TIFF 2014 | Foreign Body (Krzysztof Zanussi, Poland/Italy/Russia) — Masters
By Michael Sicinski This is a complete mess, but I cannot honestly say whether Zanussi constructed Foreign Body to be exactly the film he wanted it to be and thus he’s just off his rocker, or if he has...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Wild (Jean-Marc Vallée, US) — Gala
Special TORONTO FILM REVIEW Guest Edition (N.B. This is presented absent any editorial intervention.) By David Davidson There is a real problem when even Steven Spielberg is confused about the state of...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Le beau danger (René Frölke, Germany) — Wavelengths
By Michael Sicinski “In a world where everything seems programmed, even chaos, chance, or surprise, you’ve got to defy logic and bewilder people.” This is but one of the many lines of prose presented,...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | I Am Not Lorena (Isidora Marras, Chile/Argentina) — Discovery
By Michael Sicinski This is an exceedingly slight debut film about an actress named Olivia (Loreto Aravena) beset by an endless barrage of calls from collection agencies, all looking for someone named...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | The Theory of Everything (James Marsh, US) — Special Presentations
By Angelo Muredda Stephen Hawking falls in love, gets disabled, and becomes the world’s best-selling cosmologist in James Marsh’s mostly undistinguished The Theory of Everything, the sort of cautious,...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Songs from the North (Soon-Mi Yoo, US/South Korea) — Wavelengths
By Michael Sicinski Songs from the North is a work that practically mirrors the provenance pattern of another film in this year’s festival, Kelvin Park’s A Dream of Iron: an essay film from a...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Confession (Lee Do-yun, South Korea) — City to City
By Michael Sicinski One of the stronger entries in this year’s showcase of Seoul-based filmmaking, Confession, by first-time helmer Lee Do-yun, takes a while to display its true intentions. Following a...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | A Dream of Iron (Kelvin Kyung Kun Park, US/South Korea) — City to...
By Michael Sicinski To paraphrase Calvin Coolidge, the chief business of cinema is business. As a general rule, festivals like films that can sell; Oscars and acquisitions provide high-level film...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Villa Touma (Suha Arraf, no national origin) — Discovery
By Michael Sicinski This is the directorial debut by Arraf, who is best known as the writing partner of Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis on his two most successful films, The Syrian Bride (2004) and Lemon...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Elephant Song (Charles Binamé, Canada) — Special Presentations
By José Teodoro There are in fact multiple elephants in the room in this adaptation of Nicolas Billon’s play: the awkward struggle to cinematize a story designed to generate tension through sustained...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Foreign Body (Krzysztof Zanussi, Poland/Italy/Russia) — Masters
By Michael Sicinski This is a complete mess, but I cannot honestly say whether Zanussi constructed Foreign Body to be exactly the film he wanted it to be and thus he’s just off his rocker, or if he has...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Wild (Jean-Marc Vallée, US) — Gala
Special TORONTO FILM REVIEW Guest Edition (N.B. This is presented absent any editorial intervention.) By David Davidson There is a real problem when even Steven Spielberg is confused about the state of...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Le beau danger (René Frölke, Germany) — Wavelengths
By Michael Sicinski “In a world where everything seems programmed, even chaos, chance, or surprise, you’ve got to defy logic and bewilder people.” This is but one of the many lines of prose presented,...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | I Am Not Lorena (Isidora Marras, Chile/Argentina) — Discovery
By Michael Sicinski This is an exceedingly slight debut film about an actress named Olivia (Loreto Aravena) beset by an endless barrage of calls from collection agencies, all looking for someone named...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | The Theory of Everything (James Marsh, US) — Special Presentations
By Angelo Muredda Stephen Hawking falls in love, gets disabled, and becomes the world’s best-selling cosmologist in James Marsh’s mostly undistinguished The Theory of Everything, the sort of cautious,...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Songs from the North (Soon-Mi Yoo, US/South Korea) — Wavelengths
By Michael Sicinski Songs from the North is a work that practically mirrors the provenance pattern of another film in this year’s festival, Kelvin Park’s A Dream of Iron: an essay film from a...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Confession (Lee Do-yun, South Korea) — City to City
By Michael Sicinski One of the stronger entries in this year’s showcase of Seoul-based filmmaking, Confession, by first-time helmer Lee Do-yun, takes a while to display its true intentions. Following a...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | A Dream of Iron (Kelvin Kyung Kun Park, US/South Korea) — City to...
By Michael Sicinski To paraphrase Calvin Coolidge, the chief business of cinema is business. As a general rule, festivals like films that can sell; Oscars and acquisitions provide high-level film...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Villa Touma (Suha Arraf, no national origin) — Discovery
By Michael Sicinski This is the directorial debut by Arraf, who is best known as the writing partner of Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis on his two most successful films, The Syrian Bride (2004) and Lemon...
View ArticleTIFF 2014 | Elephant Song (Charles Binamé, Canada) — Special Presentations
By José Teodoro There are in fact multiple elephants in the room in this adaptation of Nicolas Billon’s play: the awkward struggle to cinematize a story designed to generate tension through sustained...
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