TIFF '23: Shadows of Our Violent Past

by Cláudio Alves

Examining troubled history through art can be a necessary confrontation, even a search for catharsis. You can't move into a brighter future without acknowledging the shadows lurking in the past. It's no wonder, then, that countless filmmakers use their skills to make these excavations on the dig site of the screen. For all that Shinya Tsukamoto's Shadow of Fire and Felipe Gálvez Haberle's The Settlers tackle their respective countries' histories, they're not traditional period pieces content to passively restage yesteryears. They bear the weight of an artist's singular vision…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: The Origin of Our Discontents

by Cláudio Alves

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in "Origin"

Dealing with complex sociological issues in cinema is tricky. The risk of didacticism is hard to avoid, but abstraction can also be the enemy of clarity, especially when the filmmakers want to posit movies as an instrument of change, a spike of awareness. Writing about this type of film, I'm often confronted with inner conflicts about how to approach criticism. It's tempting to celebrate cinema that confirms one's worldview and political alignments. But does that alone make for a good film?  Many films at this year's TIFF confront issues of systematized injustice on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, and other forms of identity. Two such films, Ava DuVernay's Origin and Nora El Hourch's Sisterhood present distinct visions though a striking sense of confrontation unites them...

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: A widow's plight is the nightmare of "Inshallah a Boy"

by Cláudio Alves

Some films are like nooses, rope around the neck, tightening exponentially with ever-strengthening pulls. Air runs out, suffocation on the horizon if not for the mercy of a final crack. Neck broke, the kiss of death at long last, and let the credits roll. The rope is tension born out of misery and misfortune, a path of escalating tragedy that can easily fall into cheap suffering for suffering's sake. We've all seen such films, bursting with good intentions but way too mired in the character's pain to ever look beyond it. What should be empath sours into pity. So, when an artist risks the noose without capitulating to its snags, it's cause for celebration.

Then, let's cheer for Inshallah a Boy, the first Jordanian production to screen at Cannes and a prime candidate to be the country's Oscar submission…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: “The Teachers’ Lounge” builds a fizzling provocation

by Cláudio Alves

Germany’s official submission for the 96th Academy Awards starts with a students’ rights violation. Between teachers and administration, headaches abound due to a series of thefts with no apparent culprit. By the time we meet them, with no solution in sight, the staff sanctions two teachers to go into a classroom and question the students. When no kid comes forward with a confession, not even after the class representatives are pressured, the educators insist on searching through their belongings. A suspicious amount of money is found in a wallet, paranoia combined with xenophobic distrust toward the child’s Turkish origins. Turns out the money was a present from his parents.

It’s an embarrassment for all, especially Carla Nowak, the teacher whose classroom got raided. New to the school and full of righteous indignation, she sets out to make a point, kickstarting a chain of events that will soon slip out of everyone’s control…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: Kate Winslet elevates "Lee"

by Matt St Clair

Kate Winslet as "Lee"

After winning an Emmy for Mare of Easttown, I wondered how Kate Winslet would follow up her career-best work on the acclaimed HBO miniseries. Her latest starring vehicle, Lee, looked like a worthy follow-up project on paper. Winslet collaborates with cinematographer-turned-director Ellen Kuras, who lensed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which featured Winslet’s other greatest performance. Sadly, only Winslet’s performance lives up to the promise of the reunion...

Click to read more ...