TIFF Finale Pt. 2: Oscar Boosts, Oslo August, Wuthering Heights, and Personal Prizes
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 6:26PM EDITOR'S NOTE: This post now includes personal prizes from both of our TIFF correspondents, Amir & Paolo. I thank them profusely for all the coverage this year! -Nathaniel R
Amir here, back with the wrap up to this year's Toronto International Film Festival coverage for TFE. The festival ended yesterday with Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? beating Iran's A Separation and Canada's Starbuck to take the top prize, the People's Choice Award.
For me personally, the festival went out with a bang as on the closing weekend I watched a very entertaining film called. ... wait for it... Where Do We Go Now? before it became the surprise winner. I have Nathaniel to thank because before he pointed this one out among his top 16 curiousities, it was not on my radar at all. On one hand, I'm a little upset that Nadine Labaki took the prize because this means A Separation came second. I haven't seen the latter yet but if you haven't guessed by the number of Iran-related films I covered, I'm from, you guessed it right, Iran. So if TIFF were to give legs to one Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contender, you know which team I’m rooting for. On the other hand, I did contribute to the People's Choice outcome by giving Labaki’s film a 5 star vote after my screening. My five star vote doesn't mean the film is perfect. Far from it, in fact. But I can overlook it's serious dramatic problems in favour of its many merits.
The film is about a group of women in a village in Lebanon who try to ease tensions between the Christian and Muslim men using methods ranging from hash cookies to bringing in Ukrainian strippers. Part comedy, part musical and part exercise in interreligious coexistence in the Middle East, the film should be applauded just for approaching something as controversial as the Muslim-Christian relationship with comedy. But the script also has serious problems, ignoring any development in its male characters and unable to make the profound emotional impact it's aiming for when it ventures, too far, towards the dramatic and serious. But it is consistently funny if contrived, and the musical sequences are marvellous. Best of all, its female ensemble is Volver-level fantastic, equally funny and poignant.
I'm certain we'll see this as a Best Foreign Language Film nominee though I doubt that the critics will fall head over heels. Based on the recent track record of the category, I’d say this film has a good shot at winning the actual Oscar over whichever critical darlings are nominated alongside it.
On the last weekend of the festival I also so quite a double feature: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Chicken with Plums and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights.
AMIR & PAOLO's favorites from the festival after the jump.
The first was a delightful film based on Satrapi’s own great uncle, a violinist played by Mathieu Amalric, that is heavily rooted in Classical Persian poetry and stylized in the same vein as Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie. The film went over well with the crowd, but despite heavy stylization, I found it a little impersonal and distant. The most noteworthy element of the film is Golshifteh Farahani's (Body of Lies, About Elly) performance as Irane, the embodiment of the archetypal female in Persian literature; she nails her small role with both confidence and elegance.
I shamefully admit that I had no previous familiarity with the source material of Wuthering Heights. I knew the story, of course, but had neither read the actual book nor seen a previous film adaptation. Even so, I approached the film cautiously, as is always the case when I hear the word "revisionist" being thrown around. But given Andrea Arnold's resume (Wasp and Fish Tank), I have to say I was underwhelmed.
Arnold’s version is far from any costume drama I’ve seen. In fact, it really wouldn’t do the film justice to categorize it as such. It’s a detached and moody film that doesn’t rely at all on typical plots points, but on images and representations. Arnold has teamed up with cinematographer Robbie Ryan again, and following his work on Fish Tank this is an affirmation that he’s just a master of the art. For his camera, no distance is too close and no moment is too intimate for the screen. With his painterly brush, every mundane detail, a flock of hair or a butterfly on the ledge of a window, bursts with life. The film isn't only picturesque; the cinematography is reflective of the atmosphere of the story and the mood of the characters.
The biggest problem is Arnold’s misstep in casting. For a film that relies on the actors’ ability to emote without words, none of the new actors seem to have what it takes. Compare their performances with that of Brad Pitt in the similarly image-dependent Tree of Life and the difference is immediately evident. The only exception is Kaya Scodelario (Skins) whose performance is by far best in show, though her physique doesn’t seem to fit the role of Catherine. Arnold’s gamble paid off on new-comer Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank, but in this case, more experienced actors would have made a huge difference for the film.
A late screening on the last day of the festival managed to outweigh anything I'd seen up until then. Again, I should thank Nathaniel for pointing me to this one. The film in question is Oslo, August 31st, Joachim Trier's haunting drama about a man who struggles to get his life together after he leaves a rehab centre for addiction. I'll need more time to mull this one over before I can write a full review, but it had me paralyzed at the end, crying in the theatre and I definitely wasn't the only one. There's such a sense of loss and ennui in the atmosphere of Oslo. Trier gets every note right in this poignant story, but the star of the show is Anders Danielsen Lie (Reprise) whose performance has such grace and pathos without ever succumbing to sentimentality. As a depressed man on the verge of suicide, you can see his confusion and impulsiveness in every move, or even each glance. It's really pitch perfect work. Oslo will haunt me for a very long time and I hope a domestic distributor steps forward to nab it. It's a must-see.
So on that bittersweet note, my coverage of TIFF comes to an end. It's been an incredible festival in many ways, most importantly because I got this space to cover it for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Assuming TIFF gives out awards like European festivals and that the jury has only one member (moi!), here are my personal award winners:
*I've limited myself to one mention per film to spread the wealth.
AMIR'S PRIZES
Best Film: Oslo, August 31st
Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos, ALPS
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: The ensemble cast of Where Do We Go Wow?
Best Screenplay: Aki Kaurismaki (Le Havre)
Technical Achievement: Tie! Robbie Ryan (Wuthering Heights, cinematographer) and Gokhan Tiryaki (Once upon a time in Anatolia, cinematographer)
And for what it's worth, here's a top ten list with links to my past writeups:
- Oslo, August 31st
- ALPS
- This is not a Film
- Shame
- Le Havre
- Where do we go now?
- Once upon a time in Anatolia
- Starbuck
- A Funny Man
- Edwin Boyd
That about wraps it up. See you next year! -Amir
And Paolo here, showing you what would happen if I ran the world or at least the TIFF part of the world.
PAOLO'S PRIZES
Best Film: Rampart
Best Director: Bela Tarr, Turin Horse
Best Actor: Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Best Actress: Tammy Blanchard, Union Square; also for your consideration: Gretchen Lodge, Lovely Molly and Adepero Oduye, Pariah.
Best Screenplay: Jason A. Micallef (Butter)
Technical Achievement: Robbie Ryan (Wuthering Heights, cinematographer)
And my Top Ten:
- Rampart
- Shame
- Turin Horse
- Pariah
- Union Square
- Take Shelter
- Urbanized
- Edwin Boyd
- Butter
- Jeff, Who Lives at Home
And it's been fun, I can't wait 'till next year. -Paolo
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Another round of applause for Amir and Paolo for their Toronto Coverage this year. They were both so prompt and dependable and we were able to hear about so many interesting-sounding films. If you enjoyed, please show them your thanks as well. -Nathaniel R]
Reader Comments (13)
I totally agree about Oslo August 31 which I saw on the first Friday of the festival. Not an easy film to watch and I couldn't keep the ending of the film out of my head for days. The director spoke afterwards and said that it took four years to make Reprise but only four months to complete Oslo.
I didn't see all the films on Amir's list (and I saw 35 movies!) but I do agree about the excellence of Shame and Le Havre.
Among my favorites at the festival, in no particular order: Into the Abyss, Le Havre, The Artist, Oslo August 31st, Shame, The Eye of the Storm, Trishna, Bonsai (lovely film about about young love and literature from Chile), 50/50, The Descendants, The Eye of the Storm (Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis all wonderful), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (I liked this more than the critics, particularly because of Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor as a romantic couple), Damsels in Distress (I haven't laughed so much in ages), Hysteria, The Awakening, Rebellion (really good film by Kassowitz, why hasn't this film been purchsed yet), Americano, The Skin I Live In.
Most disturbing film--Beauty from South Africa. It includes an act of violence which I wasn't prepared for. I saw this instead of Wuthering Heights and now wish I hadn't it. Though I met some nice people from Toronto after the screening which wouldn't have happened at WH.
Nathaniel, if you ever want me to write a brief report when I go to Toronto, I'd be up for it.
I'm incredibly upset I missed Beauty actually, but all the screenings had overlaps with something else on my list. Pity.
I need to add among my favorites The Deep Blue Sea with a haunting performance from Rachel Weisz. Happy to read it was picked up by Music Box.
Thanks Amir and Paolo! I've enjoyed the coverage a lot.
I've updated this post to include Paolo's jury prizes too in case anyone missed that. TIFF is done. FINIS.
thanks to amir & paolo both. I am clapping at home in front of my screen though you can't see me doing so.
Oh bummer - I had a ticke to Oslo... but couldn't quite make it in time, so I bagged it.
I didn't see any of Amir's top 10, unfortunately (though I'm seeing four at NYFF)!
My top five (in rough order of preference): Faust, Play, I Wish, Killer Joe, and The Turin Horse. Biggest surprise of the fest was probably Play, which I had pretty modest expectations for, mostly because Hanekian social laboratory-type movies are hard to pull off if you're not Haneke. But it's a brilliantly sustained piece of work, very suspenseful and surprising and provocative.
Yes, I'll also comment that I regret missing so many great films from the festival, especially Martha Marcy May Marlene, which is apparently the only buzzy actressy film that live up to its expectations. I also wanted to see A Dangerous Method just for comparison, although the word of mouth for it isn't good. As well as The Deep Blue Sea despite its apparently horrendous score (I also want to see the original one of these days) - Rachel Weisz being as much of a mainstay at the festival as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Isabelle Huppert.
And once again, thanks Amir and Nathaniel :)
Thank you so much Amir and Paolo, Paolo and Amir!
Wonderful job!
Thanks so much, guys, for the extensive and detailed coverage!
Paolo, I saw Martha Marcy May Marlene. I thought Elizabeth Olsen's startling performance held it together but I found the film itself unsatisfying. I had a hard time believing Martha's sister and husband tolerating Martha's behavior as long as they did.
One hyped film I really didn't like was Take Shelter. That movie seemed to repeat itself after the first 20 minutes or so, despite Michael Shannon's committed performance.
Gabriel: I actually thought the exact opposite about Take Shelter. I admit that the first half was sleepy in some pockets, then there's Shannon's histrionic big scene somewhere near the end, but it went good crazy in the second half, when his and Chastain's relationship was tested.
Re: Take Shelter
Your patience in the slowish first hour and a half gets rewarded with all the big emotion of the last half hour.
I completely share your love for Oslo August 31st! And I am totally flabbergasted that it will not be Norways Oscar candidate :(
A Separation is such a strong film, I am curious to see Where Do We Go Now to see if the win is justified.