I admit that I selected Blue Valentine predominantly because it stars Ryan Gosling (we've got to cheer for the Canadian boy from Breaker High who made good) and Michelle Williams (what can I say - I am a die hard Dawson's Creek fan). While one might question my motives for selecting the film, please do read on. Blue Valentine was a really heartbreakingly sweet film that simultaneously tells the story of a couple falling in love and falling apart. Moments from the present - an evening spent in a theme motel in hopes of rekindling a flame - are interspersed with flashbacks from when the couple met and started dating. The emotion between the onscreen couple is palpable. Williams and Gosling are utterly convincing in their roles. The film is true to life in it's exploration of the build up and break down of a relationship.
Based on Ned Vizzini's 2006 semi-autobiographical novel, It's Kind of a Funny Story is absolutely worth watching. This is the story of Craig (Keir Gilchrist), a depressed teen who is flirting with the idea of suicide. After a particularly troubling morning where he can imagine exactly how he'll kill himself, Craig decides to go to the hospital, and convinced he'll harm himself, checks himself into the psych ward. Thinking that there will be a quick fix, Craig is shocked to learn that he has to stay in the hospital for five days. He adjusts to his new surroundings with the help of Bobby (Zach Galifianakis and a pretty girl his age, Noelle (Emma Roberts). A dark comedy, the film is understated. There are some very funny and very true-to-life moments.
Even the Rain stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Sebastian, a filmmaker who takes a crew and actors to Cochabamba, Bolivia to make a film about Columbus' first trip to the New World and the resulting subjugation of indigenous peoples. Sebastian and his producer, Costa (Luis Tosar) have decided to make the film in Bolivia because they can hire extras very cheaply, thus exploiting these peoples, in a manner that draws striking parallels to the themes in the film they are making. The backdrop to Even the Rain is the mounting conflict over water in Bolivia. One of the Bolivian actors hired to act as a leader in a rebellion in the film is also a leader in his own community fighting against the government's decision to privatize water. This film is an interesting exploration of the exploitation of Latin America by richer nations. As an aside, this was the only film that we saw in the TIFF Lightbox, and I have to say - it was fantastic! The seats are super comfy, and the sound is great.
The Girl in the Yellow Boots. I'd skip it. The storyline started off has having some promise but became convoluted and extraneous, with a number of plot threads going absolutely nowhere. In this film, we follow the story of a girl named Ruth who is trying desperately to find her father, and who has gone to India specifically to do so. Ruth works as a massage therapist, and makes extra money by offering her clients a happy ending. This extra money is stolen by some guys that her thug boyfriend owes money to. I think this film is supposed to be an exploration of what it is to be a biracial person, searching for identity.I don't think it passes muster. I left the film disappointed.
The best thing about A Beginner's Guide to Endings was that it was set in Niagara Falls. It was a sort of fantastic tale about five brothers dealing with the death of their gambling father (played by Harvey Keitel). The brothers are all fairly crazy, and in the wake of their dad's passing, learn through his will, that the drugs that they took as teens to make money (one of their dad's harebrained schemes) caused serious heart troubles. The film follows each brother as he sets out to confront his own mortality. There are some very charming moments, particularly between Jacob and Todd, as they set out to do all of the daring things that Jacob has never had the guts to do. I'd call it mediocre at best.
The last film of our festival was Never Let Me Go, now in theatres. Based on the Booker-nominated novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, this film is melancholic in feel. I've not read the book, and feel that I may appreciate it more than the film. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the film - I did - but felt that some of the subtleties and connections between characters were not as strong as they could have been. Bleak and haunting, this film tells the story of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightly). Narrated by Kathy, this film is perhaps an elegy for this trio of characters that we come to know, people who are robbed of an opportunity to live their lives, fulfil their dreams and yearnings.
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