The TIFF sessions 11-20

Ok, so I’m off to see Laurence Anyways tonight and still haven’t even finished up my TIFF reviews let alone got on to The Master. Officially behind so I’ll try and speed this up as best I can.

The Suicide Shop

This twee cartoon musical from Quebec centers around a town where suicide is not only legal but a viable industry. The central family, the Tuvaches, have maintained their store, which sells the means to oneself in, as the family business since 1854. But youngest child Alan is of a different disposition to the rest of his morbid family and fellow townsfolk and makes it his quest to share his optimistic world view with them all.

It's hard to recommend this one as family viewing given the central theme is suicide and some of the more outré musical numbers include young Alan and the neighbourhood children spying on his sister through a window as she dances naked for her own amusement. And yet the style of the film seems to be going after exactly that market with its clean simple animation, bubbly little songs and the frankly silly schemes developed by Alan in his efforts to cheer everyone the fuck up. I guess it’s going for nostalgia?

To be honest, it’s far too syrupy for me but I don’t think I’m the target audience here (though I’m clearly struggling to figure out who is) and there were certainly enough people in the audience satisfied by this confection.

Lunarcy

This documentary about people who are obsessed with the idea of colonising the moon is an odd duck in that it wants to have its cake and eat it too… and actually manages to almost pull it off.

As we’ve seen more and more in documentaries recently (or maybe I’m just seeing  more of them), the genre has opened itself up to playfulness and Lunarcy is never shy about pointing out its own absurdity or that of its subjects.

And yet, it has a sympathetic vein running through. It follows three main characters: a young man with Asperger’s syndrome who is convinced he will be the first permanent resident on the moon; a retiree whose favourite pastime is figure out what life on the moon would be like in every facet from real estate to architecture to art; and a middle-aged man who believe he owns the moon (because the UN never responded to his letter to say that he doesn’t) and runs a side business selling of acreage to interested punters.

In each case the film is careful to show both the extreme nature of their obsession but also to reveal the hidden sadnesses behind that obsession in a sympathetic light. These character are flawed but it’s hard not to feel some sympathy and wonder exactly who it is they are hurting with their passion.

Ultimately it finds inspiration in the young man with Aspergers, arguing that it is exactly his kind of ambition that got us to the moon in the first place and that kind of ambition that will be needed if we really are ever going to get back there.

The Brass Teapot

This indie film from America suffers from that frustrating feeling that one or two more drafts of the script could have turned it from something watchable but mediocre to something more solid and long lasting.

The plot of the film revolves around a young married couple (played by Michael Angarano and Juno Temple) living close to destitution when they come across a magical teapot that spits out cash whenever they cause pain in its presence. Soon the temptation of the teapot take them on a descent into darkness as they resort to more and more extreme measures to keep the cash flow going.

The film struggles a bit with knowing exactly what it is and what it wants to say and feels like it’s just on the the brink a point it never quite gets to. As a result it contains elements of several genres without settling on any one of them. It’s a black comedy, a crime caper, a perils of transformation story (seriously, every plot point from Can’t By Me Love is in here, just not with any context) but ends up merely a hodge podge of all.

It’s a shame really, because there’s a lot to like. The central performances are fairly engaging. Angarano seems to be having a lot of fun, and Temple navigates the balance the humour, steel and vulnerability that her complicated character requires. But, by contrast Alexis Bledel and Alia Shawkat are wasted in thankless roles that only work because they’re clichés of characters you’ve seen in other films.

All of that said, there is a vague charm and I hope that director Ramaa Mosley learns enough from her feature debut to deliver a stronger product with her next project .

The ABCs Of Death

Collaborative horror anthologies are always tricky to review given that the different creative teams working on each segment make it hard to summarize the film as a whole.

That’s greatly exacerbated in The ABCs of Death which features no less than 26 directors, one for each letter of the alphabet. Yes, the central conceit of ABCs is that there’s a multitude of ways to die and each has its own character. A is for Apocalypse, B is for Bigfoot etc. etc.

With 26 directors, even for a horror anthology this is a mixed bag and sadly, about half of them fall short of the mark. Some feel like a cop out for the genre (M is for Miscarriage is clever but not what we paid for); others so outlandish they don’t make sense (‘W’ and ‘Z’). In the midst though there are some shining lights with the truly bizarre ‘F’, the bloody and creative ‘X’ and the stop motion cartoonish violence of ‘T’).

But ultimately, there was just too much miss for too little hit for me to recommend.

Student

This Kazakhstani film by acclaimed director Darezhan Omirbayev starts out interestingly enough as it gently hints at underlying class struggle in the country but ultimately can’t sustain enough interest in its own narrative to take this through to anything meaningful.

A modern day update of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Student loyally sticks to the main plot points of the classic novel but without Raskolnikov inner monologue to keep things going, unless you are familiar with the source material, you’d quickly get lost in the mysterious actions of Nurlan Bajtasov’s Student (Raskolnikov’s counterpart here) or what even is going on.

Bajtasov’s blank-faced performance does not help in any way as the Student seems to merely wander through the landscape of his crime without much real understanding of what he’s done. The crippling guilt of the on-paper Raskolnikov becomes merely the filmic Student’s sleeping in. The main character is consistently overshadowed by the rest of the cast (the Razumikhin stand-in especially) and, in a film where his emotional reaction to what he’s done is kind of the point, this leaves Student wandering lost.

Interestingly, they cut the Petrovich subplot from the film which would seem to be an attempt to make Student’s action motivated more by guilt than fear but this just doesn’t come across.

Skip it.

7 Boxes

This Paraguayan crime thriller came as a huge surprise to me but may be the best film I saw at TIFF this year.

Victor (Celso Franco) is a porter in the sprawling market of Asunción, hoping to make enough money from carting people’s purchases to buy a new mobile phone with a camera that’s just hit the market (the film being set in about 2007-2008). When rival porter Nelson is called away to tend to his newly-mothered wife, Victor is offered a job filling in his usual role and given the task to transport seven boxes throughout the market and keep them hidden from police in exchange for a big payday. Of course what the boxes contain is highly illegal and Victor finds himself pursued by police, gangsters and an increasingly violently infuriated Nelson seeking to seize the reward for himself.

The film progresses it descends into increasingly complex and tense situation as it becomes clearer what is in the boxes and why they hold the balance in the tense equilibrium of the local underworld. That Victor has no idea how much deeper he is in than he thought, the tension for the audience keeps ratcheting up until a devastating climax in the streets of Asunción.

The film picks up pace very quickly and rarely lets up for more than a few minutes at a time. Victor is a compelling central character, brash beyond belief and desperate to be more important than he is. However he is not without heart, which we see through the growing interest he shows in his sidekick/potential love interest Liz (Lali Gonzalez). Liz herself is a formidable opponent to Victor’s more chauvinistic tendencies and the interplay as the balance of power shifts back and forth between them is hugely entertaining.

Interestingly, though the film has clear villains, most often in the form of Nelson, there’s a sense that not a single one of them has control of the situation and the abject violence throughout the film is an expression of desperation rather than of evil. In Nelson’s case, his need to financially provide for his sick child is a helluva motivator, certainly trumping Victor’s cell phone (though it is established early that there’s a long term enmity between them).

The performances of the three leads are impeccable though Celso Franco is a definite discovery as his version of Victor has to balance a lot of dark and selfish stuff yet be consistently likeable and Franco has his hand very firmly on the wheel here.

An absolute delight, directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori.

Thale

A second great film in a row, this Norwegian effort has an ultra low budget but manages to look high-quality even with a supernatural theme.

Elvis (Erlend Nervold) has just started working with Leo (Jon Sigve Skard) in his cleaning business, mopping up homes after a death has occurred. Though he really doesn’t have the stomach for the bloodstains and the smell, Elvis desperately needs the money for reasons that become clear as the film progresses.

When the pair are dispatched to clean a cabin in the woods where the owner has just died, they are surprised to discover that the home they are expected to air out has a secret trapdoor in it leading to a dilapidated but well stocked laboratory. Deep within the lab, they stumble across what appears to be a wild woman who initially greets them with violence but seems to respond to certain cues. Through various recordings left in the lab, the pair come to believe that this woman, named Thale, may in fact be the huldra of Scandinavian lore and are their newfound relationship forces them to reconsider their relationship to the world around them and the limits of their own small lives.

Although the film keeps the truth from Elvis and Leo for quite a while, we’re tipped off early that Thale is exactly what the tapes say she is and that she has been the victim/beneficiary of a professor trying to understand huldra ways and bring her closer to human ways.

The action components of the film stay from here but become layered with a deeper narrative about the harm we do when we force creatures out of their natural environment and about how sometimes it’s better to allow wonders to remain wondrous by not examining them under a microscope.

It’s a fair simple message but it’s told in such a touching way that it never feels forced. Flashbacks of Thale’s time with her jailer/father figure keep us seesawing between whether this man truly cares for her or merely sees her as a specimen. Her tortured and loving response to both roles gives a character that never speaks a word a great emotional complexity.

It almost goes without saying to say that Silje Reinåmo as Thale does an amazing job with a difficult role balancing out the toughness and vulnerability that a wild captive creature must exhibit. However, neither Nervold and Skard disappoint; the former with wide-eyed fascination in Thale’s threat, the latter concealing a vulnerability that doesn’t emerge until much later in proceedings.

Well worth watching.

Sleeper’s Wake

Probably the nicest thing I have to say about this South African effort is that the scenery is quite pleasant to look at. Otherwise, well it never met a cliché it didn’t like and that makes Jack a dull boy indeed.

Sleeper’s Wake features John Wraith (Lionel Newton) recovering after a car accident that killed his wife and child (there’s a lot of that going around apparently). Retiring to a friend’s holiday house out in the countryside, he is drawn into the lives of his new next door neighbours – particularly into the sexually aggressive world of teen daughter Jackie (played by model Jay Anstey).

Of course, it soon becomes clear that Jackie is just as damaged as John is, and in a far more destructive way. Before John knows it, he’s pulled deep into a situation there doesn’t seem to be any easy way out of as Jackie’ mind games and manipulations take him far away from safety.

Yes, it sounds like The Crush, or Fatal Atttraction, or any number of the affair-turns-stalking genre. Because it is like all of them.

At least it has baboons as a plot device.

Imogene

A frothy indie comedy featuring Kirsten Wiig, Imogene is a lightly enjoyable yet not deeply memorable film that keeps the laughs coming but isn’t as thorough in the dramatic department as it might like to think.

Imogene (Wiig) is a formerly successful playwright whose happy ensconcement in the upper echelons of New York society come crashing down when she is dumped by her more successful boyfriend. Staging a suicide attempt in a dramatic bid to win him back, she is remanded to the care of her loopy mother Zelda (Annette Bening) back in the New Jersey that Imogene would rather not think about. Forced back to her roots and wallowing in despair, Imogene is naturally forced to reevaluate her life’s value as she entertains new possibilities, including hooking up with her mother’s sexy new boarder, Lee (Darren Criss).

The real joy in this film is the interplay between Wiig and Bening as two women with vastly different takes on life. Zelda can’t understand why Imogene is so uptight and blame her for the detour her life has taken; Imogene can’t cope with Zelda's lower-brow take on life and how she could absolve herself of so much responsibility for her upbrining. These two actors play perfectly off each and the fact that both viewpoints are equally understandable enables the film to have conflict without either character coming across unsympathetically.

Less interesting is the wealth of side characters that populate Zelda’s colourful world, including new lover Matt Dillon, son Larry (Nathan Corddry) and Larry's prospective girlfriend Allyson (a sorely underused Natasha Lyonne). You get a sense there’s a lot here just for the sake of being quirky rather than because it builds story in any way.

Likewise, I’m not sure if it’s the age difference between them but the putative relationship developing between Imogene and Lee feels a bit under-heated and his attempts to lead her into freeing herself from self-loathing threaten to be on the nose.

The Relcutant Fundamentalist

The most negative thing I can say about Mira Nair’s latest film is that it runs about thirty minutes too long and requires a great time investment from an audience.

Aside from that, The Relcutant Fundamentalist is an entirely enthralling and extremely important film that I worry won’t find much success in the Western world because of its subject matter.

Long story short, The Reluctant Fundamentalist uses the story of one man to try and point out how our extreme reactions to terrorism and the racism that comes with those reaction may actually push people who would be our allies to turn against us.

Bobby (Liev Schieber) is an embedded journalist who’s finally been granted an interview with the charismatic Changez (Riz Ahmed) an Islamabad-based Muslim leader who is suspected of having ties to recent terrorist activity.

As Bobby’s interview with Changez continues though, we flashback to a younger version of the character, an aspiring Pakistani stockbroker working in America and wholeheartedly embracing the American Dream. Admired by his boss (Kiefer Sutherland) for his business acumen and with a burgeoning relationship with artist Erica (Kate Hudson), Changez can’t imagine a better world. Then, September 11 happens, and Changez begins to learn how fragile all that happiness was.

Although Changez is certainly the victim of some rather offensive racism following the September 11 attacks (most particularly from law enforcement authorities), Nair is careful not to let the pendulum swing too far into self-righteousness. Changez's inability to talk about what he’s going through to the people around him also fuels his simmering anger. In particular, a scene where he and Erica fight over the racism he perceives in her art is a heartbreaking. I haven’t been a big fan of Hudson’s since 200 Cigarettes but the misery with which she tries to explain how she doesn’t understand his resentment goes a long way to underlining what may be the core message of the film. Hudson is utterly sympathetic, even as Ahmed is utterly justified.

Nair seems to be underlining how the problem the West has with Islam is less to do with what most Islamic people actually do and more our unwillingness, possibly even inability, to see beyond our own cultural context. In the framing context, Changez is as likeable as he ever was during the NY segments, albeit with greater gravitas and heightened understanding that Bobby will not understand his life or culture the way Changez himself does.

He’s a deeply charismatic figure as he talks to Bobby and the reporter increasingly struggles to reconcile the supposed truth of what he’s hearing with the CIA's speculation about Changez’s involvement in terrorism, leading to a rather tense climax where Bobby will have to make a decision about which of these versions of Changez he really believes in.

It gets messy.