A lot of films, one article
Hello, The Strand readers! Sarah and Mikaela here, coming to you with our official coverage of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This year is the first year that TIFF has run completely in person since the COVID-19 pandemic and let us tell you, the energy in the city was something we haven’t felt in ages.
Both of us were lucky enough to experience roughly a dozen of the TIFF films presented this year and we felt it might be more exciting to bring you up to speed through a TIFF-esque “In Conversation With” dialogue, instead of boring you with a novel’s worth of reviews.
So, if you’re interested in hearing about Taylor Swift, crying in public, and our biggest hits and misses, please, read on.
Sarah: Okay, so I’m recording right now… okay… so, where are you at with films you’ve seen? What was the first one you saw?
Mikaela: I saw Weird: the Al Yankovic story on my first day, as well as The Origin of Evil, which was my first foreign film of the festival and it was incredible! I also saw Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
S: Right, which I also have just seen… I was big on the Clue allusions…
M: And then I just went and saw the Nope Q&A with Jordan Peele… it was very cool… oh, The Good Nurse was really good.
S: I wanted to see that but the session I was in beforehand ran late, was it good?
M: It was really good. It was so special to see the premium screening because it was based on a true story, which I didn’t know. And then they brought out the real woman [Amy Loughren] that Jessica Chastain’s character was based on at the end and she received a two minute standing ovation. It was incredible.
S: Bones of Crows was super great, and I really hope it gets the recognition it deserves… I think it was pretty much an all-Indigenous cast, yeah, it was phenomenal. It was the kind of thing where I was like, ‘I hope they show this in classrooms.’ It illustrates the residential school system and its trauma with such honesty. It is incredibly powerful… I know CBC in part produced it, so I hope that brings it to a wide audience. I’m also a massive fan of Marie Clements’ work in the theatre, so it was cool to see her do something on screen.
M: That’s really good to know.
S: What else did I see? Oh, I saw The Whale.
M: Right, and you said you’ve never seen so many people cry?
S: Yeah, both critics on either side of me were crying, myself included… People were sobbing… It was really something… so worth lining up early [for a whole hour and a half, at 7:45 am]… It was totally one of those films where I haven’t seen anything like it. Really heartbreaking and really symbolic. Made me want to read Moby Dick.
M: Really?
S: I feel like I’d understand a whole other level of symbolism if I read it.
M: I left My Policeman crying. And as someone who did not go into these movies with any expectations, having not seen the trailer or any marketing for it, I was pleasantly surprised but also incredibly heartbroken by the direction it took. I was really surprised to find that both My Policeman and The Whale were LGBTQI2SA+ movies, which is something I didn’t realise beforehand. And that felt really important because it felt like those stories were being told at a really important time. I always find it interesting to see what kind of movies are coming out at certain points in history. Why these movies were produced at this point and place in time says a lot about the world around us.
S: Maybe we should chat about Glass Onion, given we’ve both seen it. What’s your perspective being someone who has seen both?
M: As someone who’s seen Knives Out? I found the first film really clever, because, although it’s a whodunnit, the first film was incredibly subversive to what we’re used to seeing in the genre. I was curious how Rion Johnson was going to be able to write a sequel that would still challenge viewers’ expectations without creating twists that were either too similar to the first film or too conventional. And so it really gives you a lot to think about and the thing that I love about this is always looking for small details. So I was in this super analytical mindset the whole time and whispered back and forth with my seatmate about our theories.
S: What do you think of Daniel Craig’s accent? That was a hot topic in the theatre.
M: The first time I heard it in the first movie I was uncomfortable, but this time I was expecting it so I was okay with it. That’s very funny.
S: Okay, what was your biggest miss?
M: The Good Nurse was okay. I really just felt like it missed a lot of important beats. For a suspense thriller, I felt like there wasn’t enough, like, questioning along the way. It was just very, like, clear cut. We know what’s going on. And I think really, the horrifying part, to be honest with you, was the way that everyone around the main characters dealt with this real life horror, right? Like, rather than confronting it, [they were] just kind of pushing it aside. It was incredibly interesting, but I think the pacing caused it to fall flat for me.
S: That was The Young Arsonists for me. I was really committed to seeing this film. You know, as a Canadian woman, I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. I would say cinematography-wise, it was visually beautiful. It was so nice to see something filmed in northern Ontario. I liked all that they were going for, [except] the writing. And also, it’s funny because Sheila Pye does short films and it felt like a two-hour-long short film, if that makes any sense.
M: That’s a really interesting perspective.
S: Structurally, it almost felt like vignettes, but it was meant to be a feature. Maybe it was very postmodern and there’s not supposed to be a plot… There was a lot of shocking and psychological (for lack of a better word) weird shit that went down, that I don’t even totally get why it went down. I don’t know if I’m just missing the point.
M: I will say, one more thing about The Good Nurse is Eddie Redmayne killed it. There were parts where I was gripping my seat because I just couldn’t believe how incredibly in character and dedicated to making a realistic portrayal both Eddie and Jessica Chastain were. I also imagine that it was challenging because their characters are already real people and there’s a fine balance between artistic integrity and staying true to the source material.
S: If we want to talk about acting, I gotta mention The Whale… Brendan Fraser was phenomenal in that film. It’s an incredibly hard part to play and it’s so hard to watch a character go through what he goes through. And he is just like, I don’t know if the word I’m looking for is suffering or self-loathing… I think it’s one of those films that you definitely should see… I’d really like to read or see the play [it was based on]. And I feel like that probably would contextualise the film a lot. The English major in me… would definitely argue that there’s like an Odyssey-esque epic quality throughout the film…. You know, maybe something else we should chat about is Miss Taylor Swift.
M: Yes, I almost forgot about that!
S: So what were your thoughts? I thought the film [All Too Well] was super cool to hear about… I was interested in hearing about all the cinema stuff and she really knew what she was talking about in terms of lighting and certain kinds of shots. She also knew so much about the technical aspect of film cameras, I was super impressed. Also I was surprised to hear her favourite movie is The Shape of Water.
M: One thing I will comment on: I really really enjoyed the experience that TIFF awarded the audience with… For example, All Too Well was shot on 35MM film, and it premiered in front of an audience for the first time on 35MM, and I thought that made a huge difference. Also, when I went to see Nope, about a third of it was filmed in IMAX and I was so grateful to be awarded the opportunity to see that on the world’s first IMAX screen at the Cinesphere at Ontario Place.
S: I think we should end on: what are our TIFF do’s and don’ts? For future TIFF go-ers?
M: Don’t dress up! I wore a sparkly cocktail dress to my first midnight madness premiere and everyone else was in jeans. Or, do dress up! If you want to have a great time and get fancy, don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.
S: My tip is, if this isn’t already apparent for people (because it was for me and I still messed up)… line up super early. Even if you have a ticket.
M: If you want to see your favourite celebrities, you’re more likely to catch them up close at a red carpet event rather than from the audience during a premium screening with a Q&A after… also please be respectful to the celebrities, they’re people too!
S: There you go, The Strand, you’ve heard it from us… don’t be a jerk!
And that’s just about all from our TIFF journey that we can squeeze into one article. Thanks for reading, and happy viewing!
