Year: 2019

2019 TIFF Movie Review: PORTRAIT DE LA JUENE FILLE EN FEU (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) (France 2019) ***

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire Poster
Trailer

On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Director:

Céline Sciamma

Writer:

Céline Sciamma (screenplay)

Stars:

Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami

Set in 18th-century Brittany, Portrait of a Lady on Fire follows Marianne (Noémie Merlant), an artist commissioned by an Italian noblewoman (Valeria Golino) to paint a portrait of her reclusive daughter Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), who is soon to be married. The peculiar conditions of this assignment, however, require that Marianne never  announce to Héloïse the objective of her visit.  

Instead, Marianne is to escort Héloïse on walks, posing as a hired companion while closely observing her subject so as to render her likeness on canvas in secret.  

Though nothing much happens, the film includes scenes of exquisite beauty courtesy of the cinematographer  Claire Mathon who did STRANGER BYTHE LAKE back in 2013.  The shot of the facial expressions of the three women playing cards and the one with the household breaking into a chorus of song are incredibly moving.  

It takes 3/4 of the film before the two women embrace, and the segments are executed with grace and erotic taste.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64QcwARoZAM

2019 TIFF Movie Review: WHITE LIE (Canada 2019) ***

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White Lie Poster
Trailer

A popular undergrad faking cancer struggles to maintain her secret.

Directors:

Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas

Writers:

Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas

Stars:

Kacey Rohl, Amber Anderson, Martin Donovan

This odd feature centres on Katie (Kacey Rohl), a young woman who has become a literal poster child on her university campus: recently diagnosed with cancer, she’s the focal point of an online funding campaign for both herself and other cancer-related causes.  \

The only problem is, it is all built on a lie.   Katie isn’t sick but gets the money she raised for cancer for herself.  When the campus asks for her medical reports, things start spiralling for the worse when she needs money for forged papers.  She lies to everyone including her ever-loyal girlfriend.  The trouble with this film is the indecision of the directors on whether to have the audience like or dislike the protagonist.  

Though one might root for her keeping her secret, Katie is quite the nasty person with hardly any scruples.  Only her father (Martin Donovan who steals the show) calls her bluff.  Just like Katie, WHITE LIE is a difficult film to like especially since it leads nowhere though Rohl is quite convincing in the role. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6146a_vM0HU

2019 TIFF Movie Review: LA BELLE EPOQUE (France 2019) ***

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La belle époque Poster
Trailer

A couple in crisis. He, disillusioned, sees his life upset the day an entrepreneur offers him to plunge back into the time of his choice.

Director:

Nicolas Bedos

Writer:

Nicolas Bedos

Stars:

Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Doria Tillier

A high concept comedy that turns out to smart for its execution, This French comedy follows an old fashioned cartoonist, Victor (Daniel Auteuil) no out of work as print makes way to  websites that do not favour cartoons.  To make matters worse, his wife, Marianne (Fanny Ardant) is totally modern with her self driving Tesla, virtual reality and artificial intelligence and bored with him.  Victor engages in a service called ‘Time Travellers’ that take client their past historical moments.

  Victor hicks 1974 where he meets and falls in love with his wife when they first met.  Writer/director Bedos (MR. & MRS ADELMAN) creates an original premise blending modern technology with old-fashioned French romance.  Bedos edits his film really  quickly at quite the manic pace so that the audience has hardly any time to breathe, often forgetting the simplicity of comedy.  

Still this is Bedos’ unique style that is still entertaining with this film demanding a Hollywood remake int he future.  Auteuil and Ardant are a delight to watch on screen,

Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9172422/videoplayer/vi3889675289?ref_=tt_ov_vi

2019 TIFF Movie Review: THIS IS NOT A MOVIE (Canada/Germany 2019) ****

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This is Not a Movie Poster
The groundbreaking and often game-changing reporting of legendary foreign correspondent and author Robert Fisk is profiled in the latest from acclaimed documentarian Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze).

Director:

Yung Chang

Writers:

Yung Chang, Nelofer Pazira

Stars:

Robert Fisk, Amira Hass, Nirmeen Hazineh

This doc for on foreign reporter Robert Fisk is designed  to arouse emotions.  It begins with the reason or reasons Fisk decides to become a reporter. This Chang (UP THE YANG-TSE) does by including a clip of Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense thriller FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT.

The hero inspired Fisk, and another inspiration is described by Fisk as a fireman falling to his knees crying while putting out a fire in Belfast when he saw part of a body by the fire hose  Chang evokes the raw emotions of both Fisk at that time transported in time to the present. Chang creates an eye opening vivid account of Fisk at work with his camera following Fisk on his assignments, particularly in Syria in the present. 

 Like a film within a film, this is a director reporting a reporter.  Director Chang also instills the truth that reporters have the duty to tell – especially in the times of fake news.  In the inspiring words of Fisk himself recorded by Chang: “If you do not go the front lines and see what is happening how can you see what the truth is?”  

A remarkable and  unbelievably inspiring doc!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftjkRxikuO4

2019 TIFF Movie Review: AFRICA (Israel 2019) *** Directed by Oren Gerner

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Africa Poster
AFRICA is a cinematic MRI of an aging parent from the hands of his son, Blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

Director:

Oren Gerner

Writers:

Oren Gerner, Oren Gerner

Stars:

Maya Gerner, Meir Gerner

AFRICA is set in the village of Beirut near the border of the West Bank where director Oren Gerner films his father, Meir (Meir Gerner), a 68-year old engineer retiree who is coming to terms with the problem of old age.  

He passes his time with his Alsatian dog and his wife, in his daily routines.  Life becomes especially meaningless when he is denied organizing the village ceremony which he has done in the past 30 years.  Why is the film called Africa?  Reason is that he and his wife visited the continent in the past and memories are now taking effect.  Africa brings back pleasant memories.  

The film provides a candid look at what it means growing old and making meaning out of what is left in life.  Gerner’s film moves at a leisurely pace allowing the audience to ponder at the film’s material.  Mildly funny but occasionally melancholy in its outlook on life.

Trailer:  (unavailable)

Film Review: TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (Mexico 2016) ***

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Tigers Are Not Afraid Poster
A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.

Director:

Issa López

Writer:

Issa López

Stars:

Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Hanssel Casillas |

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is a Mexican supernatural fairy tale horror fantasy thriller that comes with the stamp of approval of Mexican horror Master Guillermo del Toro.  It is easy to figure the reason.  TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID bears many traits and look of his early films like PAN’S LABYRINTH, CRONOS, THE DEVIL’S BACKONE and THE SHAPE OF WATER.   Besides the look of CRONOS, TIGERS bears a young female protagonist as in PAN’S LABYRINTH stuck in a horror fantasy.  Again the protagonist has to outsmart the authorities as in THE SHAPE OF WATER to escape certain danger.

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID has a beautifully dark setting of a coastal Mexican town where drug cartels battle that results in many orphaned children. As Mexico is famous for its many festivals of the dead, the orphaned children rise from the dead seeking revenge from the bad drug people who caused their deaths.  One of the dead happens to the the protagonist’s mother, who Estrella wants to be re-untied with.  But as they say, be careful of what you wish for.  The mother materializes as a ghastly corpse commanding her daughter, Estrella to bring the dreaded corrupt official to the labyrinth of tunnels where the dead are buried so that they can kill him in revenge.

Poor Estrella.  Not only is she orphaned but is ostracized by the largely male group of boys who run around her old residence like a gang.  It is in a male world that the filmmakers and the female director Issa Lopez weave a tale where the female gender rises above the males.  The protagonist is female who has to prove her worth to the boys.  The ghost is female too, the mother who has a big impact on the story.  The story could also be told with he genders switched but the story this way has more dynamic impact.

The story also serves as a coming-of-age tale of Estrella who grows up to be a fine woman.  Her character is also not perfect, she having to lie in order to get ahead.

Director Lopez’s script cleverly blends the fairy tale element into the story.  Estrella is doing an exercise in school of writing ones own fairy tale when a shootout occurs.  Her teacher gives her 3 pieces of chalk granting her 3 fairy tale wishes, which she uses.  As most fairy tales have a dark element, so does the Estrella’s tale, taking an especially dark side she never imagined.

Director Lopez’s film is rich in period atmosphere (2006) and she creates a sold horror piece.  But this being her first feature, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is linear – one straight story told in a grim setting.  With experience, her films will be more layered (as in the del Toro films) with more unexpected turns and twists with the setting playing a greater impact and influence on the story.

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID is currently playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLKT0gML-oc

2019 TIFF Film Review: THE MONEYCHANGER

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The Moneychanger Poster
Trailer

Director:

Federico Veiroj

Writers:

Arauco Hernández Holz, Martín Mauregui |

Stars:

Dolores Fonzi, Benjamín Vicuña, Daniel Hendler

THE MONEYCHANGER, based on the novel of the same name by Juan Enrique Gruber begins with a scene of Jesus in Biblical times overturning the tables of the moneychangers at the market place with the voiceover underscoring the evil of men be derived from the deed of moneychangers.  

The film setting is 1970s Uruguay (beautifully shot) centred on Humberto Brause (Daniel Hendler), who furiously throws himself into the buying and selling of currency, a rapacious endeavour supported by his father-in-law, a veteran in the business of capital flight.  He learns and become expert at this business, controlling everything except his unflappable, tough-as-nails wife, Gudrun (Dolores Fonzi). 

 Trouble arrives when he launders the largest sum of money he has ever seen.  Director Veiroj tells his tale in a deadpan style emphasizing each incident with increasing oddness.   At the end of it all, Brause questions his wife if she loves him when she offers a reply that is equally deadpan.  An intriguing and gripping tale.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN0uTlynHYI

2019 TIFF Film Review: 37 SECONDS (USA/Japan 2019)

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37 Seconds Poster
Trailer

Yuma is a young Japanese woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. Torn between her obligations towards her family and her dream to become a manga artist, she struggles to lead a self-determined life.

Director:

Hikari

Writer:

Hikari

Stars:

Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Shôhei Uno, Shizuka Ishibashi

37 SECONDS without breathing at birth has caused the now 23 year old Yuma (Mei Kayama) to have developed cerebral palsy.  Now, the physically restricted 23-year-old, wheelchair bound Yuma is over-pampered by her mother (Misuzu Kanno) while working drawing manga for Sayaka (Minori Hagiwara), who passes Yuma’s work as her own. 

 Director Hikaru traces the steps taken by Yuma, with the help of an assortment of friends in the sex industry, gain her independence from her mother and work while discovering sex and other pleasures (like getting pissed).  Yuma also discovers through her uncle that she has a missing twin sister teaching in Thailand.  

Director Hikaru’s film on harsh reality is given the fantasy treatment while blending manga and pop which just does not work.  The audience is to believe that this wheelchair bound girl can fly to Thailand on a whim to meet up with her twin sister with her Japanese friend who suddenly is able to speak Thai.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jyOHL_zgu4

2019 TIFF Film Review: INCITEMENT (Israel 2019) ***1/2

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Incitement Poster
Details the year leading to the assassination of Israel’s Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), from the point of view of the assassin.

Director:

Yaron Zilberman

Writers:

Ron Leshem, Yaron Zilberman

Stars:

Yehuda Nahari Halevi, Amitai Yaish, Anat Ravnitzki |

INCITEMENT is a rigorous psychological thriller by American-Israeli director Yaron Zilberman that leads up to the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin through the worldview of his assassin, Yigal Amir (Yehuda Nahari Halevi).  Yigal is an ultranationalist, right-wing Zionist who opposed the leader’s signing of the Oslo Accords.  Zilberman includes lots of newsreel footage to add authenticity to the story.   

Rabin’s murder is held to be a definitive — and infamous — moment in the struggling peace process with Palestinians and also in Israel’s charged history.   The film is entitled INCITEMENT because the film concentrates on Yigal’s motivations (arising from family, friends and protestors) that led to Rabin’s death.  Unlike other films about assassins like THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, INCITEMENT is based on true facts. 

 Director Zilberman has crafted a truly disturbing and chilling period piece while emphasizing the fact that there is no easy solution to the Israel/Palestinian conflict.

Trailer: https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/evideos.php?movie_id=543486

Film Review: BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON (USA 2019) ***

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Brittany Runs a Marathon Poster
Trailer

A woman living in New York takes control of her life- one block at a time.

Director:

Paul Downs Colaizzo

Writer:

Paul Downs Colaizzo

Stars:

Jillian Bell, Jennifer Dundas, Patch Darragh

The easy going sounding title captures the easy going spirit of the new inspirational comedy BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON where he protagonist Brittany does run a marathon.

The film has a cliched plot – a sort of romantic comedy type in which through an overweight is shown that beauty is not alway on the outside and that she can win romance while getting the message across.  The plot comes complete with the typical best gay friend.  The good thing about it is that director Colazzo still manages to steer his movie out of these cliched traps into something unexpected while still squeezing some surprise while at it.  This is what make BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON stand out and end up so entertaining.

The story concerns Brittany Forgler (Jamie Bell), a hilarious, friendly, hot mess of a New Yorker who always knows how to have a good time,.  A 27, her late-night adventures and early-morning walks-of-shame are starting to catch up to her. When she stops by a Yelp-recommended doctor’s office in an attempt to score some Adderall (the film contains drug use), she finds herself slapped with a prescription she never wanted.  Forced to face reality for the first time in a long time, Brittany laces up her Converse and runs one sweaty block. The next day, she runs two. Soon she runs a mile. Brittany finally has direction–but is she on the right path?

The film would not work if it had not been for its lead actress Jamie Bell who plays Brittany.  Besides charmin her audience, she is totally believable in her role.  The actress reportedly lost 40 pounds as the film progressed and it shows on screen.  She manages to hook up with two extremely hot guys as well, particularly her short-term one that she dumps out of insecurity.  

The film also demonstrates the work both physically and emotionally that goes into the preparation of running a marathon.  And running well as well as completing the marathon are two different things.  Brittany is shown almost to give it up as she endures physical deterioration due to exhaustion. 

The film also pokes fun at social mores of the city be it NYC or any other city.   When told of the fees of joining a gym, she correctly states that one can run outside for free instead of paying to run inside on a track.  She finally joins a gym in the end, though, which is what most city dwellers do after running outside for a time – myself included.

As Brittany’s physical appearance changes, so does the emotional.  The script shows two emotional outbursts – one good one bad.  The bad one has her lash out at an overweight friend at a party to the shock of all those around her.  She is totally wrong but the script lets her go off easy.  The other has her, deservedly telling off her Asian roommate, for treating her as a convenient fat best friend.

For those unconfident of their body weight, BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON offers a reality check as well a the necessary dose of inspiration that goes with it.  Having a few laughs while watching the film is an additional bonus.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks_HSj1UqKI