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Toronto Film Fest 2006, Day Seven
I've totally hit the exhaustion wall, and am days behind on reviews, but it continues to be a darn good fest this year.
Title: Mon Meilleur Ami
Director: Patrice Leconte
Country: France
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
I adore Leconte's films, and this is another fab one, if perhaps not quite so rich as L'Homme du train or La Fille sur la ponte. Daniel Auteuil stars as an antique dealer who has no friends, only clients. When his partner bets that he can't produce a best friend, the winner to take possession of a priceless Greek vase, he goes on a frantic search through his address book and his past before hiring an easy-going taxi driver to teach him how to make friends. Of course, he and the taxi driver, a wonderful Dany Boon, do become friends, but not after the requisite misunderstandings have occurred. The script is sharp and smart and funny, and Boon and Auteuil make a wonderful odd couple.
Title: Starter for Ten
Director: Tom Vaughan
Country: U.K.
P's Rating: Recommended
Another of the three films James McAvoy is in, and a nice little coming of age story. McAvoy plays Brian, a working-class kid from Essex who works hard to get a spot in university, and then even harder to get on the University Challenge team. (For you Canadians out there, think Reach for the Top.) He also falls for one of his teammates, the posh Alice who's acknowledges that she seems to be the kiss of death for all her boyfriends. Brian struggles to maintain his studies, stay on the team, get the girl and keep his old mates from thinking he's a wanker, and of course something has to give. Yeah, we've seen this story before, but it's told with real conviction, and appealing performances from McAvoy on down. (I was especially happy to see RSC stalwart Guy Henry show up in a small role as Brian's English lit. professor.) Plus, as it's set in the mid-'80s, the music soundtrack is fantastic: The Cure and Psychedelic Furs and The Smiths. Not to mention the fact that Charles Dance, in an incredibly brief cameo, is a scream.
Title: Bugmaster
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Country: Japan
P's Rating: Recommended, and yet Confused
So, what's a bugmaster? Well, bugs (the actual Japanese word is Mushi) are creatures the inhabit the world and cause havoc with people and the world in general. Ginko is a young bugmaster, prematurely gone grey from dealing with the creatures. Yoki is a young boy, orphaned by a tree avalanche that killed his mother and taken in by a mysterious, grey-haired woman. The film follows the adventures of both Ginko and Yoki and gradually reveals the connection between them. The film is gorgeous, but the narrative becomes more and more opaque until at the end, I could not tell you what the heck happened. It's an interesting ride to get there, though.
Title: Mon Meilleur Ami
Director: Patrice Leconte
Country: France
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
I adore Leconte's films, and this is another fab one, if perhaps not quite so rich as L'Homme du train or La Fille sur la ponte. Daniel Auteuil stars as an antique dealer who has no friends, only clients. When his partner bets that he can't produce a best friend, the winner to take possession of a priceless Greek vase, he goes on a frantic search through his address book and his past before hiring an easy-going taxi driver to teach him how to make friends. Of course, he and the taxi driver, a wonderful Dany Boon, do become friends, but not after the requisite misunderstandings have occurred. The script is sharp and smart and funny, and Boon and Auteuil make a wonderful odd couple.
Title: Starter for Ten
Director: Tom Vaughan
Country: U.K.
P's Rating: Recommended
Another of the three films James McAvoy is in, and a nice little coming of age story. McAvoy plays Brian, a working-class kid from Essex who works hard to get a spot in university, and then even harder to get on the University Challenge team. (For you Canadians out there, think Reach for the Top.) He also falls for one of his teammates, the posh Alice who's acknowledges that she seems to be the kiss of death for all her boyfriends. Brian struggles to maintain his studies, stay on the team, get the girl and keep his old mates from thinking he's a wanker, and of course something has to give. Yeah, we've seen this story before, but it's told with real conviction, and appealing performances from McAvoy on down. (I was especially happy to see RSC stalwart Guy Henry show up in a small role as Brian's English lit. professor.) Plus, as it's set in the mid-'80s, the music soundtrack is fantastic: The Cure and Psychedelic Furs and The Smiths. Not to mention the fact that Charles Dance, in an incredibly brief cameo, is a scream.
Title: Bugmaster
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Country: Japan
P's Rating: Recommended, and yet Confused
So, what's a bugmaster? Well, bugs (the actual Japanese word is Mushi) are creatures the inhabit the world and cause havoc with people and the world in general. Ginko is a young bugmaster, prematurely gone grey from dealing with the creatures. Yoki is a young boy, orphaned by a tree avalanche that killed his mother and taken in by a mysterious, grey-haired woman. The film follows the adventures of both Ginko and Yoki and gradually reveals the connection between them. The film is gorgeous, but the narrative becomes more and more opaque until at the end, I could not tell you what the heck happened. It's an interesting ride to get there, though.
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Is this movie as... friendly as Leconte's usual?
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As for Mon Meilleur Ami, it's not quite as slashy as L'Homme du train, but you could read it that way. The two guys definitely end up as the most important people in each other's lives.
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