Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Spectrum Reverse Spectrum (Margaret HondaUSA)
Journey to the West (Tsai Ming-Liang Taiwan/France)
Horse Money (Pedro Costa Portugal)
Manglehorn (David Gordon Green USA)
Jauja (Lisandro Alonso Denmark/USA/Argentina/Mexico/Netherlands/Germany/France)
All good things must come to an end unfortunately and I’m sad to say I’ve reached the end of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. My first year attending though surely not the last I can’t help but feel like I’ve just spend two weeks at some sort of summer camp. Having had the chance to get acquainted with new friends catch up with old ones run around non-stop and gorge myself on all the pleasures (or in my case sorrows) the schedule allows it’s tough to say goodbye even as a return to the real world admittedly sounds increasingly appealing.
For myself however the call of responsibilities beyond 9:00 a.m. screenings and writing reviews came before the festival’s end as I was obliged to spend much of day nine on homework. I did manage to make time for one program in the evening which paired Margaret Honda’s Spectrum Reverse Spectrum with Tsai Ming-Liang’s Journey to the West. Cinema 1 in the TIFF Bell Lightbox is one of the festival’s largest venues usually occupied by the fest’s major titles but it is also the only one equipped for 70mm projection which Honda utilizes in Spectrum Reverse Spectrum. As such amidst festival titles they managed carved out 75 minutes for experimental works an irresistible premise.
Produced without a camera the 20 minute Spectrum Reverse Spectrum consisted of raw 70mm footage exposed to light with an ultimate effect of a black screen gradually dissolving across the colour spectrum before a slow return – or reverse – to black. Beautiful it undeniably recalled the work of light artist James Turrell. While uncertain it necessitated its 70mm formal decadence far be it from me to complain. Slow and quiet it proved the perfect primer for Journey to the West. Starring Denis Lavant and Tsai regular Lee Chang Dong as a monk who moves slower than molasses the film follows the two as they undertake a wordless glacial procession across Marseilles to hypnotic effect.
For my final day I screenings I braved a grey and drizzly morning in order to catch a late-game heavy hitter: Pedro Costa’s Horse Money. Another critical darling much of Pedro Costa’s esteem is based on his so-dubbed "Fontainhas Trilogy". Horse Money welcomes us back into world of the Lisbon barrio and the life of protagonist Ventura. Much of Costa’s accolades for the trilogy credited his painterly compositions and embrace of the digital filmmaking’s technical limitations or capabilities. Here the compositions are equally eye-catching as slivers of light appear to rescue figures at risk of disappearing into the shadows while the editing is notably swifter (albeit far from fast). Initially conceived as a project with Gil Scott-Heron before his untimely passing there is an increased embrace of music but one can only imagine what that unrealized version would have looked like. In its final form Horse Money remains a beautiful and impressive addition to Costa’s increasingly singular body of work.
From one auteur with an increasingly refined vision it was time to check in with another who feels utterly unpredictable: David Gordon Green. A long-time fan even making time for disasters like The Sitter I unfortunately haven’t managed to catch up Prince Avalanche and Joe his recent "returns to form" (as some have said) but was excited for Manglehorn. Starring Al Pacino in the titular role he plays small town locksmith attempting to resolve an obsession over "the one who got away" with a new love interest (Holly Hunter). The film left me ultimately non-plussed with a script that managed to feel both conventional and totally absurd. On the one hand we have Pacino as a pretty thinly sketched character going through uninspired motions; on the other we have grisly cat surgery an homage to Godard’s Weekend and Harmony Korine as an off-the-wall massage parlour proprietor. The film is odd and ultimately didn’t work for me feeling destined to become little more than a bizarre aside in Green’s varied career one that might seem more fascinating in 20 years than it does in the present.
With time for one final screening of the day I was admittedly torn. My curiosity had been piqued by the Ukrainian film The Tribe and I’d received personal recommendations to check out the Finnish "Vanguard" selection They Have Escaped. Thinking it over however I realized that since first watching Jauja on day eight I hadn’t been able to shake it – images of it rushing to mind even as I was deep in other film worlds – and it deserved a revisit. The second viewing proved equally astonishing and easily cemented it as one of my favourites works in a festival full of constant wonders. Getting back to quotidian life might prove to be a difficult comedown but I know I’ll be mulling over some titles long past even next year’s festival. For the immediate present however I think I’m ready to balance out nearly 40 films in a fortnight by getting reacquainted with my pillow and perhaps a staring contest with a wall or two. Until next year!
TIFF TOP 10:
1. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Pondering Existence (Roy Andersson Sweden/Norway/France/Germany)
2. Hill of Freedom (Dir. Hong Sang-Soo South Korea)
3. Jauja (Dir. Lisandro Alonso Denmark/USA/Argentina/Mexico/Netherlands/Germany/France)
4. Goodbye to Language 3D (Dir. Jean-Luc Godard France)
5. National Gallery (Dir.Frederick Wiseman France/USA)
6. Two Days One Night (Dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne Belgium/France)
7. Tu Dors Nicole (Dir. Stéphane Lafleur Canada)
8. From What Is Before (Dir. Lav Diaz The Philippines)
9. Tokyo Tribe (Dir. Sion Sono Japan)
10. The Look of Silence (Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer Denmark/Indonesia/Norway/Finland/UK)