TIFF 2010: Masters Cannes offerings and Palme d’Or Winner, plus Trio from Venice

You can call this year’s Masters section the “re-showing of old filmmaker favorites from Cannes”. Plenty of the names selected here Godard, Lee Chang-dong, Ken Loach, Manoel de Oliveira and Palme D’or winning Apichatpong Weerasethakul were expected to show up, added to the Cannes titles we have a trio from Venice in: Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing and Catherine Breillat’s The Sleeping Beauty. The one world premiere is from Amos Gitai (Roses à Crédit). Here is 10 of the list of 13 that make up the section.

13 Assassins Takashi Miike, Japan North American Premiere
Cult director Takeshi Miike delivers a period action film set at the end of Japan’s feudal era in which a group of unemployed
samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a
wartorn future.

Essential Killing Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary North American
Premiere
A Taliban fighter is captured, interrogated, tortured and then transported to an unnamed snowy destination in Europe. He
manages to escape and must use his wits to evade his pursuers whilst battling bitter winter cold and lack of food.

Film Socialism Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland North American Premiere
Godard’s latest film, a “symphony in three movements,” grapples with trying to make sense of a world that appears to be beyond
comprehension and meaning.

I Wish I Knew Jia Zhang-ke, China/The Netherlands North American Premiere
Commissioned to commemorate the 2010 World Expo, this documentary on Shanghai portrays a chapter of modern Chinese
history through interviews and scenic views of a city in continuous evolution. I Wish I Knew is directed by one of the youngest
masters of cinema, Jia Zhang-ke.

Poetry Lee Chang-dong, South Korea North American Premiere
Rhyme and crime intertwine in Poetry, the moving portrait of an elegant old lady in the initial stages of Alzheimer’s, as well as a
lyrical take on creative discovery and an upsetting look at juvenile violence, by Korean master Lee Chang-dong.

Roses à Crédit Amos Gitai, France World Premiere
A young couple marry in France in the 1940s and the film follows the arc of their marriage over the next decade. As France
recovers from the trauma of the war, the wife finds herself increasingly caught up in acquiring material possessions while the
husband prefers a more traditional lifestyle.

Route Irish Ken Loach, United Kingdom/France/Belgium/Italy/Spain North American Premiere
A British solider who worked with a security firm in Iraq attends the funeral of his best friend, who was killed on the notorious
Baghdad highway Route Irish. After receiving an envelope containing his friend’s cell phone with a video recording of a
massacre of Iraqi civilians, he sets out to avenge his friend’s memory.

The Sleeping Beauty Catherine Breillat, France North American Premiere
An epic fantasia of a young girl’s coming-of-age, featuring Catherine Breillat’s signature take on gender relations and
breathtaking cinematography.

The Strange Case of Angelica Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/Spain/France/Brazil North American Premiere
Manoel de Oliveira, a 101-year-old filmmaker, returns to the Douro River, the site of his first short, Douro Faina Fluvial, to create
a surprising tale about a metaphysical love that defies reason. Photographer Isaac becomes smitten when he is called to take
the last picture of the beautiful Angelica. Although she is dead, when he looks at her through his viewfinder she becomes
animated and lively.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Apichatpong Weerasethakul, U.K./Thailand/France/Germany/Spain – North American Premiere
Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul takes viewers on a subliminal journey through a
cinematic border zone where magic, transmigration of souls and generations of memory cohabit in a highly original masterpiece.