Toronto feels like it might be kind of schizophrenic this year…

As usual, there are lots of Galas, 18 to be exact.  And those evenings in massive Roy Thompson Hall are loaded with big names and celebrity action.  But this year, there is a more artistic feel, even in Roy Thompson Hall.  We get a Denzel Washington movie… but he’s the director, not the star.  We get a De Palma, but it’s a De Palma that was financed with European money and that WB just picked up for distribution with mid-range stars in Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Antonio Banderas.  Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Joel Schumacher and David Cronenberg are all gonna be there… but with quieter-than-usual releases.  The biggest title is The Four Feathers, which might turn out to be an Oscar movie… Toronto will tell.  And Frida, another possible Oscar contender is about an artist whose cult following has grown far bigger since her death than it was during her life. 

Then there are a load of pictures from high profile directors that aren’t doing Galas.  Van Sant is bringing Gerry, which got slaughtered at Sundance, to the party.  Almodovar’s newest, Talk to Her (Habla Con Ella) is one of the director’s best efforts behind the camera and a dalliance with Patrice Leconte territory in its screenplay.  Stephen Frears is showing his latest kinky thriller, Dirty Pretty Things, a full eight months before the film is scheduled for release by Miramax.  Curtis Hanson is hosting a “preview” of 8 Mile.  Michael Moore’s Cannes smash, Bowling for Columbine is making its North American debut.   Bruce Beresford’s Evelyn is being targeted for Oscar... far away from Double Jeopardy. 

PT Anderson’s critical and likely commercial Punch Drunk Love will show us Adam Sandler acting and Emily Watson doing more than suffering.  Brad Silberling’s Moonlight Mile kicks off, while Paul Schrader’s Auto Focus follows a Venice debut with a Canadian kick.  Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, converted to “American” by Pixar, debuts (though I am guessing that it will be at Telluride, where they launched Princess Mononoke two years ago).  And Phillp Noyce has a double-header, with The Quiet American and Rabbit-Proof Fence.

But that’s just the beginning of the orgy…

It’s pretty breathtaking just how many directors that cinephiles love are going to be showing new work at Toronto.  It’s positively encyclopedic this year, including Kristian Levering, Agnieszka Holland, Gilles MacKinnon, Abbas Kiarostami, Fredrick Wiseman, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Chen Kaige, Steve James, Francois Ozon, Luke Moodysson, Tom Tykwer, Lisa Cholodenko, Alan Rudolph, Atom Egoyen, Patrice Leconte, Takeshi Kitano, The Brothers Dardenne, Im Kwon-taek, Michael Hoffman and Benoit Jacquot.  There are even new shorts from Kenneth Anger & Stan Brakhage.

You have your actors-turned-directors, starting with Denzel and including Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Todd Louiso, Peter Mullan, Rebecca Miller and Matt Damon. 

There’s the big 9/11 group film, 9.11.01, directed by Youssef Chahine, Amos Gitaï, Shohei Imamura, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair, Idrissa Oue draogo, Sean Penn and Danis Tanoviç.

You’ve got your new Catherine Breillat film, Sex is Comedy.  But even Breillat may take a back seat in the controversy department to Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, which is likely to be biggest in America as a DVD opportunity to watch Monica Bellucci get raped.  (We are a sick culture sometimes.)  The maker of Earth and Fire, Deepa Mehta, bring Bollywood/Hollywood.  Hitler is in da house with Menno Meyjes’ Max.  Soccer films reach North America in the form of Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer and Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham, which was recently picked up by Fox Searchlight.  (The European trailer is here).  But you have to register… it’s free!  And it’s a great source of trailers that are unavailable from U.S. sources.)

There isn’t much information to go on as far as the documentaries.  But I am dying to see Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s Lost in La Mancha.  (The European trailer is available here. Same registration deal)   Standing in the Shadows of Motown looks great, so I’ll be looking forward to that too.  I love docs, so I will report as I gather more info… I’m sure that I’m only scratching a very deep surface here. 

Among the other eye-catchers are Justin Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow, Feng Xiaogang’s Beijing comedy Big Shot’s Funeral, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson’s Falcons, Paul Quinn’s Never Get Outta The Boat, Rachel Perkins’ One Night The Moon, Patricia Cardoso’s Real Women Have Curves and Jay Russell’s Tuck Everlasting. 

MY TORONTO ESSENTIALS

Gerry - Gus Van Sant
Dirty Pretty Things – Stephen Frears
8 Mile – Curtis Hanson
Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore

Evelyn – Bruce Beresford
Punch-Drunk Love – PT Anderson
Rabbit-Proof Fence – Phillip Noyce
Antwone Fisher – Denzel Washington
Femme Fatale – Brian De Palma

The Four Feathers – Shekhar Kapur
The Good Thief – Neil Jordan
In America – Jim Sheridan
Spider – David Cronenberg
Moonlight Mile – Brad Silberling

Talk to Her – Pedro Almodovar
Frida – Julie Taymor
Auto Focus – Paul Schrader
Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki
The Quiet American – Phillip Noyce

The Intended – Kristian Levering
Julia Walking Home – Agnieszka Holland
Pure – Gilles MacKinnon
The Magdalene Sisters - Peter Mullan
10 – Abbas Kiarostami

All or Nothing – Mike Leigh
La Derniere Lettre – Fredrick Wiseman
Sex is Comedy – Catherine Breillat
Shadow Kill – Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Sweet Sixteen – Ken Loach

Ten Minutes Older: The Cello – Asst.
Together – Chen Kaige
Bollywood/Hollywood – Deepa Mehta (Fridell)
The Nazi – Rod Lurie – 13 minutes
Stevie – Steve James

Lost in La Mancha – Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe
8 Women – Francois Ozon
Heaven – Tom Tykwer
Laurel Canyon – Lisa Cholodenko
Max – Menno Meyjes

The Secret Lives of Dentists – Alan Rudolph
Shaolin Soccer – Stephen Chow
11’09’01
Ararat – Atom Egoyen
The Guys – Jim Simpson

L’Homme du train – Patrice Leconte
White Oleander – Peter Kominsky
Dolls – Takeshi Kitano
Les Fils – The Brotehrs Dardenne
Irreversible – Gaspar Noe

Lilya 4-Ever – Luke Moodysson
New Anger & Brakhage
Standing in the Shadows of Motown – Paul Justman
Roger Dodger – Dylan Kidd
Personal Velocity – Rebecca Miller

Far from Heaven – Im Kwon-taek

INTERESTING

Bend It Like Beckham – Gurinder Chadha
Better Luck Tomorrow – Justin Lin
Big Shot’s Funeral – Feng Xiaogang
Falcons - Friðrik Þór Friðriksson 
Love Liza – Todd Louisa

The Nugget – Bill Bennett
Never Get Outta The Boat – Paul Quinn
One Night The Moon – Rachel Perkins
Real Women Have Curves – Patricia Cardoso
Tuck Everlasting – Jay Russell

Welcome to Collinwood – Anthony and Joe Russo
Whale Ride – Niki Caro
The Trials of Henry Kissinger – Eugene Jarecki
Between Strangers – Edoardo Ponti
City of Ghosts – Matt Dillon

Assassination Tango – Robert Duvall
The Emperor’s Club – Michael Hoffman
Adolphe – Benoit Jacquot
Happy Here and Now – Michael Almereyda