Dawn and The Husband will be spending the next few days attending the Toronto International Film Festival, known to the locals as TIFF. No longer rookies, they still have selected a modest number of films (5) because Rosh Hashanah is putting a crimp into their movie-viewing schedule this year. TIFF still serves as a tremendous distraction from the world's ills, the impending High Holidays, and asshole would-be dictators whose names rhyme with Dump and Thug. The next several posts will focus on TIFF and offer very quick bullet point reviews for the movies seen.
The Toronto International Film Festival has returned this year and it is the perfect sanctuary in which to escape from the horrendous news cycle. I will admit that this year, The Husband and I tried to choose carefully from the potpourri on celluloid so as to avoid any flick that involved terrorist acts, religious chasms, Vikings, or anything that might have Kevin Costner attached to it. We just don't have the stomach for any of that shit this year.
Our opening film, Vox Lux, is one of those movie-going experiences that has me really stumped. As I sit here writing this post, it is two full hours since we left the theatre and I am still not certain as to whether this film is a brilliant masterpiece or a hot mess. The Husband is definitely going with the latter but there is something about it that is still poking at my psyche. The draw for this piece was definitely the dual acting powerhouses of Natalie Portman and Jude Law (He and I share a birthday. One of the many reasons I love him.) reuniting onscreen to portray a Lady Gaga-style pop star and her manager. With songs written directly for the screen by Sia, the movie jumps wildly from horrific community tragedies to personal miseries to a weird redemption scene that, honestly didn't make a whole lot of sense. There is a feeling throughout that while there are a deep understanding and empathy for the darkness of the characters and where that originates, there is also an underlying emotion that the whole thing is slightly self-indulgent and a bit of a vanity project for director Brady Corbet.
The camera work is unique and jarring and the acting is superb. Sometimes, actors transcend a film and I think that both Portman and Law do so here. They are true pros and often rise above the subject matter. The real revelation, however, is young Raffey Cassidy in a dual role. She navigates the emotional drama with a poise that isn't seen in actors twice her age.
Vox Lux is an underbelly story to A Star is Born which is also premiering here at TIFF. (We chose not to see the third incarnation of Star because...really...how many times?)The irony of Lady Gaga playing it as a straight rock star while Natalie Portman is pretty much playing Gaga or Sia isn't lost on anybody. The idea that the persona becomes the person is examined in great detail in Vox Lux and yet, this year, we have Gaga trying to reclaim her personhood in Star. It is a weird sidebar to the film.
Vox Lux isn't an easy film. It requires patience and determination. It is still in search of a distribution deal and will probably find it on the backs and reputations of Portman and Law. That said, it is really really weird and apart from some dynamic performances left us both cold. Dawn and The Husband's recommendation for this film: Two Nopes.
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| Natalie Portman and Jude Law at the premiere of Vox Lux |
***Due to the upcoming Holy Days, our next film isn't until next week. Until then...Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tovah U'metukah to all who observe.
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