9-8-03
Appropriately enough for a Monday, it was a rather subdued day at the
fest for me.
I started with 16 Years of Alcohol, a rather sombre and poignant
Scottish drama about a young man (Kevin McKidd) struggling to free
himself from the grip of alcoholism. It follows him from childhood
through his turbulent teenage years and troubled young adult life as he
bounces from one failed relationship to another, all the while clinging
to the concept of hope—hope for love, hope for something better in
life, hope for himself. The film was excellent, and first-time director
Richard Jobson did an outstanding job adapting his own book for the
screen. His efforts were also made that much easier thanks to a
wonderful performance from McKidd.
From there, I hopped over to the star-laden comedy, Love
Actually, which I absolutely adored. Filled with every British
actor under the sun, Love was a delightful tapestry of stories
ranging in tone from the whimsical (two stand-ins who fall for each
other while blocking sex scenes) to the wistful (a man is smitten with
his best friend’s new wife) to the borderline weepy (hello, Laura
Linney!). The film was presented as a "work in progress," but we were
told afterwards that the only tinkering left to be done was the digital
transfer and addition of closing credits.
I was torn over whether to attend my next screening, the Canadian drama
Emile starring Ian McKellan and the ubiquitous Deborah Kara
Unger. See, Love Actually ran long and I stayed for the Q&A, so
I knew I’d be late arriving in the line to get in for Emile
(read: serious potential for really bad seats). Plus, I was hungry and
craving a sit-down meal as opposed to grabbing something en route and
eating it line. And, finally, I’d only picked Emile because it
was the only movie that fit into the gap in my schedule, so I wasn’t
really emotionally invested in seeing it.
Nonetheless, I went... and the film was good. Not amazing, but not
awful, either. It tells the story of an aging writer (McKellan) who
returns to Canada after 40 years abroad to accept an honorary degree in
Victoria, B.C. He uses the visit as an opportunity to reconnect with
his estranged niece (Unger) and, in the process, begins to address the
issues of the past he left behind so long ago. I’d read a review before
seeing the film that said it contained far too many shots of people
staring pensively into the horizon, and that reviewer was correct. But
otherwise, it was a nice surprise... especially considering I sat down
in the theatre and gave myself permission to walk out as soon I was
bored. But I wasn’t.
Another superbly nutritious dinner at McDonald’s preceded the final
film of the day, another Canadian flick—Falling Angels, the
adaptation Barbara Gowdy’s novel about three sisters coming of age in
1969. Aside from Miranda Richardson and Callum Keith Rennie as the
girls’ highly dysfunctional parents, the cast was made up largely of
unknowns, but they all did wonderful work. Being a Canadian production
meant a large chunk of the audience was filled with cast and crew and
their friends, families and business associates. In other words, a near
standing ovation when it was over... which is fine, but the film wasn’t
so good that I felt the need to rise up out of my seat to
applaud.
And that’s about it, really. As I said, a fairly quiet day of
moviegoing. No celebs, no Mouthy Martha, no run-ins with the hateful
press conference moderator. I did watch the press conference for
Veronica Guerin, though, and now think even MORE highly of Cate
Blanchett—who proved herself to be incredibly smart, funny and
thoroughly engaging. Plus, she was forced to sit next to weaselly
little Henri Béhar and she managed to do so without ever appearing to
want to smack him across the face, so she’s obviously an intensely
tolerant person, as well. Or just a damn fine actress.
;-)
Tomorrow features an eclectic mix of films, from a sci-fi tale in the
morning, to a documentary about serial killer Aileen Wournos late in
the day. Should be interesting, if nothing else!
CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: None.
ROGER EBERT SIGHTINGS: See above.
LINE BUZZ: Love Actually will likely be a strong contender for
the Audience Award this year. Further rumblings of discontent regarding
the volunteers’ lack of training. Good buzz circulating over a
Norwegian film called Kitchen Stories, and some in-person
flogging of a Canadian movie called The Bread Maker, as
costume-clad folks associated with it worked the line-ups and
distributed "please come see our movie!" postcards.
— Vickie
