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TIFF 2012, Post the First
Sep. 11th, 2012 11:12 pmThe Toronto International Film Festival (hereafter TIFF) is already half over, but I've not had time to post at all about it. And I've seen some lovely films and had a few celeb sightings. (There was the yearly Viggo Mortensen sighting at the screening of Everybody Has a Plan, the Argentinian thriller he did, Hugh Laurie at Mr. Pip, and Joss Whedon and pretty much the entire cast of Much Ado About Nothing except Nathan Fillion.)
But I did want to mention one film for now. I saw Julien Temple's London - The Modern Babylon last night, and it is brilliant and exhilarating. Temple has taken archival footage of London from the late Victorian period to the present and turned it into a fascinating people's history of the city. It's a love letter, but one that doesn't overlook the bad sections, like riots and bigotry and the 7/7 bombings. There's a fascinating section on the Blitz, and an equally fascinating bit about the Battle of Cable Street where Jewish residents took on British fascists trying to march through their neighbourhood. And even such pop ephemera as a 17 year-old David Jones/Bowie being interviewed over the creation of a defence league for long-haired boys. And the music is to die for, everything from London Calling to Waterloo Sunset, and a hundred years of popular music.
But I did want to mention one film for now. I saw Julien Temple's London - The Modern Babylon last night, and it is brilliant and exhilarating. Temple has taken archival footage of London from the late Victorian period to the present and turned it into a fascinating people's history of the city. It's a love letter, but one that doesn't overlook the bad sections, like riots and bigotry and the 7/7 bombings. There's a fascinating section on the Blitz, and an equally fascinating bit about the Battle of Cable Street where Jewish residents took on British fascists trying to march through their neighbourhood. And even such pop ephemera as a 17 year-old David Jones/Bowie being interviewed over the creation of a defence league for long-haired boys. And the music is to die for, everything from London Calling to Waterloo Sunset, and a hundred years of popular music.
