Original-Cin TIFF 2020 Picks: Sunday, September 13

By Jim Slotek, Liam Lacey, Kim Hughes, Karen Gordon, Linda Barnard, Bonnie Laufer, and Thom Ernst

Beans (TIFF Discovery/TIFF Next Wave)

Sun, Sept. 13, 12 pm and 12:30, TIFF Bell Lightbox; Tue, Sept. 15 Online at Bell Digital Cinema from 6 pm.

One of the most thought-provoking, timely, and moving films at this year’s Festival is Beans. Written and directed by Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer (also the recipient of this year’s TIFF Emerging Talent award), the film is based on true events chronicling the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in Quebec. Set in the summer of 1990, it tells the story of a 12-year-old Mohawk girl named Beans played by Kiawentiio Tarbell, in a truly memorable breakout performance.

Deer has recreated many of the events she remembered as a child during the height of the Oka Crisis with compelling details. Filming on the actual location and watching the recreation as the convoy of women, children, and elders evacuating their home community of Kahnawake cross the Mercier Bridge and head into Whiskey Trench (the sunken highway entering LaSalle in Montreal) where an angry mob pelt their vehicles with rocks is not only hard to watch but an image you will not soon forget. – BL

Falling (Special Presentations)

Sun, Sept. 13, 4:45 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox; Mon, Sept. 14, 6 pm, Bell TV customer exclusive; Thu, Sept. 17 Online at Bell Digital Cinema from 6 pm.

As dementia tugs at his sleeve, Willis lashes out with abandon, sculpting a lifetime of anger and disappointment into a masterwork of racist, sexist, and homophobic invective. None gets it worse than saintly son John, who is attempting to resettle Willis in California where he’ll be closer to John, his husband, and John’s sister. Mountainous hiccups ensue. As family dramas go, Falling is fairly conventional, using flashbacks to show Willis and John’s filial battles fought over a lifetime as Willis’ wives and children wither beneath his rage. Kinetic performances, notably under the direction of Viggo Mortensen (who plays John), raise the game: Lance Henriksen as the intractable Willis and, for one scene each, Laura Linney as John's sister and David Cronenberg as Willis’ otherworldly proctologist. Mortensen also skilfully captures the inherent dread of silently encroaching illness. Alas, Willis’ hate is so unrelenting, his language so breathtakingly ugly, that Falling becomes painfully uncomfortable to watch. Which may be the point, but it’s made early and far too often. -KH

Summer of ’85 (Special Presentations)

Sun. Sept. 13, 9 pm, RBC Lakeside Drive-In at Ontario Place; Tues. Sept. 15, 6 pm, online at Bell Digital Cinema; Thurs. Sept. 17, 9:15 pm TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Director François Ozon brings his flair for the sensual to 1980s-set story of an intense summer romance between 16-year-old Alexis (a cherubic Felix Lefebvre) and the worldly 18-year-old David (Benjamin Voisin, excellent here). There’s sex and talk of death aplenty, all wrapped in a realistic stylistic devotion to the period from the French auteur. Ozon captures the giddiness of new love felt with teenaged urgency (and no shortage of fun) as Alexis, who begins by introducing “the future corpse,” narrates this story of sexual and emotional discovery, betrayal, and obsession. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi adds some squirming quirkiness as David’s oddball mother. -LB

Wolfwalkers (Special Events)

Now available Online at Bell Digital Cinema Streaming.

Wolfwalkers is brought to you by the Oscar-nominated animation studio behind past TIFF favourites, The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner. This delightful film tells the tale of an unlikely and magical friendship between two girls in 17th-century Ireland. Directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, the story completes the finale of Moore’s Celtic trilogy and is built from his country’s history and mythology, in this case, the tension between 17th-century Kilkenny, a town dominated by English settlers, and the surrounding woodland, which is home to wolves and magical forces. It’s set in a time of superstition and magic, where a hunter and former soldier travels with his daughter, Robyn, deep into Wolfland. His mission is to wipe out the last wolf pack for a chance of a better life for his daughter. But when Robyn has a young wolf in her crossbow sights, she fails to take the shot and learns that these mysterious wolves may not be that dangerous at all.

There’s no CGI here and it’s refreshing to watch the hand-drawn animation and the stark contrast in styles between the town’s people and the forest dwellers. Wolfwalkers clearly shows the team's devotion to Irish folklore that is enriched by the magical storytelling. Wolfwalkers will be the first animated feature to launch on Apple TV+ sometime later this year. - BL

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