The Toronto International Film Festival has developed a way to showcase Canadian film by presenting the Top Ten. The 2016 version has some films familiar to regular readers and a few surprises.
The list includes It’s Only The End Of The World, Canada's entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film; Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau), Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF 2016; and Old Stone (Lao shi), the Best Canadian First Feature Film at TIFF 2016.
Half of the films from the list ran at the 2016 Windsor International Film Festival. The language breakdown goes like this: English 4, French 3, Inuktitut 2, and Mandarin 1. Here are this year's feature films:
- Angry Inuk
- Hello Destroyer
- It’s Only The End Of The World
- Maliglutit (Searchers)
- Mean Dreams
- Nelly
- Old Stone
- Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves
- Werewolf
- Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming)
Here are the reviews (with permission) from the 5 films we've seen:
Window Horses is a lyrically beautiful animated film about Rosie Ming, a young poet from Vancouver, asked to read at a poetry festival in Iran. She dreams about Paris, where she has never been. But her trip to Iran takes her on a much different adventure where she learns about herself and where she comes from. Anne Marie Fleming guides us in a world with international flair where words and gestures speak volumes. Sandra Oh is delightful as our heroine. There are many great voice contributions, including Ellen Page and Don McKellar. Window Horses is a thoughtful film that anyone from any age will delight.
Hello Destroyer has a great premise: what happens to the enforcer when he crosses the line on the ice. Kevan Funk adapted his short film Destroyer into the full-length film. The first 25-30 minutes are intriguing as we see the world from the enforcer's point of view. Jared Abrahamson takes you in this world and leaves you intrigued. However, all but the last few minutes of the rest of the film lends little to no plot advancement or drama, losing all the momentum of the beginning. If you can sit through all of that, the ending is pitch perfect. A better film if it had been 60 minutes shorter.
It's Only the End of the World has the least presence of Xavier Dolan in any Xavier Dolan film to date but might be his most accessible. The all-star French cast delivers well for Dolan, especially Nathalie Baye in her second Dolan film. The films feel like a play and the Dolan-written screenplay is based off a play. The close-ups, deliberate shots out of focus, and music video endings to some scenes are the visible elements of note. Dolan plays well with the loud and quiet of the family dynamic. This is a well above-average film but you are left wondering where the Quebecois and Canada is in these films and will Dolan return back to that world. This is Canada's entry to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film but has no visible presence outside Dolan's fingerprints.
Mean Dreams showcases Sophie Nelissé, who goes through a lot of misery in her Canadian roles and this film is no different. Josh Wiggins plays her boyfriend in a relationship based on necessity. Bill Paxton absolutely steals this film as his own as Nelisse's cop father who had to quickly relocate the two of them to this new small town. You forget Paxton is acting in this film. Colm Feore isn't on screen too much but the mix of cerebral and manic cop is a scarier rendition of the bon cop bad cop we got used to seeing. This was my first time seeing Nelissé act in English. She is so good you will want to see her act in a bad film. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about this film because the roller coaster ride is worth the trip.
Angry Inuk draws attention to the seal hunt in Canada, a topic that has intrigued me for some time. This documentary does an excellent job of answering questions I didn't know I had and asks a few more questions. The film also plays on the idea that the Inuit are upset but not very loud in their protests. Even after hearing stories in St. John's about seal hunting, Angry Inuk explained the full parameters without having to be loud.
Breaking down 2016 WIFF Canadian films
2016 Windsor International Film Festival preview
Xavier Dolan's latest film is Canada's Oscars entry
2016 TIFF Canadian film wrapup
TIFF 2016 Canadian film preview
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
We've talked a bit about Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves and Old Stone in our TIFF wrapup. Here are some notes on the other 3 films.
Maliglutit (Searchers) takes place in 1913 Nunavut where a man returns from hunting to discover his wife and daughter kidnapped and the rest of his family slaughtered. Director Zacharias Kunuk also directed Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.
Nelly features TIFF Rising Star Mylène Mackay in the title role of Quebecois novelist Nelly Arcan, examining her all too brief life. Director Anne Émond also directed Our Loved Ones that we saw in Windsor in 2015.
Werewolf tackles meth addiction in the Maritimes. Cape Breton filmmaker Ashley McKenzie features non-professional actors in her debut about a pair of young homeless methadone addicts in a small town.
'See the North' brings new Canadian films to U.S. audiences
Maliglutit opens the festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. The Top Ten festival runs January 13-26. Canadians in other cities will get a chance to see these films, including Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Regina, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Ottawa.
The See the North tour was quite promising as a way to showcase Canadian film in the United States. The "tour" ended up being New York City and New Orleans. Let's hope for more cities in 2017.
Details on the TIFF Top Ten Canadian films can be found here.
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video credit: TIFF
photo credit: Window Horses film
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