Wylie Writes @ TAAFI ’19
The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (February 15-17) is an essential stop for movie goers who indulge in worldwide animation.
Foreign
Mountains May Depart
Mountains May Depart is the type of work that sets a high watermark for cinema. It’s a film that portrays the cause and effect of our decisions, and how those results can carry through years – even decades – with growth and regret. Jia Zhang-Ke’s film is reminiscent of the equally exceptional The Place Beyond the Pines, only Zhang-Ke is less interested in suspense and more focused on psychology.
The Tribe
By: Addison Wylie Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s film is a foreign drama that isn’t subtitled, translated, or dubbed. Every character communicates in sign language as movie goers are given the broad strokes of a crime-laden story. However, Slaboshpitsky’s screenplay is unrelenting, and leaves little to the imagination when it comes to displaying desperate and heartless activity. For the first ten minutes, The Tribe is an unforgettable, sensory depraved experience. One of the first scenes features a celebration…
1001 Grams
By: Addison Wylie The metric system has never been more sexy or sentimental than it is in Bent Hamer’s 1001 Grams. Now that I have your attention, let’s move towards some of the drier details. Marie (played by Ane Dahl Torp) is a Norwegian scientist who is close with her intellect father Ernst Ernst (played by Stein Winge). Both of their careers circulate around the analysis of measurements, and they both discuss work during their smoke…
The Wonders
By: Addison Wylie The Wonders is slow, unremarkable, and unfortunately, blends in all too well. Writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s drama is a story of squashed empowerment by a superior who doesn’t know any better. The young Gelsomina (played by Maria Alexandra Lungu) finds herself as a leader within her detached family; which proves to be a blessing and a burden. She’s dependable, trustworthy, and a figure of inspiration to her siblings. However, her father Wolfgang (played…
Serial (Bad) Weddings
By: Addison Wylie Serial (Bad) Weddings is a funny flick before it gets cold feet. Christian Clavier is the deadpan Claude Verneuil, a father who is constantly faced with cultural differences. Three daughters all marry over the course of three years, and all fall in love with men of different cultural backgrounds. The Verneuil’s welcome Chinese, Muslim, and Jewish ethnicities. The men are all standoffish with each other, the women are defensive, and the parents…
TIFF 2014: Into the Drink
By: Addison Wylie For a while, Atlantic. was the most relaxed I had felt at this year’s festival. Incredibly shot sequences of Fettah windsurfing across the infinite drink eased me into a trance. Its angelic score cradling the audience is the final nuance Atlantic. has that completely sends us into adoration with these moments of Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s tranquil tale. Alas, Atlantic. follows a bothersome and oddly common theme at this year’s TIFF. Atlantic. eventually drifts…
TIFF 2014: Top-Notch Theeb
By: Addison Wylie Filmmaker Naji Abu Nowar marks a departure from short films with Theeb, a gripping slow burn that confidently risks it all to challenge itself with different genres. The boldness often profits this tense flick. At first, it’s a character study ala Beasts of the Southern Wild, albeit told more conventionally. While its composure helps the film with its accessibility towards the audience, it doesn’t contain any stimulating eruptions through its presentation. However,…
Me and You
By: Addison Wylie Me and You marks the return of Bernardo Bertolucci as he cozies his way back into the director’s chair. After all, it’s been a decade since audiences caught Bertolucci’s controversial, NC-17 drama The Dreamers. The filmmaker has toned matters down for Me and You compared to the graphic content in The Dreamers, but his latest is unique in its own way. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Me and You’s…