Micmacs, Soul Kitchen, The Good Heart and Up in the Air Added to TIFF

Worse than a buffet line in Texas, the added eight titles announced today (four Gala and four Special Presentations) only reminds me of the gargantuan size of the Toronto Film Festival. Once again, it may be difficult to get to do everything one wants to do in terms of coverage, but with so many quality offerings I get a sense that I’ll encounter the future Goodbye Solos and The Hurt Lockers (among the tops of the year so far that were shown at TIFF in 08′) without even trying. Among the most anticipated titles we have is the Micmacs film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a comedy that I thought was pegged for a Venice world preem but instead is showing in Toronto first. We have a friends of the festival in Dagur Kari who returns to TIFF with the Paul Dano and Brian Cox pairing and Fatih Akin will jump from Venice to TIFF with his first ever comedy in Soul Kitchen. And finally, we have confirmation from the festival that Canadian born Jason Reitman is coming back (Juno was of course a hit at TIFF a couple of years back) with Up in the Air. One final note, Sony Pictures Classics has yet another title playing at TIFF with The Damned United.   

Galas

The Damned United
Tom Hooper, United Kingdom North American Premiere
Set in 1960’s and 1970’s England, this is the confrontational and darkly humorous story of Brian Clough’s doomed 44 day tenure as manager of the reigning champions of English football Leeds United. Previously managed by his bitter rival Don Revie, and on the back of their most successful period ever as a football club, Leeds was perceived by many to represent a new aggressive and cynical style of football. Taking the Leeds job without his trusted lieutenant, Peter Taylor, by his side, Clough encounters a changing-room full of players who – in his mind – were still Don’s boys. An examination of Clough’s belligerence and brilliance, The Damned United stars Michael Sheen, is written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) and directed by Tom Hooper (John Adams, Longford).

Dil Bole Hadippa
Anurag Singh, India World Premiere
In a village where girls don’t play cricket, Veera (Rani Mukherjee) has to put on a turban and beard and become a man to fulfill her dreams. Her brilliance on the field earns her a place in Rohan’s (Shahid Kapoor) team and Veera Kaur becomes Veer Pratap Singh. And then begins a roller-coaster journey of Veera, Rohan and Veer filled with music, romance and comedy through Punjab and beyond.

Micmacs
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France World Premiere
Is it better to live with a bullet lodged in your brain, even if it means you might drop dead any time or would you rather have the bullet taken out and live the rest of your life as a vegetable? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Is scrap metal worth more than landmines? Can you get drunk from eating waffles? Can a woman fit inside a refrigerator? What is the human cannonball world record? Micmacs, a fantastical comedy from the world class director of Amelie and Delicatessen, answers these questions and way more.

What’s Your Raashee?
Ashutosh Gowariker, India World Premiere
What’s Your Raashee? is a romantic comedy about a young man who has always wanted to marry for love. When he suddenly is told that he must find his dream girl within ten days in order to save his family from utter ruin, he discovers that finding her is even hard when it has to happen in a hurry. The film is based on the Gujarati novel, Kimball Ravenswood, by Madhu Rye and stars Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra.

Special Presentations

The Good Heart
Dagur Kari, Iceland World Premiere
A homeless boy Lucas (Paul Dano), meets Jacques (Brian Cox), a grumpy bar-owner, whose unhealthy lifestyle has brought him five heart attacks. Jacques takes Lucas under his wing with the intention of having him continue his legacy. Everything is going according to plan until a drunken stewardess named April enters the bar.

The Hole
Joe Dante, USA North American Premiere
After moving into a new town, brothers Dane and Lucas and their neighbour Julie discover a bottomless hole in their basement that brings their nightmares to life. With shadows lurking around every corner, they must face their darkest fears in order to put an end to the mystery of the hole.

Soul Kitchen
Fatih Akin, Germany North American Premiere
From the director of Head-on comes the story of a young restaurant owner Zinos is down on his luck. His girlfriend Nadine has moved to Shanghai, his Soul Kitchen customers are boycotting the new gourmet chef, and he’s having back trouble. Things start looking up when the hip crowd embraces his revamped culinary concept, but that doesn’t mend Zinos’ broken heart. He decides to fly to China for Nadine, leaving the restaurant in the hands of his unreliable ex-con brother Illias.

Up in the Air
Jason Reitman, USA World Premiere
From Jason Reitman, the Oscar-nominated director of Juno, comes a comedy starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveller woman of his dreams.