Our postcard dispatches form the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival for Saturday, September 13.
By Nat Master
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The Connection
Dear TIFF,
I usually avoid your Gala Presentations line-up. It's stellar programming, but I know I'll eventually get to see most of those films in theatres, and I'd rather save my money for selections I'll probably never get another chance to see. I made an exception for Cédric Jimenez's The Connection, about the notorious drug trafficking network operating in Europe and North America in the 1970s, and and I'm kicking myself for not attending the actual premiere. Stargazing isn't really my cup of tea, but I'd watch Jean Dujardin shell pistachios in silence for two hours and still consider it the most compelling thing I'd seen all year. Seriously, the man might have the most hard-working eyebrows in contemporary cinema. They are a supporting role unto themselves. So, just this once, I may not have minded the shrieking throngs on the red carpet.
Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche both deliver excellent performances as, respectively, a magistrate and a powerful drug lord. Set in 1970s Marseille, the film is slick and stylish on all fronts (questionable sideburns on all male actors notwithstanding), with a killer soundtrack and an gripping plot that garnered some of the most enthusiastic audience response I witnessed at the festival this year's festival.
There was some dispute between me and my companion as to whether or not The Connection can be considered a remake of William Friedkin’s The French Connection. I lean towards looking at it as a loose remake, rather than a different take on the same story. Dujardin’s magistrate is no Popeye Doyle, but the obsessive cat-and-mouse dynamic between criminal and cop is the cornerstone of both films, and there are other such common elements that make comparisons and references between the two films unavoidable.
PS. I have but one complaint; the most memorable part of the original The French Connection was the chase sequence. You know the one. That chase sequence. Jimenez passes on recreating or refashioning the sequence in his version, and after waiting for it on tenterhooks, I felt a bit let down.
Best,
Nat
By Nat Master
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The Price We Pay
Dear TIFF,
Documentaries about corporations and the bad things they do always seem to be a popular choice with festival audiences, including this former Poli-Sci major (who, admittedly, napped through most of second-year International Political Economy). Harold Crooks' The Price We Pay tackles the issue of corporate tax avoidance and offshore tax havens. While a decent primer on the subject, I found the film got carried away with spotlighting corporate bad guys and neglected to answer some key questions.
To avoid relying too heavily on talking heads, Crooks incorporates footage from UK parliamentary commissions and hearings with various executives from companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon. The British MPs emerge as the stars of the production. Their feisty, acerbic take-downs of the suits in the hot seat approaches near fervor at times, giving the audience plenty to boo and hiss about. Enjoyable as that was, Crooks drops the ball when it comes to making the case for the link between corporate tax avoidance and an increasingly heavy tax burden on the public. I accept the thesis, but I would have liked to see some more numbers to back it up. You can't call your film The Price We Pay without telling me what that price actually is.
Best,
Nat
