Toronto International Film Festival – A Paradise For Film Lovers

Featuring a record number of premieres, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival promises the most exciting line-up in years. Perhaps it’s because this is their 25th anniversary (hats off to their endurance and courage); or perhaps it’s because the film industry is churning out more quality material. Whatever the reason, you film lovers out there are in for some a real treats, so keep September 7 to 16 commitment-free and enjoy a world-class event.

Galas

The most prestigious programme in the Festival is always the Gala where the celebrities show up (screenings take place at Roy Thomson Hall). Opening the Fest on September 7 is always a Canadian work, and this time it’s back to Denys Arcand with Stardom, a humourous tale about a young model’s (Jessica Paré) meteoric rise from small-time nothing to celebrity. Closing the fest on September 16 is Michael Kalesniko’s offbeat How To Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog about a couple (Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright-Penn) where he’s a failing playwright and she wants to have kids.

Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous makes its World Premiere on September 8. Set in 1973, the film stars Patrick Fugit as a 15-year-old music fan who interviews an up-and-coming band for Rolling Stone magazine. To do so he has to go on tour with them, despite objections from his mother (France McDormand). Also making its World Premiere on September 8 is Christopher Guest’s Best in Show, where the director gathers his Waiting for Guffman cast to make a mockumentary about a canine beauty pageant.

Another World Premiere is Kathryn Bigelow’s The Weight of Water (Sept. 9) where Catherine McCormack stars as a newspaper photographer who researches the lurid axe murder of two women in 1873 as an editorial tie-in with a brutal modern double murder. Also stars Sean Penn. Rod Lurie’s The Contender (World Premiere on September 10) sees Joan Allen playing the U.S.’s first Vice-President, much to the chagrin of a political opponent (Gary Oldman).

Ang Lee’s romantic adventure Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Sept. 10) stars Chow Yun Fat as a man searching for a missing jade sword; while Marleen Gorris’ The Luzhin Defence (Sept. 11) examines obsessive love in 1920 Italy between a chess champion (John Turturro) and a society beauty (Emily Watson).

Robert Altman’s delightful Dr. T and the Women (Sept. 12) stars Richard Gere as a gynecologist who’s having a hard time with all the women in his life, which include wife Farrah Fawcett, lover Helen Hunt, and secretary Shelly Long. Another comedy — and World Premiere — is Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast (Sept. 13), about an ex-convict (Ray Winstone) who faces panic when he’s lured back to gangster life.

Terence Davies is back with The House of Mirth (Sept. 13), where Gillian Anderson stars as a society gal desperate for a wealthy husband despite being in love with another man (Eric Stoltz). Another World Premiere is George Tillman Jr.’s Men of Honor (Sept. 14), a police thriller starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Rob Sitch’s The Dish (Sept. 15), a World Premiere, is the true story about a group of Australians facing a crisis during man’s first landing on the moon. And finally, Julien Temple’s Pandaemonium (Sept. 15), makes its world debut as it tells the love story between poets William Wordsworth (John Hannah) and S.T. Coleridge (Linus Roache).

Special Presentations

Major filmmakers take part in this programme. Joel Schumacher sheds his high-budget work for Tigerland, set in a 1971 boot camp where soldiers prepare for Vietnam. Al Pacino is back behind the lens with Chinese Coffee, based on Ira Lewis’ play where a struggling novelist (Pacino) has a conversation with his mentor (Jerry Orbach).

Bernard Rose makes a return with Ivansxtc. (To Live and Die in Hollywood), based on Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Paul Cox is always lyrical, and Innocence, about first love explored, is true to his form. Liv Ullman looks at an episode in Ingmar Bergman’s life in Faithless; and James Gray’s The Yards is a thriller set in New York’s subway starring Mark Wahlberg and James Caan.

A failing dance club is at the centre of Michael Radford’s Dancing at the Blue Iguana; vanity is at the heart of Sally Field’s Beautiful; Jackson Pollock is the protagonist in Ed Harris’ Pollock; and David Mamet’s is hilarious with State and Main, a satire about shooting a film in a small town.

Contemporary World Cinema

This is the most extensive programme in the fest (96 films), so it’s only practical to list some of the more talked-about titles. Teenage fantasies are in vogue with Stephen Daldry’s coming-of-age tale Billy Elliott which follows a young boy who swaps boxing lessons for ballet ones. Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight (already a hit at Sundance), is also about boxing, but this time from a girl’s point of view. Daniel Fridell’s Swedish Beauty is about two teenage boys obsessed with a Brigitte Bardot look-alike.

Kieron J. Walsh’s When Brendan Met Trudy, about a teacher and burglar who fall in love, is based on Roddy Doyle’s screenplay; Stellan Skarsgard is a cheating husband who tries to win his family back in Jonathan Nossiter’s Signs and Wonders; and the fate of Iranian women is the subject of Jafar Panahi’s The Circle.

Masters

Films from 17 countries and 15 renowned directors are at the core of this year’s programme. Claude Chabrol is back with Merci Pour le Chocolat, about a woman who thinks she was swapped at birth; Arturo Ripstein’s Such is Life deals with a woman’s revenge after she’s abandoned by her husband; and Chantal Ackerman’s The Captive is inspired by Proust’s La Prisonniere.

Politics is the subject of Ken Loach’s Bread and Roses, about a Mexican menage-a-trois; and Volker Schlondorff’s The Legends of Rita, about terrorist Rita Vogt. Disturbing German filmmaker Michael Haneke makes an appearance with Code Inconnu; and Takeshi Tikano presents Brother, about the violent Yakuza.

Other programmes in this year’s festival is Perspective Canada, featuring movies by Jim Allodi (The Uncles), Sheri Elwood (Deeply) Philippe Falardeau (La Moitie Gauche du Frigo), Andrea Dorfman (Parsley Days), Leonard Farlinger (The Perfect Son), Anthony Couture (Red Deer), Arto Paragamian (Two Thousand and None), Martin Cummins (We All Fall Down), John Fawcett (Ginger Snaps), and Blaine Thurier (Low Self Esteem Girl); Beckett On Film, featuring films based on Samuel Beckett works; Discovery, by first-time filmmakers; Planet Africa, featuring works dealing with sub-saharan culture; the documentary series Real to Reel; Midnight Madness, featuring the weirdest stuff around; Dialogues: Talking with Pictures, where film people introduce their favourite flick; and the Robert Beavers Spotlight.