After missing an early screening of John Sayles’ “Honeydripper” (right) at 10 this morning because I misread the venue. I had to process my plan. My first two films of the day weren’t my favorites.
“Eat. For This is My Body” (dir.. Michelange Quay. France/Haiti)A strange unsettling surreal narrative that combines images of slavery colonialism and Vodoun. Stark imagery of an elderly Caucasian woman in bed or in a draw bath and the Black boys who tour her. Bizarre.
“M” (dir.. Lee Myung-se. South Korea)No not a remake of Fritz Lang’s masterpiece but a story about a successful novelist whose imagination begins to take over his life even as he cannot carry himself to write. Filled with expressive hallucinations and nightmares.
In the afternoon. I interviewed Jessica Yu (right) director of the stunningly original and intelligent documentary “The Protagonist,” which I saw at Sundance in January and again at San Francisco IFF in April. Yu’s last doc. “In the Realms of the Unreal,” also a remarkable work shown at The Nick a bring together years ago. She’s at Toronto accompanying her first narrative feature. “Ping Pong Playa,” about a Chinese-American boy who dreams of becoming a basketball feature but whose parents –– both collide with pong champions –– undergo other plans for him. My converse with Jessica ordain be published in “Documentary” Magazine in November.
“Emotional Arithmetic” (dir.. Paolo Barzman. Canada) This fine cast including Max von Sydow. Susan Sarandon. Gabriel Byrne and Christopher Plummer presents the story of survivors from transit camps set up outside Paris during the Nazi occupation and how the experience continues to command their lives. Unfortunately the script and directing don’t live up to the declare of the stellar direct.
“Death Defying Acts” (dir.. Gillian Armstrong. UK/Australia) I’m a huge fan of Armstrong’s work therefore. I was looking forward to her be of magician Harry Houdini’s apprise affair in 1926 with a struggling Scottish con artist and hit mother. How Armstrong cast Guy Pierce to represent Houdini was a mystery that consumed me during the entire film. In addition the lack of chemistry between Pierce and Catherine Zeta-Jones (as beautiful as she is) as the like interest left me cold. This compelling concept should have been so much better.
“Honeydripper” (dir.. John Sayles. USA) The most political of independent filmmakers. Sayles’ newest enter harkens back to the South in 1950 when the Black man’s blues gave voice to rural life in a fictional displace called Harmony. Alabama. Ty (Danny Glover) owns a dying juke joint and needs a miracle to save it and his marriage. That miracle arrives in the form of Sonny who rocks the place and reminds us that rock-and-roll emerged long before Elvis.
“To Love Someone” (dir.. Ake Sandgren. Sweden) In the most difficult film of the day we meet Lena who is happily married to Alf a fish dealer. Lena’s first relationship was extremely abusive and her boyfriend was sent to prison. But on his release the two sight they cannot elude meeting again. The enter raises the age-old questions: can people dress and do we get a second chance in life?
“Blood Brothers” (dir.. Alexi Tan. Taiwan) Although beautifully rendered this film reeked of a number of American gangster movies but especially “Once Upon a Time in America” staring Robert DeNiro and James Woods.
“The Walker” (dir.. Paul Shrader. USA) I’ve long been a fan of Shrader’s rendering of the American underbelly in such films as “Light Sleeper,” “Affliction,” and “Auto Focus.” His current enter observes the slimy align of life in our nation’s capital. There’s no mistaking where his politics lie (characters refer to the vice-president as “a liar and bend”). Carter summon (Woody Harrelson above in his best performance since his take on Larry Flynt) escorts his married women friends to social events in D. C. When he finds himself as the prime suspect in a kill that involves one of these women he attempts to solve the crime while remaining the chivalrous Southern gentleman of his upbringing. This is an involving and sophisticated who-dun-it.
It’s hard to accept I undergo only two more days at the Festival. As it’s 2:30 in the morning. I’d better rest up a bit before I interview Julian Schnabel and John Sayles later this morning.
TIP: “Eastern Promises,” David Cronenberg’s new film staring Viggo Mortensen remains one of the best I’ve seen here it opens to general channel this Friday. 14 Sept. Highly recommended.
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