Dawn and The Husband will be spending the next few days attending the Toronto International Film Festival, known to the locals as TIFF. As rookie attendees, they realize there is a great deal to learn and a great deal to know. They have selected a modest number of films (5) as their initiation into TIFF with hopes that perhaps this learning experience will lead to a more comprehensive schedule in future years. TIFF is also serving as a tremendous distraction from the world's ills, the impending High Holidays, and hurricanes named for Jewish uncles and aunts. The next several posts will focus on TIFF and offer very quick bullet point reviews for the movies seen. Plan your Oscar ballots appropriately.
Another Day, Another Film at TIFF
- The festival has proven to be a wonderful distraction for both The Husband and me. Between the never-ending shitshow that is playing out in real time south of the border, to the fretful past few days worrying about friends, family, and property who were in Aunt Irma's path, to the nauseating mayoral announcement of the nastier and more explicitly evil of the Ford brothers, to the upcoming High Holidays, the early part of this month hasn't really been a cornucopia of fun times. TIFF has allowed us to escape from some of that outside misery and to bury ourselves within the escapism of the movies. I honestly can't think of a better use for my entertainment dollars right now.
- While many continue to hunt down and stalk celebrities, I am far more excited when a sighting just happens organically. Truth be told, I have never been starstruck. I am in awe of the talent and the art but celebrity frankly bores me. Still, it can be a wee bit thrilling when while just strolling down King Street yesterday, we happened to bump into Willem Dafoe headed into our local Starbucks for a caffeine infusion. What was even better? As we ventured further down the street, there in front of us was his six-year-old costar from The Florida Project Brooklynn Prince, all decked out in her TIFFiest finery, signing autographs. Yes...I said six years old! Hollywood. OY!
- Today's film, Disobedience, is set in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in the London neighbourhood of Hendon. I am usually very suspicious of Jewishly themed movies for a number of reasons but chief amongst them is that Jews like to go and see Jewish movies and act as if we somehow had a hand in creating them. I call it the "Pride of the Tribe" mentality. As a result, today's noon showing of this film felt like being dropped into the middle of a Hadassah-Wizo conclave. Half of the middle-aged Jewish women of Toronto were in the sold-out crowd. Some had dragged their less-than-enthusiastic husbands along for the ride. As we stood in the queue waiting to enter the theatre, the gentleman behind us complained to his wife that she had tricked him into attending a drama when she knows that he only likes comedies. Worse yet for this guy? There are two women as the leads. Popcorn was his only saving grace.
- A quick aside. How funny was it that during a rabbinic study session in the film, the yeshiva bochers (young men) were studying the first verses of Song of Songs...the very same verses that The Husband and I read aloud during Torah study this past Shabbat? We kept waiting for one of the rebbes in the scene to bring up Rashi's interpretation.
- One other quick aside. The orthodox Jewish woman played with such surprising depth and repression by Rachel McAdams shlepped the very same bundle buggy that I purchased for The Husband. It was described in the movie as "very frum". I was almost under my seat during that scene because I was laughing so hard. The Husband was less than impressed.
- Disobedience was a pre-festival choice of mine and The Husband came along for the ride. It is the tale of childhood friends reuniting following the death of one of their fathers. There is an acute somberness to the film that is necessary to the storyline so that when the release finally does come it is welcome and exhilarating. Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams create characters of complexity and depth, but it is Rachel McAdams' Esti that is at the heart of the film. We see her in a role unlike any she has ever played before and she is almost struggling to keep her natural radiance submerged. When both she and Esti let it go, it is almost magical. It is so refreshing to see women in a film that are not there to serve as eye-candy or to prop up the men. This is a story about two women and it is ably crafted by director Sebastian Lelio in his first English language film. Disobedience is a slow simmer, but it is a freeing delight. Dawn and The Husband's recommendation for this film: Two enthusiastic YUPS!
A quick note. We don't really like every film we see. We have just been lucky so far at 3 for 3. Hopefully, our streak will continue.
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