48 replies to this topic

[Ryan H.]

Oh, great line-up, Darren. Be sure to let me know of what you think of TWIXT and FAUST.

Oh, and what did you make of YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH?

Edited by Ryan H., 26 August 2011 - 10:37 AM.

[Darren H]

This was my eighth trip to TIFF, and over the years I've learned that 30 films in one week is my sweet spot. I inevitably have to miss a few must-sees because of scheduling conflicts (this year the major casualties were The Turin Horse and Melancholia), but by sticking to 30 films I can see most of the best films from Berlin, Rotterdam, Cannes, and Venice, along with a TIFF premiere or two and not waste any precious time on crap. This year I only saw two features I didn't like. All the rest were good to great, although I don't think there was a masterpiece among them, which is a bit disappointing.

The 26 features I saw, more or less in preferential order:

Top Tier: All will likely find a way onto my year-end top 10s
Low Life (Klotz and Perceval)
The Loneliest Planet (Loktev)
Almayer's Folly (Akerman)
House of Tolerance (Bonello)
That Summer (Garrel)
Kid with a Bike (Dardenne and Dardenne)
Fatherland (Prividera)
Dreileben - Beats Being Dead (Petzold)

Tier Two: Very good films
ALPS (Lanthimos)
Faust (Sokurov)
Elena (Zvyagintsev)
Keyhole (Maddin)
Cardboard Village (Olmi)
The Silver Cliff (Aïnouz)
Dreileben - Don't Follow Me Around (Graf)
Crazy Horse (Wiseman)
The Student (Mitre)
Into the Abyss (Herzog)

Tier Three: Good and interesting but disappointing in some respect
20 Cigarettes (Benning)
Outside Satan (Dumont)
Goodbye First Love (Hansen-Løve)
Dreileben - One Minute of Darkness (Hochhäusler)
Invasion (Santiago)
Mushrooms (Jayasundara)

And These
Wuthering Heights (Arnold)
Shame (McQueen)

[Ryan H.]

Darren H, on 17 September 2011 - 10:48 AM, said:

This was my eighth trip to TIFF, and over the years I've learned that 30 films in one week is my sweet spot. I inevitably have to miss a few must-sees because of scheduling conflicts (this year the major casualties were The Turin Horse and Melancholia), but by sticking to 30 films I can see most of the best films from Berlin, Rotterdam, Cannes, and Venice, along with a TIFF premiere or two and not waste any precious time on crap. This year I only saw two features I didn't like. All the rest were good to great, although I don't think there was a masterpiece among them, which is a bit disappointing.

The 26 features I saw, more or less in preferential order:

Top Tier: All will likely find a way onto my year-end top 10s
Low Life (Klotz and Perceval)
The Loneliest Planet (Loktev)
Almayer's Folly (Akerman)
House of Tolerance (Bonello)
That Summer (Garrel)
Kid with a Bike (Dardenne and Dardenne)
Fatherland (Prividera)
Dreileben - Beats Being Dead (Petzold)

I always admire your contributions to this forum, but looking over this, reading about these films, and watching available footage firmly establishes for me how very different our tastes are when it comes to film (and, in some ways, how different my tastes are from the A&F mainstream, as demonstrated by my lack of affection for the work of the Dardennes).

Edited by Ryan H., 17 September 2011 - 04:58 PM.

[Darren H]

I'm certainly drawn to a particular type of filmmaking, and I know it's not an especially popular type. That's one of the many reasons I never aspired to be a film reviewer.

[Andrew]

Darren - I'd love to read your thoughts on Low Life, as Klotz's Heartbeat Detector is so brilliant and significant.

[Darren H]

My TIFF write-up has been posted at Senses of Cinema:

Nostalgia, Chaos, and Moments of Ecstasy: The 36th Toronto International Film Festival

[M. Leary]

Cracking stuff. A few comments:

1. The slow demise of Dumont as an image-maker makes me appreciate a literary auteur like Civeyrac all the more.

2. The Low Life paragraph is on my list of favorite things read about film in 2011. I am electric with anticipation for this one.

[Darren H]

I'm glad to hear that you agree with my comments about Dumont. I rewatched most of his films before TIFF in hopes that I'd be less ambivalent about his recent work. But, sure enough, The Life of Jesus really is his best film, and a few of them are just bad. Did you hear Juliette Binoche is in his new one?

If I could rewatch any 2011 film tonight, it would be Low Life. I doubt it will get any distribution in the States, but hopefully it'll show up on a streaming service or DVD in the next year or two.

[M. Leary]

Darren H, on 21 December 2011 - 03:31 PM, said:

I'm glad to hear that you agree with my comments about Dumont. I rewatched most of his films before TIFF in hopes that I'd be less ambivalent about his recent work. But, sure enough, The Life of Jesus really is his best film, and a few of them are just bad. Did you hear Juliette Binoche is in his new one?

I didn't. Think she will be as well utilized as in Certified Copy? I am almost shudder at the prospect. I have written more on Life of Jesus lately, even up to depositing an essay in an upcoming book on theology and cinema about the film as a rich reflection on trauma and memory.