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.

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

Today the theme was British Universities. First the Riot Club – a film about the British upper class at Oxford. The premise of the film is a secret but very exclusive club (only 10 members) committed to debauchery. The film has elements of the ultra-violence of A Clockwork Orange and a contemporary condemnation of the one percenters. Those who are moneyed and arrogant and totally without ethical foundation. The film happens almost entirely in a rural pub where the newly initiated members of the club are to be feted with drugs, alcohol and sex. The evening goes terribly wrong and the outcome is the lesson to be learned. It is not a pretty film and has little redeeming to say about this part of British society or of the top 1 percent of our society. I found it disturbing and unpleasant and not particularly insightful although my reaction was not universal. It is certainly not easily forgotten but I would personally not recommend it to anyone so if you are tempted by the information provided below I warned you.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/galapresentations/the-riot-club

It was great to have a chance to see this year’s opening gala presentation of The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall and a stellar supporting cast. It tells the story of a hotshot criminal lawyer (Downey) who returns to his small rural home town where he finds himself defending his estranged father (Duvall), a local judge, against a murder charge. The film is being touted as going back to the way films used to be, an honest drama where who is good and who is bad is never really clear. We need to be honest about this movie. It’s really a very Hollywood movie with mega stars and excellent cinematography but the story is not particularly strong and it has but a tear jerky happy ending. That said, the acting is stunning. Duvall and Downey drive each other to ever higher heights and the supporting cast is brilliant. There are some great scenes, my favourite being one in which the jury selection is done, and will be well worth your money when it is released this fall. Also there is little doubt that there will be some Oscar nominations coming for this cast. Go here for the official description and to see a trailer: http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/galapresentations/the-judge