By Eric Kohn
(Moving Pictures The Global Issue, fall 2007)

The monumental cinematic equation that comprises the Toronto International Film Festival equals a gigantic mishmash of movies. Still, in retrospect, common themes emerged throughout the 352-title program. Whether this is a result of contemporary cultural concerns, expectations of the industry or sheer conjecture on the part of this reporter is anybody's guess, but it helps to connect the dots. Consider these top TIFF 2007 entries as a guide to some of the festival's more memorable components.

Presence and its Absence

I didn't hear a single critic complain about I'm Not There, seminal Queer New Wave director Todd Haynes's abstract overview of Bob Dylan's fleeting personalities throughout the various stages of his career, and for good reason: The movie, which features eight actors playing Dylan in the various stages of his life (including Christian Bale, Richard Gere and, in a bit of brilliant casting, Cate Blanchett), thrives with kaleidoscopic creativity, eschewing the conventional needs of a coherent narrative for an immersive collage of Dylan's transient philosophies.

Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There as Bob Dylan

Haynes, whose reputation was solidified with masterpieces like Poison and Velvet Goldmine, wasn't the only auteur behind a festival movie dealing with personal alienation. Hong Kong action master Johnny To's latest work, The Mad Detective (co-directed by Ka Fai Wai), recalls the gritty street-based violence of his late 1990s oeuvre, but the new movie has a particularly zany twist: The eponymous main character is insane - and audiences are forced to witness his disillusionment when several actors portray various invisible aspects of other characters' personalities. The protagonist would be an object of ridicule if he weren't such an efficient investigator.

Another strong entry in the festival tackled a sense of identity that lies beyond the insularity of psychological disarray. Legendary director John Sayles's Honeydripper, a marvelous period piece set in Alabama during the early 1950s, stars Danny Glover as the owner of a fledgling blues club whose programming woes are answered by the invention of the electric guitar. Culminating in a toe-tapping concert, the film deals less with overt racism than simple day-to-day struggles in the lives of a desperate lower class.

Legends Looking Down

Diary of the Dead, George A. Romero's fifth visitation to the realm of zombie insanity that he first explored in Night of the Living Dead, made major ripples in the festival's Midnight Madness section. Unlike Romero's previous movies, Diary of the Dead explores the zombie catastrophe entirely through the use of "found" footage. His main character, a film geek whose documentary project takes a perilous turn when the central ghoulish events transpire, seems to represent any number of next generation genre lovers whose inspiration comes straight from Romero's earlier works. I felt the movie's shaky-cam aesthetic grew cumbersome fairly quickly, but the aforementioned stereotype was dead-on.

Romero wasn't the only big name with a festival film that included the cliché of the aspiring filmmaker. Brian DePalma's Redacted also culled from mockumentary traditions, recreating footage of American soldiers in Iraq from material that was supposedly censored by the United States government. One of the sections unfolds as the project of a soldier with directorial aspirations. Sadly, his professional ambition is rendered meaningless in the surrounding chaos.

Other established filmmakers presented spoofs of their own proclivities toward self-indulgence. Iconic shocker Dario Argento's Mother of Tears stars the director's daughter, Asia, as a Roman woman stuck with the precipitous task of saving the world from an onslaught of witches. The movie never takes itself seriously, but the graphic death scenes (including a strangling that involves intestines) speak for themselves. (Click HERE for MPM's video interview with Asia and Dario Argento.)

In prolific entertainer Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Django Western, the filmmaker parodies the expectations of the Western genre and its Far East forbears, relying on poorly spoken English dialogue and a ridiculously over-the-top performance by Quentin Tarantino. While overlong and never as funny as it should be, Miike's oddity documents an awareness of the boundless possibilities offered by the absurdist storytelling devices at his disposal. 

Young People's Privates

David Ross's The Babysitters has just the right amount of sexual provocation and distinctive drama to find an audience. It stars John Leguizamo as a young father whose affair with a socially alienated babysitter (Katherine Waterston, daughter of Sam) leads her to start a profitable sitter operation that functions as a front for prostitution. Although the film strains credibility in its third act, becoming a sort of high school take on The Godfather, the dialogue and characters are so real that the movie manages to simultaneously titillate and terrify.

Along with Babysitters, several festival films dealt with sexuality amid thriving youth, the least of which was Young People Fucking. Essentially a series of interlocking stories documenting various couples and their bedroom antics during the course of one night, the movie relies on a central gimmick that exudes a particularly theatrical vibe. Although filled with vulgarities, Young People Fucking isn't graphic, which keeps the plot well grounded.

The best contender in this category was a shoo-in due to the track record of its talented cast and crew: Juno, the hilariously heartwarming sophomore effort from Thank You for Smoking director Jason Reitman, tracks the lively experiences of the titular heroine (Hard Candy star Ellen Page), and her relationship with the kid's meek accidental father (Michael Cera). By the end of the film, Page's character is overloaded with conflicting emotions but remains dedicated in her willingness to persevere - a description that could be applied to the festival, as well. -MPM

Photo (top): Juno''s Olivia Thirlby and Michael Cera

(Click HERE for MPM's video interview with the cast of Juno, and HERE for MPM's review of the film.)
From the Filmmaker insights, movie reviews, video interviews - click HERE to see a menu of all our TIFF 2007 features.