TIFF 2K11: DAY 2 (rewritten a day late due to Tumblr mishap)

Le Havre, dir. Aki Kaurismäki. A quick glance at the opening credits tells you a full story: Laika the dog gets a full credit by herself, Jean-Pierre Léaud, of Antoine Doinel French New Wave fame, is also listed.

I think I cried through this entire movie. Not out of sadness or pity or any aggrandizing emotions (on behalf of the film), but out of pure feeling. This is a rare gem — without artifice, it behaves how one feels. In a small town in Normandy, a young refugee boy lands without hope. He is taken under the wing of a kind older gentleman, whose eternally giving wife has recently taken ill with a terminal condition. “Urgently benign,” lies the doctor, at the wife’s behest.

Beautiful colours, incredible steady shots, a sincere belief in humans, and a real look at who we are and the beautiful things we can do. A real French New Wave throwback (the casting of Léaud says as much, as does the reading of a Kafka novel), and a perfect movie to spend an evening on. True and honest, but sweet and new at the same time.

Gazing into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life, dir. Werner Herzog. Opens with a quintessential great Herzog interview. He speaks to the priest who holds the ankle (with permission) of those being executed with capital punishment — he stands in front of the state cemetery, where there are no names, only numbers listed on stone crosses. This is the best part of Herzog, other than certain monologues in which he brings new, almost otherworldly, almost unconnected storylines in (like the albino crocodiles in Cave of Forgotten Dreams).

I only saw the first hour of this, but if you love Herzog it is definitely right up your alley. I am not the biggest fan of his (sorry, world). This film was already distinguished in certain ways, however. For instance, Herzog’s intrusion was more minimal than is generally expected. The subject matter is more sad. The poor men he interviews (one on death row, the other spared but facing life) are not “innocent” (and Herzog makes no case for such), but… stupid. Wrong. Hormonal. Young. I’ll watch the rest later in the fest.

A Dangerous Method, dir. David Cronenberg. Not that great. And I hate saying that, because I love everybody involved. My advice would be: don’t pay to see this in a cinema.

Keira Knightley, whom I actually love in most things, is unconvincing as a strong and struggling Russian Jew. Her conviction is lacking, perhaps, or maybe it’s the screenplay. A wordy and convoluted film, with intense reliance on dialogue which is both frequently uninteresting, and untrue. (I’m a person who frequently cites Jung in interrogations of film and, yes, real life, so this is startling obvious to me in several instances.)

The film is adapted from a play, which I suppose elucidates the staid shots, the stilted and plot-driving dialogue. If I were you, I’d watch Cronenberg’s 1996 Crash. If you want psychoanalysis, you have it there, to a far truer extent.

The Skin I Live In, dir. Pedro Almodóvar. Oh. Watch this.

Of course, the first and easiest cinematic comparison drawn is between this and Franju’s 1960 horror, Eyes Without a Face (from an aware filmmaker, Skin pays tribute to Franju’s work in several ways: the best of which being the scream and window-jump suicides). But, hey, it’s Almodóvar. This narrative goes in and out; it follows-through with a twist you’ll spend hours on; it brings you closer to the deeper parts of your mind.

Antonio Banderas, in another solid Antonio Banderas role, plays a scientist who has crafted a beautiful woman in his basement. She adores him. He has made a breakthrough in skin-grafting and -creation. All is weird and uncomfortable, nothing more so than the touted fact that the woman in his basement bears a canny resemblance to his deceased wife.

The ending does lack some punch, there were opportunities for even a more insidious closing — but you can’t have it all. A solid two hours of engrossing entertainment. Entrapment, identity, love, hostages; it’s all fair game, and it’s all explored in startling ways.

I can’t give away too much, and I’ve rewritten this blurb like four times thanks to Tumblr, so I can only urge you to watch this. You’ll be surprised.