September 9, 2002

It’s almost one a.m. and I’m just starting the column… it’s not going to be mammoth…

The weekend offered five exceptional movies, some mediocrity and a few major disappointments.  Given my exhaustion and the cruelty of beating up some high-profile films at this hour of the night, I’ll let you know about the good ones now.

Documentaries are always one of the joys of festivalgoing and this year at Toronto is not exception… except the best docs this year seem to actually have distribution already.  On Friday, I got the one-two punch of Lost in La Mancha, Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe’s chronicle of the life and premature death of Terry Gilliam’s production of The Man Who killed Don Quixote, and Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore’s new doc and easily his best work since Roger & Me.

Pepe & Fulton’s film is in that category that’s becoming more and more present at festivals, the film that is better than the quality of its production.  I’m not saying that the guys didn’t do a good job, but there’s nothing overwhelming about their work as documentarians… they are as good as their subject.  And in this case, their subject is brilliant, wild, scared, funny, passionate, seasoned, obstinate, impossible and unstoppable… almost.

The saga behind The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is both incredibly unique and standard operating procedure at the same time.  Of course, many productions can be so described.  Some films go more smoothly than others, but each does have its own unique life and each one is, in its way, a minor miracle.  The final word on Gilliam’s Don Quixote haven’t been written… not so much because he still hopes to get it produced someday, but because the story of this film is very much the story of Gilliam’s career.  Can he overcome the perception that he is a brilliant screw up and continue to make his films or will be lost to filmmaking because he can’t get financed, much like Orson Welles?  As I wrote, we don’t know yet.  But God knows, for the sake of film, I hope he finds his way.  To lose a director of his vision would be a major loss indeed.

The documentary, which will be release by IFC Films, starts early in pre-production and stays with the film to its bitter end, as shooting ends due to an ailing star and the entire possibility of making the film devolves into a legal argument.  And while the horror show element is clear, the film is also one of the best I’ve seen at taking an audience into the process of production, spotlighting the myriad details and decisions that are made every day on every film.

Michael Moore’s Bowling For Columbine is a whole different playing field.  Moore’s skills as a comic filmmaker are central to the success of the film, which doesn’t document an event so much as show Moore at work creating an event by making the film.  There are moments of ‘straight” documentary goodness, such as Moore’s showing us more footage from the school security cameras than we’ve ever before had a chance to see.  But the magic of this film is in the moments that are real, yet created by Moore.

For instance, Moore’s efforts at a sane conversation with Charlton Heston… K-Mart’s reaction to Moore and two Columbine victims arriving at their corporate headquarters… an animated history of guns in America… Moore meeting with American Bandstand’s Dick Clark… and Moore chatting about farming with the Nichols brother who didn’t get imprisoned for the Oklahoma City bombing.

Moore is a master pot stirrer.  He is a drama queen sans make-up like no other.  And he is one funny mofo.  There are issues on which he and I definitely disagree, but his ability to get people talking is a gift to all the world.  And Bowling to Columbine is a look at America that none of us can afford to miss.

I promised Moore that I would write about some issues he commented on regarding the distribution of the film in Canada and America.  But after further investigation, I am not 100 percent convinced at 1:23am on Sunday night that his perception is 100 percent fact.  He offered documentation, so I will try to take him up on it this week.  Because if what he says is true, it is among the most offensive bits of potential censorship in the history of film.  But if it is not, it would be hugely unfair to paint anyone with the foul smelling paint that Moore slings quite passionately.

But back to that “everyone should see it” thing… There is a wonderful Korean film that you may not get a chance to see that I would love to see in the VCRs of every family with pre-teens.   It’s called The Way Home and its directed by Lee Jeong-Hyang. 

The story is simple.  A young boy, somewhere between 8 and 10, is forced to stay with his grandmother for an undetermined amount of time while his single mother takes care of some business.  But this grandma isn’t living in a condo by the beach.  She lives in a traditional shack in the middle of nowhere with a TV that doesn’t really work, no appliances and no nearby malls… on top of that, she is mute.

I like to think of the film as Local Hero for Kids, as the boy has to adapt from his urban kid lifestyle to the slow, simple ways of generations before.  Will he do it?  Will it work out?  Can love overcome?  I bet you know the answers.  But that hardly matters.  This film is about the journey and about remembering the journey that we all take in our lives. 

As I thought about my own nephew and niece while I watched The Way Home, I was thinking about what they would get out of the film.  But I also allowed myself to think about what lessons I was learning… how they use all of the modern technology, but how much fun they can have with the most simple of games and toys.  Do they need to relearn the way home or do we adults? 

Traditions are found and flounder in Todd Haynes’ big buzz film, Far From Heaven.  The much-anticipated recreation of a Douglas Sirk-style film, Far From Heaven tells the tale of a happily-married woman who turns out not to be so happily married.  The reasons for the marital problems are trumped, publicly, by her willingness to build a friendship with a Negro in this 1950s era film.  

Far From Heaven is probably the most discussable popular film here at the festival and I don’t have the time or energy to do it justice right now.  But I will… in time.  Haynes and his team use a very special visual palette for the film and while the movie sticks to 50s conventions for two acts, it starts breaking some rules in the third act, after the unheard of use of the word “fuck.”  And so the question… is the film “just” a classic Sirk-like melodrama or is Haynes frying bigger fish?  We’ll get into more of it later… promise.

Finally, a Canadian film.  That may sound like an odd distinction, but it is part of the landscape around here.  And while Perspective Canada is a hail and hardy institution, most of the films it offers are painfully lacking.  Not so Wiebke von Carolsfeld’s Marion Bridge, a movie about three sisters, a dying mother and the secrets that have kept them all together and tear them apart.  (That reads like a press note, doesn’t it?  Sorry… late.)

As all Canadian films do (ha ha), Marion Bridge stars Molly Parker.  And while she is terrific, she has first-rate acting partners here with Stacy Smith and especially, the Sarandon-eyed scene stealer, Rebecca Jenkins, whose 15-year-long career has been made up mostly of TV work.

Marion Bridge (sucky name if you don’t know old Canadian hit singles) takes you by surprise by coming right at you, then slowly sneaking around behind you, integrating you into this family.   Some things are obvious… but maybe they aren’t.  Scabs are pulled off, but sometimes heal faster for the pulling.  And just when you relax, some other small pain of what always feels like a real set of lives pulls you into an examination of your own life.  A lovely journey… with three women finding their own way home.

I’ve seen nine other films this weekend.  Three were major disappointments, four were “other” and both Miramax’s most recent buy, Jet Lag and Fox’s crafty one-man show, Phone Booth, were quality piffles.  I’ll cover this waterfront more carefully as I wrap up the festival next week.

In the meantime, Monday offers the edgy Asian-American Better Luck Tomorrow, Catherine Breillat’s reexamination of her own film Fat Girl, Sex Is Comedy, the Nazi comedy, Max and hopefully, the new Steve James documentary, Stevie.

It’s 2am… I’m going to sleep.

READER OF THE DAY:  Two forms of Snipes abuse in today’s e-mails.  First, this from Team Stevie:  “Hyperbole may be one thing, but did you see these howlers from UTA the other day when they signed Wesley Snipes?

The following quotes appeared in the trades:  "Wesley is among the most dynamic and exciting stars ever to appear onscreen," UTA partner Marty Bowen said.  Partner David Schiff added, "we are excited across the entire agency to be working with Wesley (and Amen Ra Films) to help him add to his unparalleled body of work."

Among the most dynamic and exciting stars EVER to appear on screen???  UNPARALLELED body of work???

I don't know what they're on over at UTA, but I'd like some.”

And this came in from NOT THE JUST ONCE GUY:  “As someone who took notice of the discrepancy between advertising and reality in Reign of Fire's posters, I thought you might like to know of a similar incongruity in the new ads for Undisputed. I don't know if they have been this way since the start, but today's subtle ad in the LA Times has Wesley Snipes dressed in a leather jacket with a gun tucked into his hand. I had the displeasure of seeing this film and I am pretty sure that this image does not relate to the story in any manner since Snipes spends the entire movie in prison.  Perhaps the nuances of a boxing story can't stand up to the gore of Blade.”

E ME:  Your comments… and should I write a 9/11 column or do we all need a day off?