TIFF: Day One

As I've done for the last few years, I'm providing daily film-festival picks for Metro's Toronto edition. (The shows are almost certainly sold out, but there's always the rush line.)

Thing is, the recommendations aren't being included on the paper's website, unless you go to the trouble of downloading the PDF file of the day's edition -- today's is here, if you're so inclined -- so you can't just go online and quickly read them.

This is where blogging saves the world, or at least the 14 MB PDF download. I'll be posting my Metro picks right here every morning, the better to help steer you in your fest quest. (And as of tomorrow, I'll be posting them much, much earlier in the day ... sorry about that, I was on deadline this morning.)

Anyway, here are my festival picks for Thursday, September 7th:

"Requiem"

If Hans-Christian Schmid’s harrowing study of a young woman enduring a physical and mental breakdown seems a little familiar, that’s because it’s based on the same events that inspired last fall’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose. But Schmid’s film is more interested in psychological reality than expensive visual effects, and puts its terrified martyr (Sandra Hüller, in an amazing performance) at the center of the story, rather than relegating her to flashbacks. Decide for yourself which is the more effective approach.

6:15 pm at the Varsity 1 & 6; repeats Friday, 11:45 am at the Paramount 1 and Sept. 14, 9:30 pm at the Varsity 2.

"La Tourneuse de Pages"

Claude Chabrol doesn’t have a film at the festival this year, but his spirit is very much present in this chilly French drama about a famous pianist (Catherine Frot) and the young woman (L’Enfant’s Deborah Francois) who serves as both her assistant and persecutor. Director Denis Dercourt orchestrates their battle of wills with exquisite tension; this is a film so tightly wound that a dropped cello constitutes a major plot point. But it’s all about where one drops it, isn’t it?

8:30 pm at the Varsity 4 & 5; repeats Saturday, 9:15 am at the Paramount 4.

Also worthwhile:

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
Midnight at the Ryerson Theatre; repeats Saturday, 1:15 pm at the Paramount 2.

"Deliver Us From Evil"
8 pm at the Varsity 7; repeats Saturday, 2:45 pm at the Varsity 8.

"Fido"
9:15 pm at the Ryerson Theatre; repeats Saturday, 3:45 pm at the Paramount 2.

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley"
6 pm at the Ryerson Theatre; repeats Saturday, 12 pm at the Elgin.

Hope that helps ...

Technorati tags: Movies, Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF