Category Archives: Drama

Legend – Director – Brian Helgeland

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

In 1990 a film called The Krays dramatized the life of two east London gangsters from the 60’s. They were twin brothers, notorious, violent and for many years untouchable. They were also quite psychotic. Those you who know Monty Python well will remember the sketch about Doug and Dinsdale Piranha which was inspired by the Krays. In that first film the brothers were played by two actors who were also brothers. This year we get Legend also about the Krays and this time played by the same actor – Tom Hardy. The film is a bit too long but I did have trouble deciding what could have been cut. I don’t mean to be too critical however. This movie is hypnotic and Hardy as both Ron and Reggie Kray is simply brilliant. Yet another possible nomination for an OSCAR. The rest of the cast is also brilliant and the story very compelling. This new film focusses a great deal on the romantic relationship between Reg and his girlfriend which is an interesting add on to the violence and psychotic elements of the rest of the story. The opening line is from the girlfriend who tells us she is going to describe the relationship and her love/hate relationship with Reggie. She says: It took a lot of love to hate him so much. Great line as it turns out.

The film plot follows the relationship between Frances and Reggie over several years leading finally and tragically to her suicide. It sort of falls apart at the end because the story continues after Frances’s death and it is not clear how she can continue to narrate the story however that is beside the point in many ways and does not really effect the impact of the film.

Fair warning, this film is extremely violent and the characters have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There is no attempt to justify these two or their actions but there is no question that this story is legendary in London and ranks with any mobster/gangster story you can think of and I can’t think of any American gangster film that can compare with the Kray twins. I can recommend this movie to everyone and especially Tom Hardy’s performance as long as you can handle the graphic violence. Enjoy.

The Lady in the Van – Director — Nicholas Hytner

Comedy, Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

There are two obvious reasons to see this movie, Maggie Smith and Alan Bennett (the writer). Those of you who do not know Alan Bennett are clearly not Beyond the Fringe fans. Beyond the Fringe was the most brilliantly funny stage show ever (yes funnier than Monty Python or the Goons and starring Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller – okay my random plug for my favourite comedy troupe). Bennett however became and is an accomplished playwright and is a very funny and observant writer about the human condition. This autobiographical story is a great example of his style, wit and insight. The story is based on a real life situation in which a remarkable homeless woman played by Maggie Smith takes up residence in her van in Bennett’s driveway in an upper class neighborhood in London. Its intended she will squat there for a few months but ends up living there for 15 years until her death. There is mystery about her. She is in many ways a typical homeless person, malnourished, rude and cranky, and unsanitary. On the other hand she is clearly well educated, had trained to be a nun at one point and as it turns out is an accomplished pianist. None of her story is evident at the start but is slowly revealed over the course of the film. Maggie Smith gives an OSCAR worthy performance and the film will be in general release this fall so you can all judge for yourselves shortly.

The story of the film is about the relationship between the two and juxtaposes their relationship with Bennett’s relationship with his own mother who declines into dementia over the course of the film. While his mother declines, Maggie Smith’s character, who suffers from her own mental illness, thrives in her van. I, like most of the audience I am sure, could not stop thinking of their own mothers as the story unfolds. I confess to shedding a few tears not so much out of sadness as sympathy for the woman and the story.

We were lucky to have the director present for a Q and A and he was wonderful. It turns out he was Bennett’s neighbour through part of the 15 years the Lady lived in Bennett’s drive and continues to live just around the block. He also directed all of Alan Bennett’s plays in the West End including the theatrical debut in 1999 on which the film is based. Hytner is the former artistic director of London’s National Theatre and as I noted a charming, thoughtful speaker. He gave us much background about the film, the people and the neighbourhood. He also concurred with me that Maggie Smith is the best actor working today and possibly the best actor ever or certainly of our life time. I also would be remiss not to mention the performance of Alex Jennings as Alan Bennett. Apparently Bennett believed Jennings gave a far better performance as Alan Bennett than he could so Jennings got the part. I suspect Jennings deserves a nod at awards ceremonies too. I can’t recommend this film more highly to everyone. One of the best I have ever seen at TIFF in over 20 years.

Demolition – Director: Jean-Marc Vallee

Drama, Good, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

Althought he


Although the description and this image posted above gave me pause, I am glad I ignored my premonitions and ended up thoroughly enjoying this movie. Jake Gyllenhaal stars along with an excellent cast that includes Naomi Watt and Chris Cooper among others. The story is of a man who is lost in his career and marriage but whose life is shattered with the sudden death of his wife in a car accident. He is totally thrown and the film follows his attempts to come to terms with his loss and his wasted life by demolishing all the aspects of his life prior to his wife’s death. We follow him as he literally takes apart all his possessions and his job in an attempt to understand his life to that point. His grief and guilt through this process are explored with humour and sensitivity until the resolution at the end. We were treated to a Q and A with the director and some of the cast. Last night, when we saw Hitchcock/Truffaut, the TIFF programmer suggested it was a great film to start with because we would learn so much about directing and the making of film and that it would colour the rest of the week for us. This was certainly borne out with this movie.

One of the aspects of Hitchcock’s style was that he cared nothing for his cast. They were tools to be used to realize his vision of the film. He compelled them to act as he wanted the scene to be done over all their objections. In the Q and A, Vallée was asked how it was that he was able to draw out such great performances from his cast. He, in contrast to Hitchcock, suggested that it was the quality of his stars that made the job so easy. He gave them their freedom and only tweaked scenes to his vision. However his further comment was that the cast were already in sync with his vision so I suspect that Vallée also “used” his cast just not so controlingly. It made one think however about the nature of working creatively with others in a project as complex as a movie.

Another aspect that came out of the Hitchcock film is harder to describe. One theme discussed was the importance of transfer of guilt in the resolution of the plot in some of his films. This is something that comes out very clearly in Demolition and leads to the resolution at the end. Quite striking and I might have missed being conscious of that without having seen Hitchcock/Truffaut.

One final theme from Hitchcock was the notion of suspense and how suspense need not be just about fear but more about anticipation of an emotional resolution. Hitchcock liked to play with this notion of suspense and surprise his audience with an unexpected outcome. Again, Demolition does this very well right up to the final twist scene and the transfer of guilt. So I fear now my entire week will be coloured by the Hitchcock film but that will not be a bad thing just another benefit of taking the time to enjoy TIFF to the fullest.

Go see Demolition when it comes out. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Charlie’s Country – Rolf de Heer, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This was my final film of the festival and a masterpiece in my opinion. It tells the story of an elderly aboriginal in Australia who is angry and sad and confused about what has happened to his country and his people and their traditions. The film is slow but deliberately so and the lead actor David Gulpilil does an amazing job portraying Charlie as he struggles with his demons. It is hard to describe the movie because it is so unusual but I can confirm it is a very good look at the struggle of first nations peoples and will help you understand our own first nations as well. Definitely worth the time and it will almost certainly be here in Toronto at some time in the near future.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/contemporary-world-cinema/charlies-country

Pasolini – Abel Ferrara, Director

Drama, Hated it, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

I was looking forward to this movie since I really like Willem Dafoe who plays Pasolini. In the end I was super grateful this movie is only 87 minutes long and that seemed long to me. It is very confusing, conducted in English, Italian with subtitles and Italian without subtitles and really gave very little insight to Pasolini or much else. I guess I should have been wary when the director was described as incendiary. I think if anyone uses a random word like this to describe a director then you should avoid the film at all costs. Other warning words are “challenging” “innovative” or “unique”. These generally mean ” really awful” in the opinion of this reviewer at least. Avoid this film.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/pasolini

Love and Mercy – Bill Pohlad, Director

Drama, Good, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

If you are a fan of the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson you should see this movie. Not the best film by far but interesting as a biopic. Wilson is played by two actors, John Cusack as the older Wilson and Paul Dano as the younger. Wilson suffered terribly from mental illness and yet managed to create a musical opus that will be enjoyed for years to come. I will not spoil this by telling too much of the story but Cusack wins the acting battle and Paul Giamatti has a great supporting role as the devious psychiatrist who tries to take advantage of Wilson. He does slime extremely well. Not enough of the music in my opinion and a bit of a confusing story line that jumps back and forth in time but worth a view.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/love-mercy

Pawn Sacrifice – Edward Zwick, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

Best film of the day. This is the story of the 1972 chess match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer and the performance of Tobey Maguire in the lead role is superb given he likely is a foot shorter than Fischer was. The movie was focussed mostly on Fischer’s mental illness and how it affected the match so no major analysis of the games or the chess playing so if you are a chess geek this may disappoint. We follow Fischer from his youth as a child prodigy to the end of the 1972 match in which he crushes Spassky 12 ½ to 8 ½ in points and one of Spassky’s points is due to a forfeit when Fischer refused to show up for the second game. For the geeks however – look at Game 6 of the match which is arguably the greatest match ever played. When Spassky resigned he stood up and applauded Fischer’s brilliance in the game. The focus on the personalities however gives the film great dramatic energy and you will forget at the end that Maguire ever played Spiderman.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/galapresentations/pawn-sacrifice

Revenge of the Green Dragons – Andrew Lau, Director

Adventure, Drama, Meh!, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This is a Chinese film in the Hong Kong gangster tradition directed by the man who brought you Infernal Affairs later remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed. This time around it is Andrew Lau’s film and Scorsese is the producer. Set in Queens New York City rather than Hong Kong this is brutal (and I mean brutal) film about Asian gangs, drug dealers and human trafficking. I found it very hard to take and would recommend it only to those who know what they are getting into. The action is non-stop and violent and the twist ending is really contrived and while surprising made no sense in my mind. I sense I was however not holding a universal opinion. One aspect of going to so many movies in such a short time is that your view of the film can be influenced by what you had for breakfast or an upsetting email or whatever. It follows that if a review is super negative – like this one – it is to be taken with a grain of salt. So…. If you know Lau and like Hong Kong gangster films this may very well be up your alley. I can attest to the fact that there were no empty seats.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/revenge-of-the-green-dragons

Good Kill – Andrew Niccol, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

Second film of the day and also excellent. Ethan Hawke is the star and he is superb. The story is about a former US fighter pilot who now guides drones in the fight against the Taliban and other terrorist groups. He sits in a metal bunker in the Nevada desert and guides drones over Yemin, Afghanistan and Pakistan to blow up and kill terrorist targets in what is essentially a first person shooter video game but which is for real. The film could have been as good as The Hurt Locker but it suffers from a Hollywood happy ending. Still even that does not take from the horror of what these drone pilots do in the course of a day’s work. While they do kill bad guys they also kill innocents as “collateral damage” and they suffer post traumatic stress despite being so distant from their victims. The director also introduced this one by saying that it was made with no help from the US military so we, the audience could be confident the film was telling the truth. It is very good despite my whine about the ending which is just fine as far as Hollywood endings go but just disappointed me a bit from what was otherwise a hard hitting film about the nature of war in the 21st Century. Definitely put this on your list of films to see this fall.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/good-kill

Mr. Turner – Mike Leigh, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

Timothy Spalding stars in this incredible story of the 19th century landscape painter, J.M.W. Turner. Turner was a true eccentric and iconoclast who had a remarkably successful career as a painter and made an incredible fortune. He was also a remarkable artist and creative genius who took landscape painting and particularly the use of light in new directions. His personal life was complicated with a very close relationship with his father, a broken marriage, two daughters he basically denied the existence of and an affair at the end of his life with a women he was deeply in love with. He himself, if the film is to be believed was a remarkably unlikeable individual. The movie is stunning. The cinematography is spectacular as Leigh clearly tries to compete on film with what Turner created on canvas. This film is hypnotic, well written and acted and wonderfully filmed. I will have trouble choosing the best movie I have seen this week but this one definitely rates as one of the best movies at this year’s festival.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/mr-turner