This was so far the best film I have seen this week and it is without doubt a likely contender for best picture of the year in any awards ceremony you can think of. The star Eddie Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking from his early days at Cambridge to his diagnosis of ALS and his subsequent life up to the publication of A Brief History of Time. He is simply brilliant and will certainly claim an Oscar nomination if not the prize and his co-star Felicity Jones also turns in a great performance. The cast, the script, the music, the acting, the cinematography and the subject (Hawking) are without many equals. I can highly recommend this film to everyone. Simply superb. We saw the full cast at a Q and A after the film and they were eloquent and interesting particularly Eddie Redmayne.

Here are a couple of pictures outside the theatre as the stars arrive and the buzz inside the Princess of Wales theatre:

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/theory-of-everything

Sometimes when you go to TIFF in a serious way you encounter unique experiences. That happened on Wednesday for me when I attended the last two Middle Eastern films of my week’s schedule. Both films deal with Palestinian collaborators and their Israeli contacts. One, Omar, is directed by a Palestinian and the other, Bethlehem, is directed by an Israeli. Despite being filmed completely separately from one another and by different sides of the West Bank occupation, the stories are stunningly similar. Neither film tries to paint one side or the other as either good nor evil. Omar portrays the Israeli’s as more ruthless to some extent but what one sees in both films is both sides caught in a situation in which they are trapped with no way out. Both sides are depicted with the understanding that comes from living the reality of the struggle over Palestine. The acting in both films is superb often with amateur actors and both draw in your sympathy for all the characters on both sides. The action and tension keep you on the edge of your seat until the final predictable but brutal endings. I do not want to spoil the films for you so I will not tell you how they end except at the climactic moment (the same in both films) they both go to black and run the credits leaving you gasping. Needless to say these are not “fun” movies but very very good and I will be disappointed not to see them nominated for awards and winners of many. I think to understand what you read every day about the Middle East it is very important to see these movies along with Palestine Stereo (previously reviewed). Also needless to say – Night Moves which was described as an excellent thriller is really more a FWP (first world problem) kind of movie (Hollywood sometimes just doesn’t get it) and is boring and irrelevant in the face of these two films. (well to be honest it was boring all on its own) What a great day at the movies I had.

One of the better movies I have seen in a long time and one that I think deserves a nod for Best Actor for the lead Chiwetel Ejiofor and Best Picture. The film is based on a true story of a black free man in 1841 New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in Georgia where he suffers for 12 years before being rescued. The story is a horrendous portrayal of the life a slave in the south in the middle of the 19^th century and it pulls few punches. It was hard to watch at times but worth the effort in the end. The film focusses on Solomon Northrop played by Ejiofor but has some wonderful cameo performances from Benedict Cumberbach, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, and Paul Giamatti. There is a Canadian connection to this movie. Brad Pitt’s character who ultimately rescues Solomon confronts the plantation owner about his treatment of his slaves and the fact that he even has any slaves. Solomon hears this and asks him where he comes from. Pitt’s character answers that he is Canadian which drew some cheers from my audience. Slavery was abolished in Canada in 1833 when Britain officially outlawed it throughout the Empire. Canada became a haven for blacks who were lucky enough to escape the US. Once freed himself, Solomon Northrop became an advocate for abolition and worked the Underground Railway that brought many freed slaves to Canada. We can’t be too proud of our heritage even now but at least we started down the right path before the US. So this film is highly recommended by your humble reviewer. I had to leave before Steve McQueen’s Q and A unfortunately as I had to race from Ryerson to the Scotiabank Theatre in half an hour to see a film about another oppressed people.

I went into this one with some trepidation. Great Expectations is a huge novel with many characters and a long and winding story but the cast which included Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, and Robbie Coltrane got me hooked. So off to the Elgin with 1500 other movie fans to see what turned out to be the best movie of the week so far. It will take something pretty special to beat this one out. The set design and cinematography evoke Dickens’ London perfectly and the three big name stars are perfect in their roles. Clearly Carter revels in the odd and quirky and she plays Miss. Haversham very convincingly although I am always seeing a bit of the Red Queen or Bellatrix Lestrange behind those eyes. Ralph Fiennes is brilliant as Magwitch and Coltrane is clearly having fun as Jaggers the lawyer. If you saw War Horse then you will know Jeremy Irvine who plays Pip. He does very well with an excellent supporting cast.

Mike Newell was there for a Q and A after the film and I think it was one of the best Q and A’s I have ever seen. He was funny, thoughtful, and gave us great insight into how he was able to collapse this huge novel into two hours. Obviously he cut out some major parts but in the end kept the essence of the story. Newell is an eclectic director with a long track record including Four Weddings and a Funeral, High Fidelity (Exec Producer), Pushing Tin, one Harry Potter film and Prince of Persia. So all over the map but mostly with tongue in cheek. I am guessing this movie has a real chance at some important Oscar nominations. Definitely worth your time to attend.

Great Expectations

Okay – this was worth my whole week at the Festival. I was totally surprised by this film. My postgraduate work was in philosophy and specifically 20^th century European philosophy and Jewish existentialist theology (wowzers). I read Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism and The Human Condition and I thought to learn something about this thinker and writer. However, the book that gained her notoriety and on which this movie is based was her report on the trial of Adolf Eichmann – Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the Banality of Evil. So instead of a somewhat academic look at a 20^th Century German Philosopher, I was treated to a brilliant dramatic story of most unusual woman who demonstrated great courage and love.

As a Jew who was incarcerated in a detention camp in France in the Second World War and who only escaped to the US by chance she had much at stake when she was asked by the New Yorker Magazine to go to Jerusalem to witness his trial after he was abducted by the Israeli’s from Argentina. She was stunned by the proceedings and by Eichmann himself who came across as not one of the evil geniuses behind the Holocaust but as a minor and very mediocre bureaucrat who was simply following orders. He put the Jews on the trains but it was another department that dealt with them afterwards. He denied any culpability or guilt in the matter. He was just following orders. Once they were on the trains and off to their designated destinations, the rest was up to other departments. The film is a dramatic presentation of Arendt’s time in Israel and her return and the impact of her articles and ultimately her book on her career and reputation. One of the most dramatic aspects of the film is the newsreel footage of Eichmann’s testimony. It lends so much credence to her argument that the most extreme form of evil is ultimately so banal.

While many were upset at her description of Eichmann as a minor and mediocre bureaucrat the statements that got her most in trouble were related to her claim that the leaders of the Jewish communities in Europe were complicit in creating the Holocaust because they counselled their congregations and communities not to resist. This was seen by many to be blaming the victim when in fact Arendt, a Jew and someone who barely escaped being a victim of the Holocaust herself, saw this as just an extension of the totalitarian system and the banality of evil reaching even into the victims themselves.

The acting in this film is phenomenally good and the story compelling and engrossing despite the intellectual argument that flows through and drives the plot. I can’t recommend this film more highly to you all.

Hannah Arendt

We all know Costa-Gavras right? “Z”, State of Siege”, “Missing” all great left wing (far left wing) brilliant films that highlighted major issues of their time. This year Costa-Gavras has given us his look at the banking crisis and the banking industry in general and it is a brilliantly satirical look too (although not funny at all). It tells the story of a young and ambitious banker who has definite insight into the moral and ethical lines he is crossing as he is promoted CEO of a major European Bank at a critical time in it’s development. He is placed there by manipulative investors who hope to take advantage of his inexperience through greed and seduction. I will not give away the plot but racing back and forth among Paris, Miami, New York, London and Tokyo, it is an exciting and sexy economic thriller if such a thing can exist. It follows many twists and turns right up to the final lines (which are great!!) and the fade to black. No matter what your politics you cannot help but enjoy a master film maker and story teller in action.

Big thrill for me was having the man himself there as well as the lead actor. I have loved his films from when I first saw “Z” in 1969, (yes I am that old!), and I urge you all to hunt them down on DVD and watch just to be entertained and to have your eyes opened. He is a great Director. Enough said.

Le Capital