Representing a monumental leap in poise and craft, it is also Bonello's most subtle work in terms of provocation and shocking or subversive imagery. I met up with Mr. Bonello after his film's North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, when we discussed his place in the New Extremity Movement, the mixed reception that his film has had with North American critics, and the research that went into the project, among other things.
#10. Of Gods and Men - Xavier Beauvois (February 25th)
Select sequences are almost worthy of comparison to Bresson, including head monk Lambert Wilson's conflicted hike into nature, or the monks' final, close-up filled suppertime farewell. The film needed a more ruthless editor, however -- many scenes come across as mundane and unnecessary. Could easily be an hour shorter, and better for it.
Over 295 films - this includes shorts, fiction and documentary, animation, retrospectives, tributes, professional panels, outdoor interactive installations, the festival which takes place between the 13th to the 24th of October, furiously promotes not only world talent, but local French Canadian filmmakers. Among the notable titles, we have Michelangelo Frammartino's Le Quattro volte, Olivier Assayas' Carlos and Alex de la Iglesia's The Last Circus and Wang Bing is doing a Master Class for Venice-winning The Ditch. His epic 9 hour film Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks will also be shown as part of a retrospective.
Deemed as re-branding of the section, a more eclectic melange of titles mixing short, medium length pics, documentaries film and feature length items, of the items that will generate the most interest are the opening and closing titles which were revealed the week before, but we should see media coverage mentions on Paul Morrissey's News From Nowhere, Jose Luis Guerin's docu Guest (I've yet to see 2007/2008's In the City of Sylvia) and Sion Sono's Cold Fish and short film offerings from Guillermo Arriaga, Isaac Julien and Clara Law.
The thrill of meeting Marjane Satrapi reminded me of being 6 years old at Disney Land when I met the living, breathing Cinderella. Except Cinderella was an actress with a blond wig and Marjane is the real woman behind her autobiographical graphic novel, turned movie, “Persepolis”. The distinctive mole on her nose and her dark sultry eyes rose off the page and appeared in front of me, smoking and speaking with a French accent.