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| Threading up the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival |
VIFF 2007 - Dig it at viff.org |
by Jason Whyte
How did I get here? I never thought I would make it this far, but this is the fifth year I have attended the Vancouver International Film Festival for efilmcritic.com. When I first attended here in 2002 for only one weekend, I saw a venue to see film done in the most professional manner possible: a well maintained, well scheduled festival filled to the brim with interesting film, people and many goings-on in the 15 long days of scheduled films.
Every year I remain in awe at what is my favorite festival; an audience driven event that is more about seeing and discussing the film with the guy in line behind you as opposed to celebrity-spotting Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Toronto. While festivals like the just-finished Toronto, along with other behemoths like Sundance and Cannes that have their strengths and a lot of importance in the industry, at VIFF it is about the films and the art of simple movie-going. This is an event where it is worth it to turn your DVD and High-Definition monitor off, pay the babysitter, commute to the construction-laden Granville street and partake in an awesome selection of the best that independent and foreign cinema has to offer.
The festival opens Thursday with “Atonement” at the VISA Screening Room. This is director Joe Wright’s follow-up to his excellent “Pride & Prejudice”. Wright is a filmmaker who was able to do the difficult task of adapting Jane Austen down to a 2.5 hour film when there was already a landmark BBC movie released in the 90’s, so no doubt he is a gifted adaptationist and filmmaker. Keira Knightley and James McAvoy also star. Last I checked, neither they nor Wright will be attending the festival.
The festival’s closing gala is “Priceless”, which I saw recently and was surprised at how much I KIND OF enjoyed it. It is the defining example of “middling” French entertainment, about a hotel worker (Tad from The Valet, VIFF ‘06) who falls in love with a money-grubber (Audrey Tautou) and pretends to be rich and wealthy to woo her love. It’s a very light-hearted (if a bit TOO light-hearted) affair, but the French angle and the luminous vision of Audrey Tautou kind of make up for it. (KIND of.) It may be a fitting choice, however, especially if you are seeing more than 50 movies at this year’s festival and are desiring a bit lighter of an affair.
Inbetween “Atonement” and “Priceless” is about 250 features, mid-lengths and short packages continuously scheduled through the festival’s 15 days, in addition to the festival’s Trade Forum, parties, workshops and various other activities that go on for the two weeks. And ladies and gentlemen, it is a glorious time to be a filmgoer. This year’s selection of films highlights the burgeoning cinema from China, as well as strong focus on our blue planet. Oh, and there’s also just the best selection of foreign cinema here as well.
Some of the special presentation highlights of this festival include Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” which recently won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and has been slapped with the notorious NC-17 rating (which means nothing in Canada since we have a different ratings system; at best it will be rated “R” which means no one under 18). The Palme D’or winner at Cannes this year, “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days” is screening as a special presentation and will no doubt attract a lot of attention. The animated “Persepolis” also screens as a special presentation, as does Sidney Lumet’s new film “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” which has been getting some extreme raves, and there’s also “Control”, a UK import about the troubled life of the early years of Joy Division. From Austin, Texas, “The Unforeseen” (which I saw at this year’s South By Southwest) is an excellent eco-documentary on the beloved city that is worth seeing. And on the mainstream front, the surprisingly enjoyable “The Jane Austen Book Club” is also screening, just once, in the first few days of the festival and is recommended for book fans as well as people who enjoy a well made comedy in a sea of dick and fart jokes.
On the Canadian front, “The Stone Angel” -- which just recently screened at Toronto -- is the Canadian Images opening film. Jeremy Podeswa’s “Fugitive Pieces”, which opened Toronto, is also here as a special presentation. “Young People Fucking” (yes, that’s the title folks!) is a brutally honest sex comedy where sex IS comedy, and will no doubt be a major talk at this year’s festival. Also keep an eye out for Tracy D. Smith’s “Taming Tammy” which is an alternate take on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, along with Brett Harvey’s wonderful documentary “The Union: The Business Behind Getting High” which is all about the weed industry up in the great north.
Another independent film worth looking out for is Saul Rubinek’s “Cruel But Necessary” a low-budget feature about an actress who does surveillance on her husband. It has been around the festival circuit for about a year now, is Canadian funded and looks to have a DVD release early in 2008. And for you Saul fans (those of you who admired his work as the sleazy producer in “True Romance” or his hilarious Henry Kissinger in “Dick”) will be happy to know that he is attending this year’s festival to promote the film as well.
(You’ll be hearing from me very soon on my thoughts for some of the films playing at this year’s festival in an upcoming article to be posted by the end of the week.)
Also joining the party in a bold way is the IMAX corporation. They are providing their lovely venue at Canada Place to screen a large selection of famous IMAX films over the last 35 years. The first ever film to be shot in IMAX, running only 20 minutes, is going to be screened, along with my all-time favorite IMAX film “Everest”. Many others, like “Fighter Pilot”, “Space Station” and “Whales” are among the selections. (And like all IMAX docs, the title alone will pretty much tell you what it is about.) I think this is a great addition to the festival, yet passes will not allow you admission. You still have to purchase $12.00 individual tickets, so consider it some of the most expensive cinema in the city.
Other than IMAX, the festival venues mostly remain the same. The majority of screenings occur down at the Granville 7 Cinemas, which in 2005 was bought by Empire Theatres (a major sponsor to boot) but still remains the same late 80’s Cineplex Odeon build. Same salmon-green lobby and colored walls in the auditoriums to give you the impression you just walked into a 1987 megaplex. The good side to this is the cinemas have a LOT of seats (especially cinema #7, which has nearly 650 of them); if you’re tall and like to sit UP, however, aim for a back row seat since there is no stadium seating at this cinema. And we can’t forget the wonderful, comfy Vancity Theatre, the beatnik Pacific Cinematheque (which is a cool cinema despite the fact it desperately needs new seats) and the refurbished Ridge (which recently just had new seats installed and are VERY comfortable).
As always, I offer the same tips to those interested in the festival for the first time: buy passes, buy advance tickets and get there early. Passes and tickets will guarantee you a seat, but only if you arrive early enough (and trust me, sitting in the front row of Cinema #7 at Granville is NOT fun; I’ve been there). This is a fairly easy festival to commute around, but make sure to follow the rules, the signage and know to move quickly to avoid disappointment.
And another thing… turn off your damn cell phone. Don’t put it to vibrate and then open it up in a darkened auditorium in the middle of the film to tick off your neighbors with your damn light shining all over the place. Everyone sees it. If you forget to turn it off and it rings, silence it as quickly as possible and get ready to have a lot of people swat at you (which happened last year at the screening of the now Oscar-winning “The Lives of Others”). If myself, who fields about a dozen calls a day during the festival can put my life on hold for 90 to 150 minutes (why say “two hours” when the majority of films aren’t two hours anymore?), so can you. So TURN and KEEP it OFF.
At the end of last year, I kept saying these words in my head: “How did I get here?” I don’t know why I kept saying this to myself. Perhaps it was said by a character in a film somewhere mid-festival, but perhaps I was just in a happy state knowing that I had come to a place to celebrate an art and entertainment that I have loved for so many years and know that I will return in 12 month’s time.
Well, here I am.
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This year’s VIFF runs from September 27th to October 12th. For a full list of films, attending filmmakers, updates and various other activities, point your browser to viff.org. Also pay attention in the coming two weeks for some capsule reviews and interviews with various filmmakers from all over the world to be posted at efilmcritic.com. – Jason Whyte, jasonwhyte@efilmcritic.com. (Click to send email)
link directly to this feature at http://hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=2261
originally posted: 09/27/07 02:59:41
last updated: 10/03/07 14:42:10
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