This weekend, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) presents two gala premieres that I can’t wait to see. Chloe, an Atom Egoyan film starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried premieres on Sunday, and is followed by Precious, a film produced by Oprah Winfrey.
My hit list also includes Air Doll, a film by my favourite Japanese director, Hirokazu Kore-eda, about a blow-up doll that magically comes to life; Antichrist, from Lars von Trier, the director who won the Palme D’Or in 2000 for his stunning Dancer in the Dark; and famous French director François Ozon’s Le Refuge.
If you don’t feel like fighting for tickets to get into some of the more popular screenings this week, there are a whole host of free events at Yonge-Dundas Square. Not to be missed: a screening of Neil Young Trunk Show, directed by Jonathan Demme, who will be at the square to introduce the film (Young himself was also scheduled to attend, but he recently cancelled his appearance). Look for my thoughts on these and other films, plus tips on great music, art, theatre and special events, in future editions of this new column.
I love TIFF; it never fails to deliver magic on some level. The festival takes me back to the foundation of my love affair with the arts, which was probably around the time I skipped out of a movie theatre at the old Yorkdale cinemas and danced across the parking lot, pretending its pavement was the face of the moon. I was completely, utterly exhilarated after seeing Moonstruck on the big screen. I was six.
But my full-fledged devotion to the art of film only fully bore its head while watching my first Oscar night ceremony on TV when I was eight or nine. That red carpet! Those golden statues! And later, when I was thirteen, Anna Paquin’s speech for her win in The Piano! (Her early success told me that one day I too could win an Oscar.)
Needing to escape reality for pockets of time, I prefer to turn to the intoxicant of art, rather than a pill or elixir. This method has served me equally well throughout awkward teenage traumas, tough law school exam periods and exhausting articling days. Somehow, a good book, a poignant film score or an arresting piece of visual art has always managed to take me to a place of stillness and peace. It is this stillness for which I continuously search, and will now dutifully report on to you.
Good film awaits us all this week, no matter what we see. I have always found a satisfying cultural escape at TIFF, just after the lights go down, the first crackle of film strikes its note and the TIFF score sings out, highlighting the stillness of the room.
Leanne is an associate at Heenan Blaikie LLP. She spends her free time indulging in art, film, music and literature and swears that culture tastes better than chocolate. Her column will appear every Friday here on lawandstyle.ca.