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Zift is a neo-noir film from Bulgaria. It tells the story of a man who was jailed for a murder he did not commit. The story is in black and white and uses familiar noir techniques such as the voiceover, non-linear storytelling and the always-awesome femme fatale.

The film is super slick and stylish. Director Javor Gardev comes from almost twenty years of working as a theater stage manager or something and this is very obvious in the film’s choreographed, long take opening sequences.

I’m not going to comment on the Zift’s political statements so as not to make my ignorance so obvious, but in the q&a afterwards, the director had a fair amount to say about it. I will say, however, that this is the type of film that I attend the film festival for. In other words, I loved it!

Here’s a trailer. It has English subtitles:

Sauna is another project by director Antti-Jussi Annila in which he combines different genres in a bizarre mash-up. His previous film Jade Warrior (which played at TIFF in 2006) incorporated Chinese martial arts with Finnish mythology. This film takes the horror genre and tries to marry it with a historical epic.

It fails. The fourteenth century setting is instantly appealing but then becomes bland as we discover that the two main brothers and a team of three others are joining forces to map out a new Swedish-Russian border after a 25 year war. Yawn! Then the traditional, pre-Christian Finnish concept of the sauna washing sins away comes into play, and these characters certainly have a lot of no-no’s in their not-too-recent paths. The brother with the significantly lesser bloody past is haunted first, and the most, while his near-blind brother’s 73 kills take their turn later.

About the older one: a lot of attention is given to his poor eyesight and the use of his spectacles (still a rather new invention back then, I suppose), but aside from one comment near the end, it pretty much led to nothing. Maybe we were supposed to see the tough guy as being weak? I dunno.

The horror parts weren’t much more than jumpy, and the historical epic parts were uninteresting to me - at least as the subject matter of a film. They should have picked one and concentrated on that.

It did have a great look to it, though. The ominous sauna was very creepy and there is no way that I would have ever stepped into it. Also, the “scary thing”, although I have no idea why or how we see it at the end, was truly frightening; I wish that it had been used throughout the film instead of just at the end.

This was screening 5/26.

Serbis (Brillante Mendoza) is a snapshot of a day of poverty in the Philippines. Handheld cameras follow family members (by blood and adopted) around their disgustingly dirty adult theater/fast food shop. We observe them walk, talk, yell, walk, fight, walk, have sex, cook, serve customers (both food and at the theater box office), talk and walk. There is no real story - we simply join them in the midst of their many varied situations.

The film is certainly not bad, but it’s even more certainly not for everyone. The title translates to “service”, which is what the many young and mainly young prostitutes say to patrons of the cinema and those in the vicinity, to offer themselves.

This is an extremely noisy film, which I’m sure was intentional. The characters’ voices were barely audible at times due to the incredibly loud street noise. It’s a bit explicit at times but not as much it was made it out to be. It’s also pretty gross, and i’m sure that was intentional. Like, really gross, though. I wanted to have a shower immediately but instead had to settle for another film’s lineup.

I found this film to be incredibly well done and I would be surprised if the majority of the cast actually had acting experience. I am a big fan of handheld photography and also of bleak, realistic films. This may not be the favourite of the films I am seeing at this year’s festival, but it will certainly stand out.

Serbis was up for the Palm d’Or at Cannes this year, the first time in 24 years for a film from the Philippines.

This was screening 4/26.

Acné follows Rafa (Alejandro Tocar), a 13-year old Jewish boy living in Montevideo, Uruguay. We witness his first sexual encounter and then follow him as he roams around town with his friends, deals with issues at home and at school and, ultimately, seeks his first real kiss.

First time feature film writer-director Federico Veiroj was present to introduce the film and then did a Q&A afterwards. He was here in 2004 with his short “As Follows“, and said that both it and Acné drew from a script that he had written back in 2000. He didn’t seem to mind informing us that Rafa’s colourful story was greatly influenced by his own, but did add later that the screenplay had been worked on so much during the past eight years that he can hardly see anything of himself in the character anymore.

This statement is a credit to young Alejandro Tocar, who, at 15 years old at the time of filming, had no acting experience. His performance is very natural and this boy certainly has talent; whether it is talent enough to play a range of characters, however, still needs to be seen (Michael Cera, anyone? I still love him, though…).

The film was shot on HD and in order to hide the format’s limitations, Veiroj made certain to include “as few shots of the sky as possible, as HD makes it look bad”. He shot a bulk of the film in an actual apartment but it was decorated especially for the film. The decor and lack of mobile phones and computers place this film intentionally in the mid-90’s. He said that he wanted to tell a story where the characters were not mingling with technology as often as, or more than, their friends and family.

Camera movements are few and far between; when it moves, it is very slow and deliberate. I love the handheld style but this made me feel more like an invisible observer than as being part of the action; this also went well with the relatively slow pacing and dialogue.

I liked the film. At only 87 minutes it still felt slightly long, so Veiroj may still have a way to go before being able to flesh out a feature length film. But it was a nice way to start this year’s festival experience, especially with its ample moments of humour and awkwardness. I love coming-of-age films, and Rafa was definitely a unique enough character to watch.

This was screening 1/26.

I’m seeing (at least) 25 movies this year at TIFF - the most so far for me! 10 of them I am seeing with friends, and the other 15 are with the new Daytime Lite Package. I’m pretty excited and very grateful that I was able to take six days off this year.

I will post my selections when I receive the results from the advanced ticketing. Also, this year I may actually review some of them… It sure would be great if that was what I did for work!

I noticed this a couple of months ago and I’m still pissed off about it. I thought of it again while listening to a /film podcast rant on overly revealing trailers. The trailer for Boy A (2008, John Crowley) is absolutely terrible! It gives the entire film away and that’s a real shame because one of the best things about this movie is the way that the backstory unfolds.

John Crowley did a great job of telling this story. You meet the character, and just as it often is in real life, you slowly begin to learn about who they are and how they came to be that way. I saw this film at TIFF last year (and of course have not mentioned it until now, almost a year later) and it was one of my favourites. The storytelling is very sensitive and Andrew Garfield’s performance is really something to remember.

Check the film out (it was in limited release as of 23 July, 2008) but if you are just interested in the story, you might as well check out the ridiculously revealing trailer below.

p.s. When looking for a movie poster to include in this post, I found one that gives a lot away, too! Why didn’t The Weinstein Company let this film tell the story itself?

This was our first TIFF film of the year, and it was a nice way of easing us into a fairly busy 9 days. Les chansons d’amour was directed and co-written by Christophe Honoré, and co-written by Gaël Morel. After looking these guys up, it would appear that I am quite a fan. Of the films that Honoré has written and/or directed, I have seen Le clan, Ma mère, Novo and Tout contre Léo. Morel co-wrote Le clan and I have seen one of the films he directed, À toute vitesse.

Les chansons d’amour is a musical, and a rather unconventional one. Honoré wrote the film around songs that Alex Beaupain had already written. Also, the musical numbers kind of float in and out of the story - and actually feel quite natural - as opposed to being grand productions. Of this, Honoré explains that “this film is a musical because the characters can only express their feelings by singing.”

We’re introduced to Ismaël (Louis Garrel) a few weeks into a newly-evolved relationship with his girlfriend, Julie, as they have recently adopted a third person to their mix: Alice. This situation is quite funny and introduces us to some of the film’s questions: What is love? Who can I love? Who could love me? What kind of love do I want?

Things happen and Ismaël finds himself alone. Well… almost alone. He now has a stalker, a young student named Erwann (played by Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, first seen four years ago in André Téchiné’s Les Égarés). This young man’s advances cause Ismaël to ask himself the same questions as he did in the beginning of the film, but out of an entirely different situation. Or maybe it’s not so different…?

I really enjoyed this movie. It was very charming, and I found myself smiling almost the entire time. It was a combination of the songs, the characters, the stories, the actors… and maybe also by watching them run around Paris…

Here are the films that I am seeing this year, in screening order:

1. Friday, Sept 7, 7:15pm
Le chansons d’amour (Love Songs) (France, Christophe Honoré)

2. Saturday, Sept 8, 9:00am
Control (UK/USA, Anton Corbijn)

3. Sunday, Sept 9:15am
Boy A (UK, John Crowley)

4. Monday, Sept 10, 2:00pm
Silent Resident (Weisse Lilien) (Austria/Germany/Luxembourg/Hungary, Christian Frosch)

5. Monday, Sept 10, 9:45pm
El Pasado (The Past) (Argentina, Hector Babenco)

6. Tuesday, Sept 11, noon
Vexille (Japan, Fumihiko Sori)

7. Tuesday, Sept 11, midnight
Sukiyaki Western Django (Japan, Takashi Miike)

8. Wednesday, Sept 12, 9:45pm
Import/Export (Austria, Ulrich Seidl)

9. Thursday, Sept 13, midnight
Flash Point (Dao huo xian) (Hong Kong, Wilson Yip)

10. Friday, Sept 14, 12:15pm
Déficit (Mexico, Gael García Bernal)

11. Friday, Sept 14, 5:00pm
Hengbok (Happiness) (South Korea, Jin-ho Hur)

12. Friday, Sept 14, 9:30pm
Chrysalis (France, Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini, Julien Leclercq)

13. Saturday, Sept 15, 6:30pm
Shadows (Koski) (Republic of Macdeonia, Milcho Manchevski)

14. Saturday, Sept 15, 10:00pm
Ex Drummer (Belgium, Koen Mortier)

The only film that I didn’t get tickets for yet is Jar City (Mýrin). I’ll be checking the box office but may need to rush it on Thursday afternoon.

My boss is kind enough to allow me to make up time for daytime weekday screenings. I can’t see anything in the afternoon or evening of this weekend (Sept 8 and 9) because of my comp tickets to Virgin Fest. Regardless, I’m seeing at least 14 films this year and Seana and I are going to have a blast!

Documenting the band Acrassicauda in Heavy Metal in Baghdad (Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi) was a “risky, dangerous, and really fucking stupid” undertaking, according to journalist Suroosh Alvi, and those words are certainly descriptive enough for this film. I was expecting a relatively light-hearted, fun and even novel documentary on the only heavy metal band in Baghdad. And yes, there are more than a few “light” moments, but this is a sober and emotional blow to the head of the reality of what is happening in Iraq as seen through the eyes of people just like me: regular, working class guys who are also passionate about music. And it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen on the news.

The filmakers’ involvement with Acrassicauda began in 2003, when VICE Magazine ran a short piece on them. What followed was a gig set up by VICE two years later, which marked the band’s final performance in Baghdad. After that gig, the band members weren’t heard from again, until a year later when Alvi and Moretti traveled to Baghdad to “see if they were still alive”. This is where the film takes a turn from an already atypical band bio to a “meeting the band” that you have never experienced before (thankfully without the airplane nosedive). Firas, the band’s bassist, plays tour guide for a few days as Alvi and Moretti document both a country and a band that war has torn apart. What follows is a journey through the streets of Iraq, with bulletproof SUVs and a slew of armed bodyguards as company.

As they talk, we learn a lot about these men - about their fears, hopes and dreams. They want to have families. They want to wear their Metallica and Slipknot t-shirts, grow their hair long and have goatees, but any of these things could get them shot, even if they are walking outside before the 9pm curfew. They want to headbang without the fear of being mistaken as Jews in prayer, and killed. They want to flee Baghdad and live in freedom, but they don’t want leave their families behind or be alienated elsewhere. They want to, as the band’s friend Mike puts it, “fly and be free.” But most of all, they want to rock - but how can you do that in a country with a government legislature banning “music filled parties and all kinds of singing”?

With songs like “Massacre”, “Between The Ashes” and “Under World”, Acrassicauda’s song titles seem to be typical of many a metal band’s; the sad truth, however, is that these titles are completely literal, and their lyrics describe the reality of their world. After seeing things through the eyes of these men (both the filmmakers and the band members), who are really not so unlike me and my friends, I feel much closer to understanding what is really going on over there. I am a music lover, and this angle (for lack of a better word) was extremely effective and emotionally stirring. It was a very sobering experience, watching this film, and it will surely stick with me for a long time.

I was able to see this film at a pre-festival press screening at Bovine Sex Club.

I saw Red Road (2006, written by Andrea Arnold with characters devised by Anders Thomas Jensen and Lone Scherfig; directed by Andrea Arnold) back in September as part of TIFF, and it was definitely one of my favourites. The director was on hand to explain the concept behind “The Advance Party“, a project/concept for a trilogy of three films of which Red Road is the first.

I didn’t know anything about The Advance Party before seeing the film, nor did I realize that Lars von Trier was involved at all, so that was a pleasant surprise. It is an intense, riveting piece and I really enjoyed how the themes and plot slowly rolled out. It was especially interesting afterwards, too, to read the character descriptions/restrictions that Arnold and the next two films’ directors were given to work with.

As the film is concluding its festival tour, Indiewire has a short article which details Red Road’s success and also sheds some light on The Advance Party, including some challenges that Arnold faced working within its structure.