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MonthSeptember 2018

Posted Film Festivals

TIFF Review: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

by Raquel Stecher

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
dir. Marielle Heller
starring Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Jane Curtin, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone

Review:

Based on the real life story of author turned forger Lee Israel, director Marielle Heller’s film dives into the literary world of 1990s NYC, a golden era in publishing and literary artifacts. The story follows the once celebrated biographer (Melissa McCarthy) as she finds herself in dire straits. Her agent Marjorie (Jane Curtin) isn’t returning her phone calls because no one wants another biography about Fannie Brice. She’s behind on her rent, her cat is sick and flies feed off the squalor in her down trodden apartment. When Israel happens across a letter written by Dorothy Parker tucked away in a book, she sells it and discovers that she can make quite a bit of money off of selling these letters but she needs to get her hands on more. So she uses her writing talents and her newfound penchant for deceit to forge letters from celebrated figures including Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Edna Ferber, Louise Brooks and others. She reunites with an old drinking buddy Jack (Richard E. Grant) who joins her adventures. As things spiral out of control, Lee proves to be ruthless and unapologetic criminal.

Melissa McCarthy embodies the persona of Lee Israel seamlessly. And Richard E. Grant threatens to steal the movie with his brilliant performance as the shifty sidekick Jack. They play off each other beautifully. When I was originally selecting my slate of TIFF films for coverage, I was looking for LGBT films and didn’t realize that this would be one of them. The movie explores Israel’s romantic relationships with women including a budding romance with the used book dealer Anna (Dolly Wells) she’s selling forged letters to. The film dives even deeper into Jack’s sexuality as a homeless gay man living in New York City during the 1990s.

I was expecting some humor in this film but it truly is a straightforward drama and not a comedy or even a dramedy. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a captivating film about two unforgivable tricksters who will forge their way into your heart whether you like it or not.

Fox Searchlight Pictures will release Can You Ever Forgive Me? in theaters on October 19th.

I attended a special press and industry screening of Can You Ever Forgive Me? at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

 

Posted Film Festivals

TIFF Review: The Quietude

Quietude2.jpg

by Raquel Stecher

La quietud
dir. Pablo Trapero
Starring: Martina Gusman, Bérénice Bejo, Edgar Ramírez, Graciela Borges

Review:

Set in a country estate in Argentina, The Quietude tells the story of two sisters Mia (Martina Gusman) and Eugenia (Bérénice Bejo). Eugenia travels back from Paris to The Quietude, the family’s expansive estate, when their father suffers a debilitating stroke. As the two pick up where they left off secrets start to bubble up to the surface: a pregnancy, extra marital affairs, fraud, toxic relationships and secret papers. This is more than just a story about rich people behaving badly. It’s about a family delving into a state of chaos as everything begins to unravel.

Pablo Trapero’s film takes the viewer on a wild ride they don’t even know they’re on. The story has several twists and turns and it borders on the edge of melodrama but never crosses the line into soap opera territory. The sexuality in the film is at times titillating and confusing. The gaze of the male director was palpable. There is a scene with the two sisters that to me felt more like a male fantasy than something that would occur between the characters. Gusman and Bejo (best known for The Artist) play their parts beautifully and in a rare instance in the history of cinema, they actually look like sisters. The standout performance is delivered by veteran actress Graciela Borges who plays the deeply tormented matriarch of the family.

Throughout the film, the family’s chaotic state is represented through reoccurring electrical outages that cause the lights to flicker and the music to screech to a stop. The Quietude is filled with absurd moments that become almost humorous. There is so much built up tension that at the film’s biggest climactic scene the audience let out a laugh. Less so because the scene was funny but because we needed to let something out.

The Quietude is dark and mysterious. While the male gaze was a bit heavy handed, I still felt like the female characters were interesting and the leads had some wonderful moments to shine.

Trapero’s film has been picked up by Columbia Pictures but no US release date has been announced. His film The Clan is available to watch on Netflix.

I attended a special press and industry screening of The Quietude at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Posted 1 Comment on TIFF Review: Assassination Nation Film Festivals

TIFF Review: Assassination Nation

assassinationnation

by Raquel Stecher

Assassination Nation
dir. Sam Levinson
starring: Odessa Young, Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse, Abra, Joel McHale, Bella Thorne, Bill Skarsgard, Maude Apatow

“You had it coming, America.”

When a movie starts with a preview of trigger warnings you know you’ll be in for a wild ride. Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation was one of my most anticipated films of TIFF and it delivered on many fronts. This modern take on the Salem witch trials is dark, twisted, raunchy and violent. It follows the story of four teens as they navigate their senior year with all the peer pressure that comes with it but kicked up several notches when key members of the community get hacked. Led by Odessa Young, the four young women including Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse and Abra, the town of Salem begins to spiral out of control and they become the target of the community’s blood thirsty need for their brand of justice. On the surface this might seem like another scary movie to watch on Halloween but on a deeper level it delivers some cutting critiques about modern day society. It explores peer pressure, the sexualization of young women, toxic masculinity, privacy, doxxing, public shaming, mob mentally, misplaced righteousness and distrust of authority. And if you’re like me and shy away from horror films, this one has some violence but there is so much to enjoy from the visual imagery, costumes, lighting cinematography, typography that makes it well worth the gory scenes. I loved the female empowerment message and found myself pumping my fist in the air and cheering the protagonists on. Assassination Nation is not one to miss.

Neon releases Assassination Nation in theatres on September 21st.

I attended a special press screening of Assassination Nation at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

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