail out of. None of my nicknames are printable hereI am a real movie-geek person like yourselves, as you'll soon see...)
THE BEST OF YOUTH
The Best of Youth: Terrific old-fashioned multi-generational family saga, enjoyed it a lot. Complex, satisfying storytelling following two brothers, Matteo and Nicola, and their friends, parents, siblings, partners and children from 1966 to the present--with significant historical moments in recent Italian history (the flood in Florence, the socialist student riots, the Red Brigade, the shootings of the judges) present and accounted for. Despite its 6.5 hour length, it was like curling up with a great book and reading it from cover to cover all in one sitting. Laughter, tears, the works. Excellent performance by Luigi Lo Cascio as Nicola, who essentially carries the whole film.
CRIMSON GOLD
Crimson Gold: Gritty downbeat fifties-style melodrama about a pizza delivery guy in Tehran who is a petty thief on the side--but is driven to attempt to rob an upscale jewelry store when he's humiliated time and again by the vast chasm between the 'have's and 'have-not's of Iranian society. More interesting for its insights into the repressive regine in Iran than for its predictable and meandering story...but by no means a write-off. I know one of your other contributors was more enthusiastic, but I just couldn't get there with this.
LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE
Les Triplettes de Belleville: Wildly eccentric, wonderfully animated film about an old woman, her cyclist son and their very large and clumsy dog. Oh, and the Tour de France, the French Mafia, an aging trio of sister singing stars from the twenties, a diabolical invention, a dazzling storm at sea, hand grenades, hats, several hundred frogs, and much much more. No subtitles, and didn't need them. A feisty car chase, some lively gunplay and a cameo by Josephine Baker send it into PG-13 territory, but hardy children and grownups of all ages will be delighted. Some deliciously twisted moments. I giggled all the way through.
FOREST
Forest: Oh those frisky Hungarians. I haven't seen this many walkouts in a *good* festival film for a long time. Basically a series of dark and disturbing vignettes (many of them simply uncomfortable conversations held in intense close-up) united only by theme and tone. A few of them seemed like writing exercises, and a few others like acting exercises, but the cumulative effect was undeniably creepy, and several of the more repellent segments will be difficult to forget. One dialogue between a father and mother about his growing discomfort with their ten-year-old daughter's burgeoning womanhood makes you writhe in your seat, if you can bear to sit through it at all. If this is the kind of thing that appeals to you, by all means go. If not, avoid like the plague. Me, I loved it.
THE TESSERACT
The Tesseract: A disappointment. I'm very fond of the Pang Brothers (Bangkok Dangerous, The Eye, etc.) but what must have seemed like a good match on paper (Alex Garland's arty Thai thriller + Oxide Pang's arty Thai thriller oeuvre) just didn't come together on screen. It doesn't help that neither Garland nor Pang is known for his depth; this was one long gush of technique (most of it familiar from other Pang films) plastered over a thin and predictable action-thriller typestoryline, fractured a dozen different waysand told from a multitude of perspectives. Irritating, not illuminating. Jonathan Rhys-Meyer in the Ewan MacGregor role. Saskia Reeves (lovely, but saddled with some utter crap) in the Emma Thompson role. The characters either talk too little or much, much too much. Some brilliant visual effects, but that's to be expected. And the title came to mean nothing in the end.
I'm seeing between 25 and 30 films this year--so look for another installment very shortly!
TFM
