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Toronto Film Fest, Day One
Two films last night, one hit, one definite miss.
Title: La Femme de Gilles
Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
Country: France
P's Rating: Recommended
A nearly wordless film, the power of La Femme de Gilles rests almost entirely on the skill of the lead actress, Emmanuelle Devos. She plays Elisa, wife of factory worker Gilles in a small French town of the 1930s. All is well, until she begins to suspect that her husband is having an affair with her younger sister. Separated from both her family and community--the scene where she tries to seek help from her oblivious parish priest perfectly crystallizes her isolation--the only witness to her emotional distress is the camera, watching the subtle play of feelings play across her face that is unobserved by everyone else around her. The rest of the cast isn't quite up to Devos, but then, they have less to do. And as an extra bonus, the whole thing is lovingly shot.
Title: After the Day Before
Director: Attila Jannisch
Country: Hungary
P's Rating: Not-so-good
Ten years ago, in the wake of an excruciatingly boring film with ten minute long takes of forests, I swore off Hungarian films. This year there were two films from the country that looked interesting so I decided what the heck and picked them. After the first of the lot, that's not looking like the best decision I've ever made. After the Day Before is a pretentious piece of student-level filmmaking, wherein a middle-aged stranger wanders through an isolated Hungarian village, trying and failing to figure out what's going on. Apart from it's general lack of coherence, it has a twist ending that I called about five minutes in. In fact, it's exactly the same twist ending I used in a five minute, Super 8 film I made in film school. The one good thing about it all is that director Jannisch can compose a gorgeous shot. The opening tracking shot of a dirt road running through verdant green fields while Arvo Part's ominously beautiful Fratres played on the soundtrack promised much better things.
Title: La Femme de Gilles
Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
Country: France
P's Rating: Recommended
A nearly wordless film, the power of La Femme de Gilles rests almost entirely on the skill of the lead actress, Emmanuelle Devos. She plays Elisa, wife of factory worker Gilles in a small French town of the 1930s. All is well, until she begins to suspect that her husband is having an affair with her younger sister. Separated from both her family and community--the scene where she tries to seek help from her oblivious parish priest perfectly crystallizes her isolation--the only witness to her emotional distress is the camera, watching the subtle play of feelings play across her face that is unobserved by everyone else around her. The rest of the cast isn't quite up to Devos, but then, they have less to do. And as an extra bonus, the whole thing is lovingly shot.
Title: After the Day Before
Director: Attila Jannisch
Country: Hungary
P's Rating: Not-so-good
Ten years ago, in the wake of an excruciatingly boring film with ten minute long takes of forests, I swore off Hungarian films. This year there were two films from the country that looked interesting so I decided what the heck and picked them. After the first of the lot, that's not looking like the best decision I've ever made. After the Day Before is a pretentious piece of student-level filmmaking, wherein a middle-aged stranger wanders through an isolated Hungarian village, trying and failing to figure out what's going on. Apart from it's general lack of coherence, it has a twist ending that I called about five minutes in. In fact, it's exactly the same twist ending I used in a five minute, Super 8 film I made in film school. The one good thing about it all is that director Jannisch can compose a gorgeous shot. The opening tracking shot of a dirt road running through verdant green fields while Arvo Part's ominously beautiful Fratres played on the soundtrack promised much better things.
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Sorry your opinion of Hungarian films was reinforced by this. I guess there's still some hope for Kontroll
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