TIFF

  • Review: TIFF 2017: ‘The Captain’ is the unsettling story of an imposter (Includes first-hand account)

    It would seem the angles from which a film can look at war and its atrocities are endless. There’s the three basic perspectives of the two opposing parties and the citizens caught between, but each of these have countless possibilities from administrative and frontline roles to patriotic or conscripted soldiers to compliant or rebellious populations. Moreover, the many nuances available to each character confirm the complexities of conflict as well as continuously fascinate audiences. In The Captain, a young German soldier in WWII finds the world is his oyster after a lucky break near the end of the war.

  • Review: TIFF 2017: ‘Beast’ is in all of us (Includes first-hand account)

    Most modern-day fairy tales tend to still be a literal extension of the originals with enchanted settings, magical creatures and fantastic conclusions. However, there are less common instances in which the fabled elements serve as inspiration for a more complex narrative. The characters are representative of storybook personalities rather than exact replicas of their imaginary counterparts, allowing for more contemporary tales with familiar roots. In Beast, there are a number of fairy tale-type characters dealing with not very whimsical issues.

  • Review: TIFF 2017: ‘Veronica’ is a typical possession movie with a twist (Includes first-hand account)

    There are a few things that guarantee trouble, particularly in a horror movie; they include investigating an unexplained noise, reading from mysterious books aloud, and playing with Ouija boards. When anyone does one of these things in a genre picture, the chances of them ending up dead or haunted are pretty good. But clearly no one in these films have ever seen a horror movie, or they’d surely no better. In Veronica, a teenage girl makes a standard mistake that puts her entire family at risk.

  • Review: TIFF 2017: ‘Motorrad’ trails aren’t safe but no one knows why (Includes first-hand account)

    While genre movies can be a filmmaker’s bread and butter in North America or Asia, there are many countries in which it’s less popular… and more importantly, less respected. Combined, these opinions make it difficult to produce local content as various avenues of support are scarcer. But that doesn’t mean non-conforming creators aren’t still pushing the boundaries of acceptance and targeting niche groups locally and abroad. After all, it just takes one success story to create more possibilities. Motorrad hopes to be the film that opens the door in Brazil.

  • Review: TIFF 2017: ‘The Lodgers’ cannot escape their unwelcome guests (Includes first-hand account)

    “Blood is thicker than water,” but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be poison. Sometimes one’s relatives can be even worse than the greatest threat they’d face outside the home. Yet, the physiological bond keeps them from seeking escape since leaving a loved one can be incredibly difficult regardless of the circumstances. The reasoning behind these invisible shackles can vary, but their presence is no less restrictive. In The Lodgers, a pair of siblings are prisoners of their enormous house — or, more specifically, of what resides beneath it.

  • Review: TIFF 2016: ‘The Exception’ should be the rule in historical drama (Includes first-hand account)

    Historical dramas almost always run the risk of being dry, expansive pictures that fail to find the balance between entertaining and informing audiences. Of course it’s important to know and understand the past, but the advantage of film is it can be more enjoyable than a textbook or classroom. A movie is permitted flourishes for theatrical effect and some leeway regarding events in the narrative in order to adequately convey the real-life incidents. Even adapting a story from a book can require some adjustments to engage theatre audiences. The Exception is almost an anomaly in this area in that the historical recreation manages to do all of these things correctly.

  • Review: TIFF 2016: ‘The Women’s Balcony’ has a great sense of humour (Includes first-hand account)

    If there’s nothing truer about relationships, it’s that each one has to find their own way to be happy; what’s good for one may not be good for another and vice versa. Outsiders can provide as much advice and as many opinions as they wish, but in the end every couple must find what works for them — period. Unfortunately when someone with great influence in your life indicates they believe you are doing something incorrectly, it can be difficult not to heed them. In The Women’s Balcony, longstanding tradition is challenged by a persuasive figure.

  • Review: TIFF 2016: ‘Raw’ is an intense depiction of growing up (Includes first-hand account)

    Graduating from high school and going to college is a rite of passage that is both terrifying and thrilling for most freshmen. In addition to a new level of learning and responsibility, they have to contend with a whole new social structure: new friends, new enemies and new rules. Living on campus brings with it the freedom of no parental supervision and the pitfalls of indulging without previously respected limits. But those are just the most general consequences of going away to school; the adjustments required vary for everyone and may be worse for some. In Raw, one teen girl discovers a whole new side of herself she wishes didn’t exist.

  • Review: TIFF 2016: ‘The Belko Experiment’ is designed to ensure success (Includes first-hand account)

    In an attempt to understand how humans carry out certain acts or why they exhibit specific behaviours in particular situations, the scientific community conducts social experiments. Designed to recreate or mimic predetermined conditions, the test subjects’ responses are monitored, recorded and examined to try to gain a greater understanding of how or why people do things. Some of these studies and/or methods have been controversial, though they’ve provided invaluable statistics. However, key elements of these trials are the participant’s consent and assurances to prevent physical harm — The Belko Experiment lacks either of these components.

  • Review: TIFF 2016: ‘Catfight’ wrestles its way to the comedic top (Includes first-hand account)

    High school and college reunions are events viewed with either great anticipation or extreme dread. One’s response is often influenced by their lot in life post-graduation. The successful ones can’t wait to flaunt their good fortune, while the others fear the moment everyone asks, “So, what’ve you been up to?” But at least an organized event provides some time to prepare — it’s those unexpected run-ins with people from your past that can really throw someone for a loop. In Catfight, two women find they have a lot of unresolved animosity for each other in spite of going their different ways decades earlier.

  • Review: TIFF retrospective screens Maurice Pialat’s most successful film (Includes first-hand account)

    French cinema is historically a source of visceral narratives that don’t shy away from provocative subjects. Although director Maurice Pialat struck out at and from his contemporaries, the former painter was undoubtedly a product of the zeitgeist. His fascination with sexuality, Parisian families and tyrannical male figures underlies most of his work and is a reflection of many other French filmmakers; while his realist approach has often been compared to John Cassavetes. The TIFF retrospective, “Love Exists: The Films of Maurice Pialat,” demonstrates the many ways Pialat tackled these subjects in his films, though his most successful would be À nos amours.

  • Review: TIFF 15 — ‘Ninth Floor’ exposes a blind spot in Canada’s history (Includes first-hand account)

    So often when people ponder racism and the struggle for equality, they think of the American civil rights movement. But that doesn’t mean less overt discrimination and better concealed prejudice didn’t exist in other supposedly more tolerable societies. For instance, Canada was previously known to publish advertisements encouraging people of colour to settle in the country, which was positioned as a more agreeable nation than its neighbour to the south at the time. However history tells us this wasn’t entirely true. Ninth Floor chronicles one such mark on the country’s past.