VIFF 2009 - An Education review

Of all the 377 films playing at the 28th Annual Vancouver International Film Festival, there was really only one film that I wanted to see. That film was An Education.

It had great buzz coming from Sundance and even greater buzz from the Toronto International Film Festival. All of this was surrounding one person: Carey Mulligan who plays the central character Jenny.

This is Mulligan's breakthrough role and her first lead. Now, I've been very familiar with this young actress ever since I saw her play Ada Clare in 2005's BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. I believe she made her feature debut as Kitty Bennett in 2005's big screen Pride and Prejudice.

But in An Education, Mulligan gives a standout performance as Jenny, a 16-year-old school girl in 1961 and destined for English studies at Oxford until one-day she is offered a ride home during a torrential downpour from an older man, David (Peter Sarsgaard).

Jenny's life is thrown into turmoil as she starts seeing David who gives her an education in life by talking her to jazz clubs and auctions, weekends to Oxford and Paris. She is also exposed to David's circle of friends, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike, playing the perfect dumb blond).

So soon Jenny realizes her school education may not be all cracked up and the life her parents, in particular her over-protective father (played to perfection by the always reliable Alfred Molina), wanted for her seems to be thrown in turmoil as she delves further in her relationship with David.

Sarsgaard is perfectly charming as David and you can see how Jenny falls for his charm and lifestyle. Another reason for me to love this film is that they keep on referencing Jane Eyre, which is one of the novel's that Jenny is studying in Miss Stubbs' (Olivia Williams) English class and her classmates keep on calling David, Jenny's Mr. Rochester.

While David seemed to be the perfect suitor, I kept on waiting for the other shoe to drop and have Jenny's world come crashing around her.

When that time comes, you do feel for her and one of my favorite lines of the film is when Miss Stubbs notes that Jenny sounds old and wise from all that she's been through, Jenny says back that "I feel old, but not wise." Mulligan's delivery of that line was note perfect.

An Education plays again at VIFF09 on October 14, 2009 at 11am GR7.
http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/2009/filmguide/films/2628

VIFF 2009 - Cooking with Stella

When I got the Canadian film Cooking with Stella on my list of films to champion as part of my volunteer duties for VIFF09, I took a look at the description of the film and it definitely piqued my interest. It has a great Canadian pedigree behind Deepa Mehta wrote and produced it(with her brother Dilip directing). I loved Deepa's Bollywood Hollywood and her muse Lisa Ray is one of the stars of Cooking with Stella along with funnyman Don McKellar, who plays her husband.

According the VIFF guide, Cooking with Stella is the fiction feature debut of photographer Dilip Mehta, co-written with his sister Deepa, Cooking with Stella is a perfectly judged charmer that wears its politics so lightly you'll never mistake it for a Message Movie. It's the story of Michael (Don McKellar) and Maya (Lisa Ray), a pair of new parents from Ottawa who arrive in New Delhi where Maya has landed a diplomatic post. Comfortable and insulated in their High Commission compound, they get their big taste of India from their cook, Stella. She's a brilliant chef, loyal employee, devout Catholic and a bit of a thief. Stella pads her expenses, pilfers goods from her employers and works overcharging scams with local vendors. Michael and Maya are her latest jackpot, and the great fun of the movie is in seeing her negotiate their importance to her--first as easy marks, then as friends and finally as something like family.

For me, the unfortunate part of this film is that I just didn't like Stella. And I am not sure if we are supposed. Sure, she has some comedic moments but to be honest her thievery was a major turn off for me. As well, it really irked me how she eventually corrupted Maya and Michael's nanny Tannu. The film makers make a point of the poverty that Stella and Tannu live in that perhaps is the reason why they do what they do. For some reason, I though the kindness of her new bosses might stop her life of crime but alas no.

The food in the film did look good and that is probably the best thing in it and you can go the official Cooking with Stella website for the recipes.

VIFF 2009 Mid-August Lunch Review

At only 75 minutes long, Mid-August Lunch is a short but savory Italian treat.

Here is the VIFF 09 description of the film:

In Gianni Di Gregorio's delightful debut, an obliging middle-aged son finds himself catering to a spry but temperamental geriatric foursome--including his own mother. On the August holiday of Ferragosto, that celebrates the ascension of the Virgin Mary into heaven, pretty much the entire city of Rome empties out. Unfortunately for Gianni (played by the director himself), nursing a mountain of debt as well as his elderly mother Valeria, there is no easy escape. When the building manager realizes that he too can pawn off his own mother on Gianni (in exchange for forgiving a certain number of debts), the gray-haired quotient begins to escalate.

This is where the comedy comes in. In total (including his own mother) the senior set totals four and it does turn into an Italian version of the Golden Girls and that is not a bad thing. Each of the women offer different eccentricities that you could equate to the four women from the classic TV show. There is Marina who totally could be the Blanche of the group. There is Gianni's mother that could be the Dorothy of the group while Grazie who incessantly talks is Rose while Aunt Maria, who is a great cook, is Sophia down to the glasses.

There is also something very touching of how Gianni (who looks like Jerry Orbach) takes care of all these women, especially the three that are forced upon. He makes sure they have a place to sleep, make sure they eat well, take their medication and also make sure they are comfortable such as offering them a TV to watch. He does all this while taking more than the occassional sip of white wine.

The food in the movie should also get star billing. Their meals looked absolutely delicious and when the cast were talking about it in the film, it was even more delicious.

Even though Mid-August Lunch has finished its run at VIFF 09, I recommend checking it out if you ever get a chance.

VIFF 2009 -Reviews of The Eclipse and Pelleas and Melisande

Tonight I saw two films that I am championing as part of my volunteer efforts at VIFF this year.

I will review The Eclipse first even though I saw it second.

According to the description in the VIFF guide, The Eclipse is set in scenic Cobh, County Cork and director Conor McPherson's tantalizing amalgam of love story and supernatural thriller stars Aidan Quinn and Ciarán Hinds. Hinds is a widower who falls for visiting ghost-story writer Lena (High Fidelity's Iben Hjejle) while enduring some shocking apparitions.

I have to say that there were moments that when these apparitions appeared that I did jump out of my seat and did feel a chill course through my body but the weird thing was that every time people jumped in the audience it was followed by laughter. In fact there were several moments where the audience laughed and I am really not sure they should be.

For example, after Hinds' Michael Farr sees one these apparitions, he is comforted by his daughter but all of a sudden it is he who is comforting here even though she didn't see any ghosts yet the audience found this funny.

But what I found cloying was Fionnuala Ni Chiosain's score. You knew something scary was going to happen because of her creepy piano tinkling score that I was expecting to jump out of my seat at any moment.

I also didn't understand Conor McPherson's decision to shoot some of the movie in shadows. There was one particular scene were Michael and Lena were walking in a hospital corridor all in shadow and Michael leaves the scene and the camera lingers on Lena in complete darkness. It made no sense.

And Aidan Quinn was such a waste as a writer coming to town for an annual writer's festival that Michael works for in addition to be a woodshop teacher and a writer. Quinn was such a self-absorbed drunken blowhard that there was nothing likeable about him and he really served no purpose to the overall story.

On the ohter hand, Hjejle was winning as Lena and she displayed good chemistry with Hinds.

Hinds was good in is role as a still grieving widower.

There was something I wished the director and writer explained was why did Michael see the apparition that he did. I would like to know that answer or maybe I was just too tired to grasp it.

The Eclipse is playing two more times at VIFF09: Sun Oct 11, 9pm at the Ridge and Thu Oct 15, 4pm also at the Ridge.

http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/2009/xslguide/eventnote.php?notepg=1&EventNumber=3413

Speaking of being tired. Pelleas and Melisande: The Song of the Blind was the film that I saw before the Eclipse. It was a two-hour long documentary that follows the first Russian production of the notoriously demanding Claude Debussey's 1902 opera Pelleas and Melisande.

The documentary was in French and showcased the rehearsals of the production spliced in with interviews of the director, conductor and some of the perfomers.

I will admit it. I fell asleep during the film. It actually was boring. Sorry but there was no way to sugar coat that.

I found the story of the opera to be fascinating: Golaud discovers Mélisande by a stream in the woods. She has lost her crown in the water, but does not wish to retrieve it. They marry and she instantly wins the favor of Arkël, who is ill. She falls in love with Pelléas. They meet by the fountain, where Mélisande loses her wedding ring. Golaud grows suspicious of the lovers, has Yniold spy on them, and discovers them caressing, whereupon he kills Pelléas and wounds Mélisande. She later dies after giving birth to an abnormally small girl.

And at times I wished that the film was just the opera and not behind the scenes.

There were somethings that I wished were better explained. First off, the director of the opera kept on mentioning the name Maeterlinck and I had no idea who he is or was until I read on Wikipedia that he is the author of the play of which Debussey based his opera.

Also, he follwed one of the actors who plays Arkel but never once showed us his name (we had to find out in the end credits) and only followed ever briefly. The same goes for all the people they interviewed. Not a single credit given to anyone.

The film also followed one of the violin players in the orchestra and what I found strange was the woman was speaking (I never learned who she was or how long she's been playing in the orchesra) as a voice over but the camera was on her and she isn't speaking. I found that weird. As well, she brought out the point that Debussey has never been performed in Russia. Now is it just his opera that has never been performed or all his works. Either way, I wouldn't mind finding out why it hasn't been performed in Russia and why is it such a big deal. That is never explained.

It also wouldn't have been nice to get the audience reaction. We got one audience scene but it was in the middle of the film and it went back to rehearsal footage that I got really confused.

Anyways, Pelleas and Melisande has finished its run at VIFF09.

VIFF 2009 -The Young Victoria review

By Vanessa Ho

The lasting image in history that most people associate with Queen Victoria, Britain's longest reigning monarch to date, is of a plump, dour, old woman always in black, forever in mourning for her beloved husband, Prince Albert.

However, in The Young Victoria, playing at the 28th Annual Vancouver International Film Festival (http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/2009/filmguide/films/2982), director Jean-Marc Valle (C.RA.Z.Y) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) presents us with a Victoria (Emliy Blunt) that is vivacious, spunky, strong-willed yet naive.

The film explores her early reign, starting with the year before her she ascends the throne and her struggle with her mother's (Miranda Richardson) advisor, John Conroy (the very villainous Mark Strong) over the issue of Regency. Regency you see is in place when a monarch is unable to rule themselves because of illness or disability or because they are too young. You see, Victoria is 17 and it looks like King William IV (Jim Broadbent bringing nice drunken comic relief) is on death's door and with a Regency in place, it means that Victoria's mother will rule England (but it is really Conroy that will rule). This is where the strong-willed Victoria comes in as she refuses to sign anything that would take away her rights and be controlled

When Victoria turns 18, Regency is no longer needed and soon enough King William IV passes away and she ascends the throne. However, because she is so young and inexperienced, Victoria relies heavily on Lord Melbourne, the British Prime Minister, for advice on everything on who to hire for her household, events to attend and what issues she should be involved in or not.

Sprinked throughout all of this political intrigue is a love story between Victoria and her cousin Albert (Rupert Friend). While initially, they were an arranged match for political reasons (Albert was the nephew of the ambitous Leopold, King of the Belgians), it ended up being a love match.

It really is the love story of Victoria and Albert that gives the film its heart. Blunt and Friend have such great chemistry that is playful, sweet and loving. This chemistry is very evident during Albert's third and final visit to Victoria in England. When Albert enters the room, the camera focuses on Blunt's face and you can just see in her eyes that she deeply loves this man that has just walked into the room.

While this is very much a romantized view of their romance, I think I much prefer it than what the history books tell us.

As well, some of the facts presented were not historically accurate either such as Prince Albert taking a bullet during one of the failed assination attempts on Victoria's life but I can understand that Fellowes wanted to add some drama to the film.

Blunt should also be commended here as Victoria. Early on, just as Queen Victoria is coronated she still shows us that while she is Queen and the weight of a whole nation on her shoulders, Blunt still shows us that she is a teenager that wants to have fun and be mischevious.

The Young Victoria plays October 7, 2009 at 11am at the Visa Screening Room at the Granville 7 Cinemas.