TIFF ’23: In “Monster,” we’re all alone and that’s beautiful

by Cláudio Alves

Part of being alive is coming to grips with some harsh truths intrinsic to the human condition. For instance, we’ll never know the other, not entirely, no matter how hard we try. Even mothers can’t hope to fully grasp their children’s interiority, each human being a galaxy unto themselves. You can either fight against that notion in fruitless despair or accept it. We’re all alone, trapped in the mystery of ourselves, but so is everyone else. Reach out, and you’ll come close to the infinite unknown. Look at it right, and you’ll see beauty beyond belief.

The cinema of Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda has long reflected on such ideas, but Monster is still a high mark of cinematic compassion in his filmography. Penned by Cannes Best Screenplay-winner Yuji Sakamoto and set to the sound of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s last score, this film broke my heart…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: Sophie Nélisse in ‘Irena’s Vow’

By Abe Friedtanzer

There’s a reason that there are so many films about the Holocaust. The attempted conquest of Europe and the whole world by the Nazis resulted in millions of innocent lives lost and countless others irreversibly altered. Fortunately, there were more than a few people who made the brave decision to stand up for those who couldn’t advocate or fight for themselves. These stories typically make for poignant cinematic tales. The latest is Irena’s Vow, which stars Sophie Nélisse as a Polish nurse who risked her life to safeguard a group of Jews…

Like La Rafle, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and A Hidden Life, this film centers on someone who was not Jewish but who found herself significantly disenfranchised when the Nazis invaded her country...

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: "Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World" is one wild ride

by Cláudio Alves

So many films wear the label of "provocative" as a medal of honor, boasting about their challenges to the audience and engaging shock. Yet, most of those reveal themselves as anything but, their provocation an empty buzzword  for a press release. Because disappointment is so common, it feels doubly refreshing when a genuinely provocative film comes about, like a punch to the solar plexus that makes you smile and beg for more. That's the case of Radu Jude's Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, a Locarno prize-winner recently announced as Romania's official submission for the 96th Academy Awards. Pardon the vulgarity, but it's a fucking masterpiece...

Click to read more ...

TIFF ’23: “Toll” tests the limits of a mother’s love

by Cláudio Alves

A mother’s love should be unconditional, but so often it isn’t. A mother knows best, except when she doesn’t. With some parents, preconceived notions of who their child should be crash against who their child actually is. Illusions and delusions take their toll and what one person calls love may feel like hatred to the person who endures it. It's easy to follow anger’s siren song, and rage against unfit mothers and ungrateful children, depending on where you fall. Broaching these fraught relationships is risky business for any artist, even those agile in avoiding cliché and melodrama. 

Watching Toll, Carolina Markowicz’s follow-up to the acclaimed Charcoal, one can’t help but give thanks that this particular artist took the risk…

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: Take a trip down to hell with "The Zone of Interest"

by Cláudio Alves

Jonathan Glazer's "The Zone of Interest"

For my first day at TIFF, I planned on starting things off with a Sandra Hüller double feature, the Palme d'Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall followed by The Zone of Interest. The first half of that plan went kaput soon enough, so instead I caught Warwick Thornton's The New Boy. Expect more thoughts on that title next week – for now, it's Glazer time. In any case, what started as a morning predicated on Croisette honors and a German superstar morphed into an extended exercise in how cinema confronts historical atrocities, how parallel realities can coexist within the same landscape, and how sound can force you to see what your eyes do not… 

Click to read more ...