The glitz, the glamour, and the glory of having your film premiere at one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, the Toronto International Film Festival, took centre stage once again this September.
Hailed as the true return of TIFF post the pandemic and Hollywood writers and actors strike last year, the red carpet was graced with some of the industry’s biggest stars. JLo wowed per usual in what’s being called her “revenge dress.” Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson touched onlookers with their emotional outpouring post their premiere. Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams and Cate Blanchett all received awards at the TIFF Tribute Awards. And, a number of international films, some of which had casts who had never travelled outside of their home countries until now, premiered to emotional film ensembles and audiences, touching all in attendance.
While I’ve tended to attend more TIFF parties than watch films in the past, this year, I was excited to catch some highly touted movies and their stars! These are a few of my faves from TIFF 2024. —Charmaine Noronha
Nightbitch
Amy Adams gives an Oscar-worthy performance in this movie adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed novel Nightbitch. Writer-director Marielle Heller does a commendable job turning this page-turner into a movie, but Adams truly brings it to life.
The film addresses topics not often talked about openly when it comes to motherhood: the isolation, losing one’s self, and the overwhelm. Visual artist Adams plays a mother who’s contending with the aftermath of giving up her job at a museum to be a full-time parent to her and her husband’s adorable two-year-old son. In the monotony and overwhelm of parenthood, she finds herself growing increasingly angry and frustrated with her situation as her partner is often away for work with the main responsibilities of child-care falling nearly solely on her. As the film progresses, so does her rage, which begins to manifest in a, let’s say, animalistic state for her. Scenes of her running with the wolves, or dogs rather, serve as an almost allegorical tale of owning your inner beast mode.
While there’s a fantastical element to this film, it honours motherhood by conveying the difficulties and hardships in a real way. Adams might just take a golden statute home for this baby!
Superboys of Malegaon
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… the Superboys of Malegaon, travelling faster than the speed of light hopefully into movie theatres near you because this is one you’ll want to catch.
The film, helmed by Reema Kagti (Talaash: The Answer Lies Within) in her latest collaboration with producer Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy), chronicles the life of Nasir Shaikh, whose no-budget, community-sourced movies turned his hometown Malegaon, a small town in Maharashtra, India, into an unlikely dream factory.
Superboys of Malegaon reimagines the spirit of Malegaon’s passionate filmmakers who create their own versions of popular movies on shoestring budgets, including “Sholay.” The film is inspired by the DIY filmmaker Nasir Sheikh, whose work was previously showcased in Faiza Ahmad Khan’s beloved 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon.
In this reimagined version, we see a ragtag group of friends come together to create movie magic in a country that’s crazy about cinema. But it’s about much more than low-budget film production, the movie tugs at your heartstrings with the promise of dreams realized and more so, about the bonds that bind among friends-turned-family.
While the film celebrates Sheikh’s innovative approach to filmmaking with limited resources, it really is about the drive to make your dreams come true and those who stand by you as the group rallies to produce films. The movie’s last chapter preserves the memory of Sheikh’s friend Shafique Shaikh, who starred in Yeh Hai Malegaon Ka Superman before he passed away, by giving him a starring role.
The film premiere garnered a standing O to an already emotional cast who closed the night with tear-felt hugs and pride.
“My wildest dreams came true acting in this film and then travelling here to Toronto to premiere the movie. It’s been an unimaginable journey and I’ll be forever grateful for this,” said one of the film’s actors Saqib Ayub, who travelled to Toronto, and North America, for the first time for TIFF.
Without Blood
Angelina Jolie returns to the director’s chair in this film about war, trauma, and grief. While they’re hefty themes to explore, Jolie has addressed the horrors of war in other films: conflicts in Bosnia with In the Land of Blood and Honey; Cambodia (First They Killed My Father); and even the Second World War (Unbroken). This time around, despite stellar performances by leads Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir, Jolie’s latest in war pics falls flat.
Adapting Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same name, the film opens to a frontier landscape with gunmen on horses firing in what looks like possibly Mexico, but here’s where the film already begins to lose audience members. We never learn where the film takes place, what war is being fought, nor what year we’re watching unfold.
The horseback men are looking to exact revenge on a doctor, who may or may not have conducted medical experiments on patients during or perhaps after the war. He now lives alone with his son and daughter in a farmhouse. The only one to survive a blowout that ensues is the young daughter (Nina, played by Hayek Pinault), who also seems to survive a house fire the same day of the shootout and we never fully learn how.
Years later, Nina engages Tito (Bichir), one of the gunmen that fateful day. The two sit down for coffee and what follows next is a back and forth retelling of both of their stories and experiences. Tito tells Nina the stories that he’s heard of her life since that day, and Nina either accepts or rejects it. It’s a commentary on how the legacy of war has lasting effects for those unfortunate enough to be affected by it.
The pair deliver powerful, contained performances but the film leaves a lot of questions unanswered. And while the cinematography is beautiful, moody and draws you in, Jolie’s adaptation, which remains true to Baricco’s story, refuses to identify a particular conflict. This abstraction makes the film feel more like an art piece due to the imagery and vagueness.
Both Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir are gripping in their portrayals and deliver marked performances, but with so many unanswered questions, the audience is left a bit confused and wanting more.
Piece by Piece
Happiness might be a lot of things for Pharrell Williams but last week, it was likely having his biopic film premiere to standing O audiences.
Using LEGO, director Morgan Neville helps to tell Williams’ life story through elaborately designed set pieces composed of animations of the popular building blocks. Starting with his childhood in Virginia Beach and delving into his wildly successful music career, Piece By Piece sweetly reveals how the multi-talented producer (turned rapper turned singer turned fashion icon) forged ahead to build his music career.
He faces the challenges of growing up as a Black boy from Virginia Beach, Virginia, in a housing project, and in a city that doesn’t have the same music industry and support that say Los Angeles or New York might have. Until OG producer extraordinaire Teddy Riley decides to build a music studio there, and host a talent show in which a young Williams and his high school band the Neptunes with partner, Chad Hugo, wow everyone.
Williams, who struggles in school, knows deep down that he has a gift. And LEGO blocks help to illustrate an aspect of his gifts. Williams has synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes people to experience more than one sense at the same time. When listening to music, Williams saw different colors, patterns and, in his words, “beautiful cascades of light.” The LEGO pieces help to highlight how Williams’ mind works, forever on the hunt to create unique and heavy-hitter beats. And sometimes these beats take on a life of their own.
With the beginnings of his career jump started by Riley, Williams goes on to forge ahead to create beautiful music that sends a stir through not only Virginia, but eventually the world. And to uncover many of the musical lives he’s touched, a number of notable rappers and producers grace the LEGO-enhanced screen to discuss their combined journeys including Snoop Dog, Jay Z, Missy Elliot (who went to school with Williams), Timbaland and more. I mean this film has the potential to create an inclusive dream for LEGO as I envision a host of characters being created as merch. (And in all honesty, the only real issue I had with the film was the massive brand association and the marketing potential for some, ahem, blurred lines between art and commercialization.)
Piece By Piece, with its PG rating, is geared toward a younger audience, and so the sentiment of self-acceptance and following one’s dreams feels rather apropos. While it might fall light on true depth of story-telling, it’s definitely inspiring and a fun, visual treat to watch.
Life of Chuck
The Tom Hiddleston-led drama The Life of Chuck is the surprise winner of this year’s TIFF audience award. And I’m honestly not sure why.
The Life of Chuck is divided into three acts depicted in reverse, each narrated by Nick Offerman. It kicks off with “Act Three,” featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a schoolteacher who is contending with an oncoming apocalypse from the perspective of a small American town. Following a devastating 9.1 magnitude California quake and other natural disasters, the internet has been on the fritz for months, and is on the verge of blacking out along with TV and cell service. Meanwhile, climate change has ravaged nearly every country.
But apparently one of the most puzzling things amidst this dystopia is the curious billboards around town thanking a professionally dressed, bespectacled man named Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) for “39 great years.”
In “Act Two” we begin to learn about Hiddleston’s character, however, the film’s middle section is almost entirely composed of an impromptu dance sequence. A seemingly frustrated Chuck, a businessman in a town that looks like a Hollywood lot, joins a heartbroken young girl in a spontaneous swing session on the street. I’m left wondering what the actual connection to the movie’s earlier segment is as this act also alludes to Chuck being on his deathbed due to a brain tumor at 39 years of age (hence the billboards, we finally see the connection).
In “Act Three,” the movie follows Chuck’s childhood lived with his grandparents after the death of his parents. We learn about how dance became an uplifting outlet for him as a teen in a rather sweet section of the movie. And this act also deals with ghostly premonitions and a locked door to a secret, creepy attic.
There are greater themes this film addresses: learning to hold onto precious moments and dance your way through adversity. It delivers significant uplifting moments but it does so against the backdrop of an initially darkly intriguing premise that grows more confusing as the film moves along. At least for this gal!
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