Yesterday the festival issued a press release on changes to address customer service and Visa Screening Room issues from last year. This is in line with the letter they sent out a few weeks ago to previous festivalgoers that I already commented on:
http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/06/service-changes-for-2009.html
http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-festival-ticketing-update.html
Peter Howell, a film critic for The Toronto Star, asked me for comment on the changes in a story published in today's paper:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/655560
Welcome to all Star readers who are visiting here for the first time! I know there will probably be a number of people who will not agree with the price increases, but if you generally assume prices for anything will tend to rise over time, I don't think the changes are completely off the chart. And while not perfect, I think the compromise of opening up more Visa Screening Room screenings back to ticket package holders and guaranteeing at least one non-premium screening addresses the problems last year with the venue. In terms of the additional days available for the advance order process, I still think that came from the lateness of Labour Day this year; it will be interesting to see if the 2010 festival retains the same schedule.
The festival also released the names of some of the films that will be screening at this year's festival:
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/filmlist/default.aspx
Some important upcoming dates to remember:
July 6, 10am All ticket packages on sale to Visa cardholders
July 13, 10am All ticket packages on sale for Visa, Debit and cash
You do not have to buy ticket packages now; you can also buy individual tickets on September 4, 2009.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Story in the Toronto Star
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
TIFF Donors
In case you are wondering if you should donate to the festival, or how donations affect the Advance Order process, this article describes the benefits and impacts. Full information on the donation levels can be found at http://tiffg.ca/support/default.aspx.
Notable benefits for donors include:
- As of June 1, 10:00 AM, donors can start purchasing ticket packages; all others have to wait until July 6.
- As of August 27, 10:00 AM, donors of $1,000 or more can start purchasing individual premium tickets (i.e. premium screenings at Roy Thomson Hall and the Visa Screening Room); all others have to wait until September 4. A lot of the literature out there seems to imply all donors can purchase early, but the TIFFG site states the benefit is only available to $1,000 donors and above.
- Tax receipt for donations above $10.
- Priority in the Advance Order process at the Benefactor level and above (i.e. a minimum donation of $250); priority increases with the donation level.
Donor levels include:
- 52/7 Circle Level: $5,000
- Gold Level: $3,500
- Silver Screen Level: $2,000
- Film Club Level: $1,000
- Associate Level: $500
- Benefactor Level: $250
- $150
- Ambassador Level: $100
- $50
- Supporter Level: $25
I had the chance last year to talk to Jesse Hawken, Assistant Manager of Customer Relations at TIFF about the donor benefits in the Advance Order process. Previously, donors were served out of the industry box office, and had a private allotment of tickets. However, as of last year, the process changed in that any unused donor-allotted tickets were returned to the pool available for the general public.
In 2008, there were 78 boxes in the draw, with an additional 7 boxes for donors, separated by donor level. None of the donor boxes were full, and each donor box is about 1.5 times the size of a normal box. No screenings were completely cleared out by donor orders.
One benefit resulting from donations is providing student and senior pricing for screenings at the festival.
On a separate note, Hawken also talked to the Visa Screening Room, and that the changes there for the 2008 festival were a consequence of not wanting to raise prices. He did say the festival would look at the Visa Screening Room for 2009, and their published commitments so far would seem to indicate they followed through on that, especially the guarantee that there won't be any gala films that can't be accessed by the normal ticket packages.
Service Changes for 2009
The Festival outlined a number of changes to improve service for this year's festival, including:
- All Gala films will have at least one screening accessible to Festival, Daytime, and 10-ticket Package holders, subject to availability. This was a problem last year, when there were 8 films that screened only at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room and thus could not be selected by package holders who did not have a gala or Visa Screening Room pass.
- Package holders will have increased access to the Visa Screening Room. This apparently is being accomplished by having about half the screenings at the Visa Screening Room be regular public screenings, while the other half or so will be premium public screenings. Last year, you could not see films at the Visa Screening Room unless you had the Visa Screening Room pass, or bought individual premium tickets.
- Reduction of wait times for advance order pickups. The Festival is searching out an appropriate location that meets their "needs for traffic flow and access for all box-office functions." This might mean not using the Toronto Life Square location for the advance order pickup like last year. On pickup day on September 3, there will be increased hours of operation, and they will be doubling the number of operators available for the ticket exchange process.
- Distinct criteria for premium screenings. Premium screenings will always be the first showing of a film at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and have at least one of the following three criteria: be a red carpet event; be at least a North American premiere; include a Q&A with either a director or a principal cast member. Note that the majority of films will have their first screening in a non-premium venue, and many will have a Q&A, even in subsequent screenings.
- Individual ticket sales will begin on September 4, 6 days before the start of the festival.
- The film schedule will be released on August 25, and Advance Orders are not due until August 31 at 1:00 PM, which is three days more than last year.
- Completed Advance Orders will be available for pickup in September 3 (note, this is a Thursday and not a holiday), before the Labour Day long weekend.
It sounds like the Festival has listened to the feedback coming out of last year's event, especially around the Visa Screening Room. It will be interesting to see how the Advance Order process will work for films there, since package holders will be able to see some, but not all films at the Visa Screening Room (i.e. premium screenings there will still require individual tickets or one of the Visa Screening Room passes). The additional package types for the Visa Screening Room provide a fair bit of variety and do seem to make things more accessible.
Hopefully the venue chosen for Advance Order pickup will facilitate the pickup process better this year. The one main problem at the Toronto Life Square location in the early part of last year was people cutting in line, since the line started at street level but the box office was three flights of escalators up. By the end of the festival, they had instituted a system that cut down on people cutting in.
Having additional time for the ordering process and having the long weekend free are both a plus, although I think that may be due in part to the date on which Labour Day falls this year (it's a lot later than normal). Hopefully this will persist into future years as well. On the downside, you will now need to take a vacation day for Advance Order pickup if you expect to have to do ticket exchanges.
Friday, May 29, 2009
2009 Festival Ticketing Update
The Festival has done a bit of rebranding and has a new site at http://www.tiff.net/ (tiff.com was already taken by an Internet marketing company). The Festival has also put up a brochure explaining the ticket packages for the 2009 festival, which I'll summarize below. The brochure can be found here: http://www.tiffg.ca/tiffgalerts/web/docs/awarenessbrochure.pdf.
Note if you are a donor, you can start buying packages as of 10:00 AM on June 1. Otherwise, Visa card holders can start buying packages as of 10:00 AM on July 6. Cash and debit purchases of packages can be made starting10:00 AM on July 13. This is only to buy the ticket packages listed later in this posting. Single tickets to individual films will not go on sale until 7:00 AM on September 4, although this is now 5 days before the festival actually starts.
If you buy a ticket package and thus participate in the advance ordering process in August, the festival has increased the time between picking up your package and having to submit your order. Last year, you only had 3 days to complete the process. This year, you have 6 days, from 10:00 AM on August 25 to 1:00 PM on August 31. Completed packages will be available for pickup starting 7:00 AM on September 3, which is before the Labour Day long weekend this year. Note that September 3 is a Thursday, so unlike previous years, you will want to plan to take this as a vacation day if you expect to have to make exchanges.
The Festival has clarified the difference between Roy Thomson Hall and Visa Screening Room galas, and the rest of the festival:
Premium Screening: Approximately 6% of all films fall into this category. These are the first public screenings of a film at the festival, occur at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and have at least one of the following criteria:
- Be a red carpet event.
- Be at least a North American premiere.
- Include a Q&A with either a director or principal cast.
Not sure what makes up the other 20%! Also note that a lot of the regular screenings usually have cast and/or crew show up, and have Q&A's after the film.
For the ticket packages, there were generally modest increases, although the Festival packages get the biggest bump. The Wavelengths package actually dropped in price; not sure what that means for the programme itself. Additional packages for the Visa Screening Room have been added, including some reasonably priced options that guarantee tickets,but only on specific days. Anyone thinking of picking one of these up in order to see the next Brad Pitt film, might want to be careful, since there's no guarantee on when films will be scheduled at this point. Some packages held in price from last year, like Midnight Madness.
Packages where you choose the films:
10 Ticket Package
$159.14 (up $4.64 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
See up to 10 films (maximum of 4 tickets per film screening).
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
A single purchaser can buy a maximum of 10 10-Ticket Packages (for 100 tickets total).
Festival Package
$524.27 (up $15.27 from last year, $443.93 for students and seniors).
See up to 50 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film screening).
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Festival Package Lite
$386.25 (up $11.25 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
See up to 30 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film screening).
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Day Package
$201.88 (up $5.88 from last year, $162.23 for students and seniors).
See up to 25 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film, each must start before 5:01 PM).
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Day Package Lite
$139.05 (up $4.05 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
See up to 15 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film, each must start before 5:01 PM).
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Student Card
$19.87 (up $0.58 from last year)
Can see multiple films on a given day from the first screening to 11:59 PM, up to a maximum of 5 per day.
Must have valid student ID to both purchase the card and enter screenings.
When purchasing, must select the date for the student card. Films are selected the morning of the day selected.
Quantities are limited per day.
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Sutton 2 Day Package
$699 (no discount for students and seniors)
2-night stay at the Sutton Place Hotel over the final two days of the festival (September 18 and 19).
2 tickets to the Closing Night Gala at the Visa Screening Room.
4 additional tickets that can be redeemed for any regular screening (i.e. not Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films).
1 Programme Book.
2 Festival t-shirts.
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films other than the Closing Night Gala.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Sutton 3 Day Package
$999 (no discount for students and seniors)
3-night stay at the Sutton Place Hotel over the final three days of the festival (September 17, 18 and 19).
2 tickets to the Closing Night Gala at the Visa Screening Room.
6 additional tickets that can be redeemed for any regular screening (i.e. not Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films).
1 Programme Book.
2 Festival t-shirts.
Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films other than the Closing Night Gala.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Packages where the films are chosen for you by the Festival:
Visa Screening Room Evening Package
$350 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to Visa Screening room films from September 11 to 18, for either the 6:00 PM or 9:00 PM screening (note you may have to select one time period for the length of the festival).
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Visa Screening Room 2 Day Package
$35 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to Visa Screening room films on September 15 and 17, between 12:00 PM and 5:59 PM. It is unclear how many screenings this would include, but based on the price, I would guess one per day.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Visa Screening Room 3 Day Package
$50 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to Visa Screening room films on September 14, 16 and 18, between 12:00 PM and 5:59 PM.
It is unclear how many screenings this would include, but based on the price, I would guess one per day.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package
$131.25 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to the 6:00 PM Visa Screening room films on September 11, 12 and 13.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Visa Screening Room Mid Festival Package
$131.25 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to the 9:00 PM Visa Screening room films on September 14, 15 and 16.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Double Date Gala Package
$299.04 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
4 tickets to each of two galas pre-selected by the Festival (for a total of 8 tickets).
Dates, times, and films to be announced by Thursday, September 3.
Guaranteed that both films will not occur on the same day.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Wavelengths Package
$55.40 (down $11.09 from last year, new $47.09 for students and seniors)
1 ticket to each of the Wavelengths screenings.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Midnight Madness Package
$156.51 (no change from last year, $100 for students and seniors)
1 ticket to each Midnight Madness screening.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Globetrotter Weekend/Evening
$112.53 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
6 films are pre-selected for you.
Films are guaranteed to start after 5:30 PM on weekdays or anytime on the weekend.
Also receive 2 vouchers for the fall Cinematheque fall season, and a pound of Starbucks coffee.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Globetrotter Daytime
$99.23 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
6 films are pre-selected for you.
Films are guaranteed to start between 8:30 AM and 5:01 PM.
Also receive 2 vouchers for the fall Cinematheque fall season, and a pound of Starbucks coffee.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Festival Experience Weekend/Evening
$68.54 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
3 films are pre-selected for you.
Films are guaranteed to start after 5:30 PM on weekdays or anytime on the weekend.
Also receive a pound of Starbucks coffee.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Festival Experience Package
$63.42 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
3 films are pre-selected for you.
Films are guaranteed to start between 8:30 AM and 5:01 PM.
Also receive a pound of Starbucks coffee.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail
$180.25 (up $5.25 from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
1 ticket to the closing night gala at Roy Thomson Hall.
Invitation to an after-party.
Only balcony seating is guaranteed.
There is no guarantee that any celebrities will be in attendance.
Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Objectified
Objectified is director Gary Hustwit's follow-up to his well-received documentary Helvetica. Continuing on with the theme of design, Objectified takes an expanded view and looks at what design is, how it affects people, and where it is going in the future. Hustwit interviews a number of design luminaries, including Jonathan Ive, senior VP of industrial design at Apple and the principal designer of the iPhone among many other products.
A number of designers talk about what inspires them and the things they come up with. But even though the film celebrates the work they do, it also raises at least some questions about a profession that can at times be at odds with environmental sustainability and really only addresses a small percentage of the people on the planet.
Objectified is a really interesting documentary that makes you appreciate the beauty and artistry of everything from a laptop computer, to a chair, to even the most mundane household objects that we all take for granted, like a toothbrush or a vegetable peeler.
Director Gary Hustwit was in attendance and did a Q&A after the film.
- Hustwit still had questions to ask about design after completing Helvetica, hence the continuation of the theme in Objectified.
- Hustwit wouldn't reveal specifics because he's still working it out in his head, but his third documentary will also share a design theme.
- Seeing more about the process of design during the course of filming and interviewing subjects has caused him to think more about why he makes films, but didn't necessarily affect how he made this film.
- He found it interesting that all the designers he interviewed seemed really interested in their camera gear and that all wanted to try to redesign it and make it better.
- On their way to interview Jonathan Ive, the airline lost the crew's tripod and boom mike extension, so they had to jury rig ones from stuff they bought at Home Depot, and were a bit embarrassed to show up at Apple with it.
- Before filming, Hustwit talked to a lot of designers, educators, and writers to get a wish list of topics and people to interview, but he also did have a number of people in mind that he wanted to have for the film.
- He was intrigued to find out what was on the designers' minds, who they were as people, and what drove them to do what they do.
- He hopes at some point to be able to make a documentary about Tom Waits.
- Hustwit has known Kristian Dunn, guitarist for the band el ten eleven, for 15 years, and finds his music clicks with Hustwit's visual imagery, hence the music in the film.
- Hustwit mentioned that documentaries generally aren't scored since you don't know what the editorial cut will be until close to the end.
- With Helvetica, he just told musicians he was making a movie about the font, and found it interesting the things he got back.
- Luke Geissbuhler, the director of photography, also worked on Helvetica, Borat, and Bruno. His father is a Swiss designer.
- Hustwit says he is learning from Geissbuhler, as he hadn't done any filming before Helvetica, and Hustwit ended up shooting about 30% of Objectified himself.
- Editor Joe Beshenkovsky has worked on a number of episodes of the cable version of This American Life.
- Objectified, despite its look, was kind of low budget and a bit of a credit card movie, but hundreds did end up working on it.
- When asked, Hustwit said that there needs to be a dialog on sustainability, but it does come back to us as consumers; he thinks there is a change going on in terms of patterns of consumption. If more people understand the things behind design, maybe they will think more about what they buy.
- Designers were asking the question of how you justify making all these things, but the system depends on consumers continually buying things, especially now with all the talk of recession.
- Everything is designer; it's about re-evaluating and redesigning to make things better. Designers, especially in Europe, are being involved in more discussions about public policy, in part because of this philosophy and methodology of looking at problems.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
2008 Festival Wrap-up
Well, another festival done for the year. I was up slightly from last year, with 27 films or discussions, totalling 47 hours, 38 minutes.
Things that worked well:
- Probably don't need to keep mentioning this since for the last few years it's been good, but the festival once again kept the pre-film trailers short and to the point.
- The volunteers did their usual excellent job keeping the festival running.
- The AMC ticket line. This was originally going to go on the list of things that didn't work, but the festival did change things up midstream to address the issue of people cutting in line.
- The festival staff mid-week started specifically telling people not to text message during the screenings. Part of me can't believe they have to even mention this to people, but then again, people still feel the need to talk during movies, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Funny story, I had a friend in one screening who had a couple making out in the seats next to him; what surprised me is that anyone would spend that much on tickets and then not watch the film :-).
- Twittering updates during the fest was new for me this year. For some things I think it made sense (box draw, celeb sightings), not sure yet if it was useful for anything else. Comments either way are welcome.
- Once again, the online box office can't handle peak loads on the opening day of ticket sales, and doesn't make it easy for users to recover from errors in the middle of their purchases.
- The festival brought the 30-film package back after eliminating it last year to much consternation, but unfortunately, they brought it back with the limitation of only one ticket per screening. I know there are quite a few people out there (myself included) that purchase tickets with friends, and this limitation forces us to resort back to buying multiple 10-packs at a higher cost (hopefully they don't put a restriction on that one either).
One thing that I really didn't like this year is not being able to select films at the Visa Screening Room with any of the festival packages (except for the very specific Visa Screening Room package). This was probably one of the things that ticked me off the most, especially when 8 films (Burn After Reading, Blindness, Rachel Getting Married, The Duchess, The Lucky Ones, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, and Stone of Destiny) could not be seen without purchasing a higher-priced gala ticket for Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room (i.e. they never appeared in any of the other festival theatres).
The festival's explanation for this (http://tiff08.ca/help/events/default.aspx) is below:
"Visa Screening Room presentations are on par with Galas at Roy Thomson Hall, as this programme of screenings will showcase some of the year’s most significant and noteworthy films, generally World or North American Premieres.
In 2007, TIFF adjusted the ticket price of Visa Screening Room events at the Elgin Theatre to more accurately reflect their value, though in this transition period we still allowed Festival/Daytime/10-Ticket Package holders access to these screenings. As of 2008, Regular Ticket Packages are valid for Regular-priced screenings only.
Premium Tickets (Galas at Roy Thomson Hall and Visa Screening Room presentations at the Elgin Theatre) will go on sale Saturday, August 23 at 10am.
TIFF is also introducing a new screening venue this year, the AMC at Yonge and Dundas, where many of our public screenings will take place. "
I think this explanation is questionable for a number of reasons. One: world/international premieres are not unique to the VSR/RTH films; I saw plenty of such premiers in other theatres. Two: in my past experience, there was nothing about the experience at the Elgin that elevated it above any other screening; big-name stars would still show up to other theatres, generally speaking there were never Q&A's at the VSR, and the theatre is not any better technically than others. Three: despite the introduction of the AMC, there were the aforementioned 8 films that never received a non-VSR/RTH screening.
I've never quibbled with the Roy Thomson Hall gala screenings being more expensive or distinct, but to try to put the Visa Screening Room screenings on the same par is going a bit far. If they are going to continue doing this, the least they can do is *not* make screenings exclusive to those two theatres and let the rest of the festival-going public see them.
The other major problem I had this year was the whole donor privileges issue. New this year, donors of at least $250 got priority in the ticket lottery. Donors of at least $1000 got priority in buying premium tickets. Donors also got separate lineups at Roy Thomson Hall and the Visa Screening Room, and got priority for ticket exchanges on pickup day. While I recognize the need to reward donors for helping to provide the festival with additional funds, I think some of it goes too far, specifically, allowing donors priority in the lottery. I can probably tolerate the rest, but the whole point behind the lottery is to make sure everyone gets a fair shot at the films they want. Sometimes it's worked in my favour, and sometimes it hasn't, but I can't complain because I know everyone is in the same boat. Now, however, people willing to throw in a few hundred dollars more (over and above the hundreds they already spent on packages), get to jump the queue. This is basically going to create a two-tier system where people who can afford to, will get all their films, and everyone else is going to have to take their chances; in Canada, try suggesting a two-tier medicare system and see the outrage that results. I can see this system getting worse as time goes on, and more and more people resorting to buying their way to the front-of-the-line, and I wouldn't blame them at that point. If anything among recent changes the festival has made, this one change probably goes most against the democratic principles the festival has been known for and espoused in the past.
If you feel at all similar, then write to the festival (customerrelations@tiffg.ca or tiffg@tiffg.ca), as Piers Handling claimed in a recent interview to be unaware of any public dissatisfaction with the festival's policies: http://www.torontosun.com/TorontoFilmFestival08/news/2008/09/07/6687466-sun.html
Anyway, enough about what didn't work, as I at least enjoyed the films I watched this year. Generally speaking, most of the films were pretty good, and I didn't feel the need to walk out on anything. Of the 27 films or discussions I attended this year, below are my favourites. Note these are only from the things I actually saw; there were a lot of other really good films at the festival this year judging by some of the conversations I overheard in line or had with others:
Favourite films: $5 a Day, Zack and Miri, and Toronto Stories.
Funniest film: tossup between Detroit Metal City and Zack and Miri.
Best dramatic film: tossup between The Wrestler and The Hurt Locker.
Best documentary: I only saw two this year, but I'd probably have to go with It Might Get Loud.
Best Canadian film: Toronto Stories.
Biggest surprise: Jean-Claude Van Damme's performance in JCVD, with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler not far behind.
"WTF?!" Award: I didn't really see anything this year that was completely incomprehensible, but I'll give this to Takeshi Kitano for Achilles and the Tortoise, if only because I'm still not entirely sure of who or what in the movie is Achilles and who/what is the tortoise.
Screening with the most celebrity wattage: probably a slight edge to It Might Get Loud (Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge, plus Elisabeth Shue in the audience) over The Brothers Bloom (Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, with Ethan Hawke in the audience).
I still have a more reviews and Q&A notes that I hope to post up in the next few days or weeks. Hopefully people found the blog useful this year, and I hope to be back again next year with more ticketing tips, reviews, and Q&A's. Thanks for reading!
Quick Reviews for Days 8 - 10
Some quick reviews until I catch up on my sleep:
- Winds of September: nice drama about 7 high-school friends in Taiwan.
- Toronto Stories: four short films set in Toronto, loosely connected by a framing story. Combination of fun and touching stories, thought it did well showing the character and diversity of the city while not ignoring the dark spaces.
- Radio Love: not sure I bought the lead character's resolution to her early mid-life crisis.
- White Night Wedding: good drama with parallel storylines about a professor getting remarried on a small Icelandic island, and flashbacks to when he first arrived.
- Achilles and the Tortoise: significantly less surreal than Kitano's two preceeding films, Takeshis' and Glory to the Filmmaker. Interesting, but found it difficult to generate sympathy for the main character at times.
- The Sky Crawlers: reminiscent of director Oshii's other works, interesting world and story, but did find myself wishing for more scenes in the sky.
- The Real Shaolin: intriguing documentary about 4 different people training in Shaolin for various different reasons.
- What Doesn't Kill You: story is not anything we haven't seen before, although its origin in director/writer/actor Brian Goodman's real life elevates it a bit.
- All Around Us: interesting character drama about a young couple and their relationship, with parallel story in the husband's job as a courtroom sketch artist.
2008 TIFF Awards
While the festival does not have films in a juried competition like Cannes, awards are given out in a few different areas:
Best Canadian Short Film: Chris Chong Chan Fui's Block B. Special citation to Denis Villeneuve's Next Floor.
Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature: Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu's Before Tomorrow. Special citation to Lyne Charlebois' Borderline.
City of Toronto-Citytv Award for Best Canadian Feature: Rodrigue Jean's Lost Song. Special citation to Atom Egoyan's Adoration.
Diesel Discovery Award, voted by the Festival press corps: Steve McQueen's Hunger.
Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize): for films in the Discovery programme, the winner is Derick Martini's Lymelife. For films in the Special Presentations programme, the winner is Steve Jacobs' Disgrace.
Cadillac People's Choice Award, voted by Festival audiences: Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. First runner-up: Kristopher Belman's More Than A Game. Second runner-up: Cyrus Nowrasteh's The Stoning of Soraya M.
Full details can be found in this press release: http://tiff08.ca/press/pressreleases/default.aspx?newsId=596
Friday, September 12, 2008
Best Bets for Same Day Tickets for Saturday, September 13, 2008
Best bets for same day tickets for Saturday, September 13, 2008:
Every Little Step 9:00am AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
From Mother to Daughter 9:30am AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
Machan 9:15am Scotiabank Theatre 2
Lion's Den 9:30am Scotiabank Theatre 3
Achilles and the Tortoise 9:00am Isabel Bader Theatre
In the Shadow of the Naga 9:00am Varsity 1
Winds of September 9:15am Varsity 3
Lovely, Still 9:00am Varsity 8
Control Alt Delete 10:15am AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #10
Soul Power 10:00am AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond 11:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Who Do You Love 11:45am Varsity 8
Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms 12:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
A Perfect Day 12:00pm Scotiabank 1
The Sky Crawlers 12:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Delta 12:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Treeless Mountain 1:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
Parc 1:15pm Cumberland 3
The Good, the Bad, the Weird 2:30pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
ONLY 3:15pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #2
Teza 3:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 1
Kisses 3:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Tale 52 3:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love 3:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Mia et le Migou 3:00pm Varsity 1
Lovely, Still 5:45pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #2
What Doesn't Kill You 5:45pm Ryerson
Lymelife 5:00pm Varsity 8
Peace Mission 6:15pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Best Bets for Same Day Tickets for Friday, September 12, 2008
Best bets for same day tickets for Friday, September 12, 2008:
Adam Resurrected 9:45am Scotiabank Theatre 2
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime 11:45am Scotiabank Theatre 4
What Doesn't Kill You 12:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Short Cuts Canada Programme 5 2:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
Middle of Nowhere 2:45pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #6
Tokyo Sonata 2:15pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
Killing Kasztner 2:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
Che (Part 2) 2:30pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Pride and Glory 2:45pm Ryerson
Daytime Drinking 3:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #10
Witch Hunt 3:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #2
White Night Wedding 3:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
PA-RA-DA 3:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Pandora's Box 3:15pm Varsity 3
Blind Loves 4:45pm Isabel Bader Theatre
In the Shadow of the Naga 5:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary 6:45pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #10
Kanchivaram 6:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Citizen Juling 7:00pm AGO Jackman Hall
Vinyan 8:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
L'Instinct de Mort 9:00pm Ryerson
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are roommates and best friends since high school. Constantly behind on their bills, and reminded by a reunion of their lack of success over the years, the two turn desperate when their utilities get cut off. Over a beer, they hit on the idea of making a pornographic film, starring themselves, to make some cash and get back on their feet. They rope in a cast of characters to join them, including Kevin Smith stalwarts Jason Mewes (as an actor with a very special talent) and Jeff Anderson (as their cameraman), Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office as Rogen's coffee shop co-worker and producer), Traci Lords (with a very special talent of her own), and many more. As they set out to make their movie, Zack and Miri swear to each other to not let things get personal, but their best laid plans might very well go awry.
This is vintage Kevin Smith, and I found it much funnier and more enjoyable that his last feature outing in Clerks II. Seth Rogen plays another in his series of lovable losers, so nothing new there, but he does play the role well and he has great chemistry with Elizabeth Banks (who goes from this to Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's W; talk about range! :-)). Filled with the usual colourful collection of supporting characters (including Mac guy Justin Long and Superman Brandon Routh), raunchy scenes, and Smith's trademark rapid-fire dialog peppered with pop-culture references, Zack and Miri is exactly what you'd hope for and expect from a Kevin Smith film.
Director Kevin Smith, and actors Elizbeth Banks, Jason Mewes, Katie Morgan, and Ricky Mabe did a Q&A after the film. Recap below, and I did end up censoring a lot so this doesn't get completely blocked by firewalls (and there are also loads of spoilers):
- Seth Rogen couldn't attend the screening, as he was shooting a new film with Judd Apatow.
- TIFF programmer Jane Schoettle, moderating the Q&A, looked a bit out of element given the pretty blue language in use.
- Smith was shooting near Pittsburgh, but didn't want to set the film right in the city because it seemed to metropolitan to him. So they went to Monroeville (which has the mall from the original Dawn of the Dead).
- Someone asked why Jason Mewes didn't do his half-half whole swivel move in the film, and Mewes said he didn't want to duplicate himself since he used it in Jay and Silent Bob, and anyway, that's Jay's move, not Lester's.
- One guy commented on how this movie has cemented Elizabeth Banks as 'America's Sweetheart' and asked what attracted her to the role. Banks replied that it was getting to say F--- a lot, because you don't get to do that in Steven Spielberg movies. Smith: "There was that one time in ET...". Banks: "And in A.I. with that little kid"
- Smith was asked if George Lucas was down with the whole Star Wars thing; to which he replied, not yet, but he hasn't seen the movie, so that might be a good thing. They've done Star Wars references in the past, but this might be the one where Lucas says, alright, f---ing stop it.
- On how he talked his way out of an NC-17 rating, Smith says they focused on two scenes: the one with Lester and Stacey in the coffee shop and the one with Jeff Anderson (which I won't describe but you should be able to guess once you've seen the film). Smith knew that he couldn't make a movie with the title it has without being heavily scrutinized, so they went out of their way to ensure everything would conform to an R (albeit a hard R).
- For the Lester/Stacey scene, which they claimed had too much thrusting, Smith referenced Taking Lives, specifically the scene in the 3rd act between Ethan Hawke and Angelina Jolie. Smith made the point that there was as much thrusting in that scene, and it was an R and meant to be serious (which, Smith joked, it wasn't) and that scene was meant to titillate, whereas his was clearly a caricature of sex.
- For the Jeff Anderson scene, Smith cited Jackass and the scene with the bubble helmet, and how you could see the real thing.
- Smith joked that when he was at Skywalker Sound doing the final mix and saw the completed film for the first time end-to-end, he said, f--- they were right, it is NC-17. He said that he thought they would actually nail him on the scene towards the end of the movie where Mewes comes out of the room.
- On the topic of the movie poster being banned in the US but not in Canada, Smith said it was a bummer but at least it will be seen up here, and he played to the crowd by saying that's one more reason why Canada is better. He said the whole poster thing is the second best thing about Canada after hockey, or maybe the third best thing after hockey and Seth Rogen, and then added Ricky Mabe as the fourth (who is from Pointe Claire, Quebec).
- Someone asked Smith if he'd work again with Rogen, to which he joked not after Rogen didn't bother to come the screening, but maybe he'd work again with 'America's Sweetheart' (i.e. Banks). He caught himself before saying 'Canada's Sweetheart', as that's 'f---ing Sarah Polley'.
Free Screening of the Cadillac People's Choice Award Winner
The winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Award Winner (those are the ballots you fill out at each screening and rank the film from 0 to 4) will be announced on the afternoon on Saturday, September 13. Starting at 7:00 PM that day, free tickets to a showing of that film will be available at the Visa Screening Room on a first-come, first-served basis. The screening itself will take place at 9:00 PM at the Visa Screening Room.
Past winners of the People's Choice Award have included:
2007: Eastern Promises
2006: Bella
2005: Tsotsi
2004: Hotel Rwanda
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow's latest film, The Hurt Locker, focuses on three explosive disposal experts in Iraq. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) is by-the-book, just looking to make it through his tour. Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) is young, but obsessed with thoughts of dying in his conversations with the company's shrink. And James (Jeremy Renner) is the new staff sergeant in from Afghanistan with a reckless streak that upsets the balance of the team. The film follows the three as they live out the last 39 days of their company's rotation; the adrenaline-fueled sorties into Baghdad and the quiet downtime in between, like a cross between Generation Kill and Danger UXB.
The film shows the close bond between these men that routinely face death and who place their lives in each other's hands. Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal, and the cast give a sense of why someone would do such a job and do so willingly. But Bigelow doesn't shy away from showing the brutality of the war, and how it leaves lasting effects on all sides, without imposing any moral judgement on the viewer. A pretty powerful film, with a few interesting cameos to boot.
Directory Kathryn Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal, and actor Jeremy Renner did a Q&A after the film (no spoilers):
- The film was shot in Jordan, and all the Arabic faces and speaking roles were played by Iraqis.
- Renner's character was a composite of some of the guys that Boal met in Iraq; his surprise was finding some men that were exhilarated by the experience of defusing explosives.
- Someone asked if people like the one portrayed by Renner are benefits or hazards to their units; Boal replied that it's tricky to generalize, but really a little bit of both. Renner added that during training he asked if there was anyone like his character, and they knew one guy who would walk up to a 155 and kick it, and if it didn't blow up, then he won; he's still alive, and is more of an adrenaline junkie. But most are by-the-book.
- The title refers to a place of ultimate pain, Boal heard it used that way by the military.
- There was no special significance to Sanborn being in military intelligence before EOD. There is an overlap between those two branches in terms of the people who go into them.
- Bigelow has always gone with independent financing for all her films, including this one, to help her achieve as much creative autonomy and work without compromise. She couldn't imagine working in the Middle East under any other situation.
- The scenes with rocks coming up from the ground were to draw the audience in as if they were there, and to illustrate the concept of overpressure during an explosion. She thinks first about what tools do you need, then does storyboards, then brings in the special effects and cinematographer, and in those particular shots, used a digital Phantom camera (the rest of the movie was shot on film, but the digital shots were composited onto film) that can shoot the equivalent of 10,000 still frames per second.
- The production schedule was 44 days, and they shot 200 hours of footage. In all, they spent 5 months including pre-production. They started shooting in the middle of July, which was not ideal as Renner had to wear a real bomb suit made of 80 lbs of steel plate and Kevlar in about 120F heat.
- A question was asked if there were any female bomb techs. Bigelow met one at Fort Irwin, (they went to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait as well as Ft. Irwin), and heard stories of others in-theatre.
- Bigelow was familiar with Boal's journalistic work and his work on In The Valley of Elah, and then she found out he was going on an embed in Iraq. She feels the war is very under reported in the US, and was starved for information. When she heard these stories of these men who arguably have the most dangerous job in the world yet choose to do it, she thought it would be topical and relevant and great drama.
- On preparation, Renner said it was already on the page and felt connected to the role. He spoke with Bigelow for two hours after getting the script. He trained a lot at Fort Irwin to make it as realistic as possible. He tried to learn all the rules first so he could figure out which the character could break.
Q&A with spoilers:
- Bigelow talked of the boy on the table, and the would-be suicide bomber are both victims in a way, it's not a blanket generalization of a bifurcated conflict; it's very, very complex, and one could only hope to scratch the surface and look beneath with as much respect and humanity as you can, given the helplessness and futility of the war, as well as the heroism of the men are involved.
- Ralph Finnes' character has his resolution so quickly as it is a discovery for the audience, and at the same time reinforcing the danger of the environment and how everything is a threat, and not to take anything for granted even if you are a major movie star.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Quick Reviews for Day 7
Some thoughts on recent films:
- The Hurt Locker: latest from Kathryn Bigelow, excellent look at three explosives disposal technicians in Iraq in the last few days of their rotation. Neither overtly pro- or anti-war, it shows the human toll on everyone involved in the conflict.
- Tulpan: a look at rural life in the steppes of Kazakhstan, through the eyes of one family. an honest look at many of the joys and hardships of living off the land. This really reminded me of a film set on the steppes of Mongolia, but the name escapes me.
- Control Alt Delete: cute, sweet little Canadian film about a Y2K programmer that develops a rather interesting fetish after being dumped by his girlfriend and being stressed out by the upcoming millenium.
Thoughts on Day 7
Few quick thoughts on day 7 of TIFF:
- I'm at that point in the festival where I have all the pre-screening spiel and all the sponsors memorized ("we'd like to thank the festival's lead sponsor Bell, major sponsor RBC, government sponsors the Government of Ontario and Telefilm Canada, the donors to the festival campaign and Bell Lightbox campaign, this film is in the (Special Presentations/Contemporary World Cinema/Discovery/Canada First) program sponsored by (AMC Television/Sun Life Financial/Diesel/CTV), please turn off your cell phones, pagers, and blackberries, as part of the festival's anti-piracy measures (pause here for the Arrrrrrr), night-vision technology may be in use, etc. etc.)
- Credit goes to the festival for changing up the AMC ticket holder line policy midway through the week. They've started marking up the tickets when people are in line (I won't say how, and if they're smart they switch it up every set of screenings anyway), to keep out the queue jumpers. I had a huge smile on my face tonight looking at the 30 or 40 people they were holding at the entrance to the AMC on the 3rd floor until all the people who had patiently waited in line went in first; that really made my night. Big kudos to the festival for trying something different.
- The sound seems better in the Ryerson over the last few days. Early in the festival I had trouble hearing dialogue when music was playing in the background, but lately it's been pretty good. Either it was my imagination, or they did fix something, and if it's the latter, then kudos to the fest for that too.
- Earlier in the week I had a chance to meet quite a few other TIFF bloggers. Great to finally put faces to URLs, and talk to everyone about their faves and misses of this year.
Best Bets for Same Day Tickets for Thursday, September 11, 2008
Best bets for same day tickets for Thursday, September 11, 2008:
Sauna 9:15am Scotiabank Theatre 2
Dernier Maquis 9:00am Scotiabank Theatre 3
The Lucky Ones 11:00am Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Aide-toi le ciel t'aidera 11:45am Scotiabank Theatre 3
Winds of September 12:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Je veux voir 2:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
Killing Kasztner 2:45pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #6
Under Rich Earth 2:45pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
Che (Part 1) 2:30pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
The Dungeon Masters 3:15pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #10
Maman est chez le coiffeur 3:15pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
A Perfect Day 3:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 1
Down to the Dirt 3:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
The Burrowers 3:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Lymelife 3:00pm Ryerson
Katia's Sister 4:45pm Isabel Bader Theatre
Short Cuts Canada Programme 4 5:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
Un Barrage Contre le Pacifique 5:30pm Ryerson
Nuit de Chien 6:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
Empty Nest 6:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Cloud 9 6:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 1
Parc 6:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Restless 6:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Is There Anybody There? 8:00pm Winter Garden Theatre
The Heart of Jenin 9:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #6
Ocean Flame 9:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #7
Knitting 10:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
Inju, la bete dans l'ombre 9:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
35 Rhums 9:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
In the Shadow of the Naga 9:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Still Walking 10:15pm Isabel Bader Theatre
Eden Log 11:59pm Ryerson
The Brothers Bloom
The followup from the director of Brick, Rian Johnson, The Brothers Bloom follows two con artist brothers, Stephen the older (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom the younger (Adrien Brody). Fed up with the life, Bloom wants nothing more to do with Stephen, but he is drawn back in for one more con of eccentric heiress Penelope (Rachel Weisz). With the aid of silent sidekick Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi of Babel, who also voices in The Sky Crawlers that I'll see later in the fest), the brothers draw the curious Penelope into a tale that has the four travelling back and forth across the globe. Penelope entrances Bloom with her excitement over the sense of adventure, but Bloom soon wonders if he can ever have a real life, or if he's just conning himself.
It's not easy to come up with something original in this genre, but director and writer Rian Johnson spins a lively, clever story with layer upon layer and con upon con, keeping both the audience and the characters guessing as to what is real and what is artifice. Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are well-matched as the brothers Bloom, and are as charming as con men are. Rachel Weisz plays Penelope with an exuberent innocence that easily captures Bloom's heart. And Rinko Kikuchi is hilarious as Bang Bang, her expression-filled face a worthy substitute for her complete lack of dialogue.
Johnson makes an interesting stylistic choice to have the characters all subtly seem to be anachronisms out of something like the world of The Sting in the 30's, but they still fit seamlessly into the real world of today. Overall, a different but nonetheless great and fun followup to Brick.
Director Rian Johnson, and actors Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, and Mark Ruffalo were present for a Q&A after the film:
- Johnson's family was in the audience, and he said he especially made the film for his grandfather, who was there.
- The illustrations in the notebook were done by Rian's cousin Zack Johnson. His other cousin Nathan did the original music for the film. Nathan also did a musical number before the film (It's Only a Paper Moon). Rian later danced with Weisz to it, and then Brody and Ruffalo danced with each other as well to the audience's laughter.
- The costume design was done by Beatrix Aruna Pasztor (The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, Vanity Fair).
- They didn't improvise at all during the movie, it was all Johnson's script.
- Also saw actor Ethan Hawke in the audience taking in the screening.
Q&A with spoilers:
- They convince Lamborghini to give them two cars, which they brought out to Romania where they were shooting. They didn't destroy any cars, but Lamborghini did send along extra hoods and fenders, each of which was in a velvet-lined case and which Johnson joked cost more than any car he has ever owned.
- No one would reveal what Penelope says to the Prague chief of police.
- Brody didn't really ride the Schwinn down the hill because of insurance. He only tried it for a bit. Ruffalo actually rode down on a dare.
- The original idea was could they do a con-man love story, and could they do a movie where the audience is expecting to be fooled in the last act, but do something that is character based, where it is an emotional payoff.
From left to right: Nathan Johnson, Rian Johnson, Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, and Mark Ruffalo:
From left to right: Rian Johnson, Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, and Mark Ruffalo:
Best Bets for Same Day Tickets for Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Best bets for same day tickets for Wednesday, September 10, 2008:
The Hurt Locker 9:00am Ryerson
The Burning Plain 11:00am Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Better Things 12:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Tale 52 12:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
A Year Ago in Winter 12:00pm Ryerson
Three Wise Men 2:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #6
Easy Virtue 2:30pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Short Cuts Canada Programme 3 3:30pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #3
Sugar 3:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
7915 KM 3:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Plastic City 4:45pm Isabel Bader Theatre
Upstream Battle 6:00pm AMC Yonge Dundas 24 - #9
A Woman in Berlin 6:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Acolytes 6:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 1
Everlasting Moments 6:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
PA-RA-DA 6:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Khamsa 7:00pm Varsity 1
Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies 8:45pm Varsity 2
Che (Part 2) 9:00pm Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre)
Tears for Sale 9:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 1
Borderline 9:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
The Rest of the Night 9:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Revanche 9:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Valentino: The Last Emperor 10:30pm Isabel Bader Theatre
Martyrs 11:59pm Ryerson RATED 18A
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
$5 a Day
Flynn (Alessandro Nivola) has got issues with his job as a health inspector, and his girlfriend (Amanda Peet), frustrated with Flynn's reticence to talk, has just moved out. So when Flynn's itinerant, absentee, con artist father Nat (Christopher Walken) sends Flynn a plane ticket to Atlantic City and tells Flynn that he's dying and needs a ride to an experimental clinic in New Mexico, Flynn has nothing to stop him, except his own unresolved issues with his dad. Flynn and Nat soon embark on a cross-country road trip to the clinic, but as they slowly work their way west, they begin to reconnect and long-hidden secrets and emotions are soon brought into the light of day.
While this may seem like your typical father-son bonding road movie, there's a great deal of humour and pathos here too. If you're not a fan of Christopher Walken's particular tics and style, you might be a bit reticent, but he gives a solid, funny, and moving performance, one where the tics fit his character to a T. Especially hilarious is his character's philosophy that he can live on only $5 a day by gaming the system, from the free gas and car he won for a year in a contest, to getting free meals from IHOP by pretending it's his birthday, and more in between. Nivola holds his own against Walken as Flynn, and defines his own man conflicted over his relationship to his father. Peet doesn't have much to do beyond wistfully looking at a ringing phone most of the time, but is still a welcome presence. And Sharon Stone has a small role as a force-of-nature that is one stop on the boys' road trip west, which in some ways reminded me of her similar role in Broken Flowers.
Director Nigel Cole did a Q&A after the film
- The budget for the film was about $3 million, not including the pay for Walken, Nivola, and Stone. Saving Grace, his first film, cost $5 million.
- Stone spent three days filming, and it wasn't difficult to get her after she found out Christopher Walken was involved.
- Cole mentioned one scene with Nivola inspecting a taco stand and the owner (played by one of the production guys) shouting obscenities at him that was filmed as an opening, but it set the wrong tone for the opening of the film, so it got cut.
- Cole wanted to use the Rolling Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want, but it proved far too expensive ($1 million).
- Marcus Foster, a young 19-year-old English singer/songwriter, did one of the songs in the film, and he doesn't even have a record contract, but someone in the audience commented on it.
- Cole had a major crisis with his own father while working on the film, that brought up a lot of issues.
- Christopher Walken memorizes the script (that's his process) and then he plays with it. So some is improvised, but for most, he's committed it, he's rehearsed it, he puts it on tape, he paces, and he memorizes. On a personal note, I heard the same thing from Seth Meyers, head writer of SNL, on the ESPN podcast The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, when asked about working with Walken.
Q&A with minor spoilers:
- That's not Steve McQueen's real jacket in the movie.
- They were originally going to have Polident for the car, with a big set of teeth on the roof, but they pulled out as they didn't want to have their product made fun of.
- During the 8 weeks of pre-production, they tried many others, before Sweet'N Low finally agreed. But they didn't benefit otherwise from product placement.
- The only scene not written in the script was the scene with Nivola and Walken in the sales condo talking about the cat and the question mark.
La Fille de Monaco (The Girl From Monaco)
Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini), is a lawyer who has arrived in Monaco to defend a rich widow (Stéphane Audran) on charges of murdering her young Russian lover. Hired by the widow's son, Bertrand is also assigned a bodyguard, Christophe (Roschdy Zem from Indigènes and Le Petit lieutenant) to protect him from the Russian's family during his stay. After giving an interview at the local TV station, Bertrand meets and is instantly entranced by the free-spirited weather girl, Audrey (Louise Bourgoin). The interest is returned, and what ensues is Bertrand getting more and more infatuated with Audrey and gradually losing more and more of his judgment and inhibitions. Lawyer, bodyguard, and even the widow, all have their own form of defenses which crumble and fall over the course of the film, turning it from just simply a light breezy comedy into something a bit deeper.
The festival description of La Fille de Monaco characterizes the film as a romantic comedy, but that's a bit of a misnomer and only covers one part of the story; I think it would be more accurate to term the film a dramatic comedy, instead. Fabrice Luchini gives a solid performance as Bertrand, a seducer by nature who despite that, is completely taken off guard by Audrey. Zem gives a subtle turn as the bodyguard, and Bourgoin handles the balance between being completely self-absorbed and still allowing one to see how someone might get completely absorbed with Audrey.
Director Anne Fontaine was present at the screening and did a Q&A (no spoilers):
- Fontaine wrote the part for Luchini; they were involved when they were both young, and she wanted to write a part of a man who seduces women through the years.
- She thought it would be better to have an unknown in the role of Audrey. Bourgoin was not an inspiration for the role (she was discovered through the casting process), but in real life she also did the weather on French TV for Canal+.
- Zem has a very animal presence and magnetism, and is completely opposite to Luchini.
- When you write, you are never clear, you discover what the possibilities are, and she thought it was interesting that the irony of the story lies with the lawyer being put on the other side of what he is used to. A laywer interprets the unhappiness of others but never experiences it himself.
- Bourgoin has stopped doing her former job, although she does show up once a week on Canal+ to do a series of sketches, doing the same job as in the film.
- The lawyer is an intellectual and fragile, and he expresses his sexuality through words.
- The bodyguard nor Audrey are simple despite their vocabulary; Bertrand's vocabulary is a way of keeping himself apart from others and controlling the situation.
- The Woman and the Puppet (La Femme et le pantin) by Pierre Louÿs was raised since it has similar themes; the story has been adapted several times in French cinema.
- Fontaine went to a trial to get the language down, and worked with a former boydguard for Jacques Chirac. She spoke with Bourgoin on the aspects of TV, and on the character on not just being someone out to succeed, but also to be more ambiguous, moving, spontaneous and generous.
Q&A with spoilers:
- The notion of transfer with the bodyguard led Fontaine to the dark and ironic ending.
- Fontaine thinks that the moral in the story is that the lawyer, not in touch with his own emotions, is more human and understands something deeper in himself by the end.
- There is a crossover between Bertrand and the widow at the end, where there roles are flipped.
- The widow's smile to Bertrand at the end is a more twisted way for her to thank Bertrand than simply saying it.
- When Fontaine showed the film to Prince Albert of Monaco, he joked that it's the only place you want to be in jail.
