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TIFF, Day Five
Day five of the fest, and I crashed a wee bit in my afternoon film. (Note to self: never see a Wong Kar Wai film at three in the afternoon.) But as a consolation, I saw one near masterpiece and Viggo Mortensen up wayyy close. Viggo was at the screening of Good, along with co-star Jason Isaacs. The director and cast did a fabulous Q&A after the screening. Viggo was wonderful and gracious as always, and man, who knew that Jason Isaacs would be so hot in person. (Stupidly, I forgot my camera yesterday. Which is unfortunate, because I could have had some really nice shots.)
On to the reviews...
Title: Hunger
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: U.K.
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
This spare, lean film follows IRA prisoner and hunger striker Bobby Sands, and it is brilliant. Filmmaker McQueen isn't really into taking sides: he shows both the humanity of the prison guards who worked at the Maze prison where Sands was incarcerated, and the ingenuity and steel of IRA prisoners they were in charge of. Remarkably, the film is almost entirely bereft of dialogue, except for one extended, extraordinary scene where Sands discusses his plans for the hunger strike with a priest. Yet even without dialogue it's a remarkably subtle film.
Title: Ashes of Time
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Country: HK
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
I first saw Ashes of Time at the festival in 1994. It blew my head off at the time, and since then my appreciation for it has only deepened. Wong has tinkered with it several times since, and this time he's produced the definitive version, recutting it, cleaning up the print, and providing a lusher orchestral soundtrack with cello by Yo-Yo Ma. As you'd expect from Wong, it's not your typical Chinese wuxia film. It's elliptical and abstract and interested way more on character than action. But it's also haunting and beautiful and contains wonderful performances from some of the greats in HK cinema, including the late Leslie Cheung, who always did some of his best work for Wong.
Title: Good
Director: Vincente Amorim
Country: U.K./Germany
P's Rating: Okay
How did well-meaning, basically decent Germans become complicit in the workings of the Nazi party in 1930s Germany? And, by extension, how are good people drawn into supporting less than good ends? These are the questions that filmmaker Amorim asks. Viggo Mortensen takes the role of John Halder, a professor of literature dealing with a tumultuous family life and professional uncertainty, who is co-opted into working for the Nazi party one small decision at a time. Jason Isaacs plays his friend, a Jewish psychiatrist who waits too long to flee from his country. This is a solid film, with solid performances from all involved, but while it does raise interesting issues and it doesn't let the audience take the comfortable road of moral superiority, in the end it's not nearly as revelatory as it clearly wants to be.
On to the reviews...
Title: Hunger
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: U.K.
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
This spare, lean film follows IRA prisoner and hunger striker Bobby Sands, and it is brilliant. Filmmaker McQueen isn't really into taking sides: he shows both the humanity of the prison guards who worked at the Maze prison where Sands was incarcerated, and the ingenuity and steel of IRA prisoners they were in charge of. Remarkably, the film is almost entirely bereft of dialogue, except for one extended, extraordinary scene where Sands discusses his plans for the hunger strike with a priest. Yet even without dialogue it's a remarkably subtle film.
Title: Ashes of Time
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Country: HK
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
I first saw Ashes of Time at the festival in 1994. It blew my head off at the time, and since then my appreciation for it has only deepened. Wong has tinkered with it several times since, and this time he's produced the definitive version, recutting it, cleaning up the print, and providing a lusher orchestral soundtrack with cello by Yo-Yo Ma. As you'd expect from Wong, it's not your typical Chinese wuxia film. It's elliptical and abstract and interested way more on character than action. But it's also haunting and beautiful and contains wonderful performances from some of the greats in HK cinema, including the late Leslie Cheung, who always did some of his best work for Wong.
Title: Good
Director: Vincente Amorim
Country: U.K./Germany
P's Rating: Okay
How did well-meaning, basically decent Germans become complicit in the workings of the Nazi party in 1930s Germany? And, by extension, how are good people drawn into supporting less than good ends? These are the questions that filmmaker Amorim asks. Viggo Mortensen takes the role of John Halder, a professor of literature dealing with a tumultuous family life and professional uncertainty, who is co-opted into working for the Nazi party one small decision at a time. Jason Isaacs plays his friend, a Jewish psychiatrist who waits too long to flee from his country. This is a solid film, with solid performances from all involved, but while it does raise interesting issues and it doesn't let the audience take the comfortable road of moral superiority, in the end it's not nearly as revelatory as it clearly wants to be.
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