Countdown to TIFF: 2005 in Review

TIFF 2005

Since the 2004 festival was filled with personal sadness, I made sure that 2005 would be all about having fun. I saw great films that featured topics such as a man trying to escape his past, a woman seeking revenge, an Irish drag queen and a lobbyist who thanked people of smoking. In regards to that last one, it was a treat discovering a then unknown director by the name of Jason Reitman. Not only was his first feature, Thank You For Smoking, a homecoming of sorts for the Canadian director; but it also the start of a rather exceptional career for the young director. Reitman’s next two films, Juno and Up in the Air, both premiered at TIFF and went on to earn Academy Award nominations.


Total Number of Films Watched: 28

My Top 5:

A History of Violence
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
The Squid and the Whale
Thank You for Smoking
Breakfast on Pluto

Honourable Mention: Capote, Dear Wendy, District 13, Lie With Me, The Matador, Runaway.

The Disappointments: Manderlay, Neverwas, Harsh Times, River Queen, Thumbsucker, The Duelist, Winter Passing.

The Whale Riders (aka. I regret passing on these films): Caché, Brokeback Mountain, Polanski’s Oliver Twist, Tsotsi, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, C.R.A.Z.Y, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Proposition, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party

Memorable Moment: Standing in the Rush Line (i.e. the last minute tickets line) for the film Beowulf and Grendel which feature Gerard Butler and Sarah Polley. While waiting in the pouring rain I had to endure the ranting and ravings of eight women who were all part of the official Gerard Butler fan club. Many of the women had driven well over six hours just to get a chance to see Mr. Butler. One woman even had a homemade oriental fan with Butler’s face on both sides. The funny thing about this was that it was the year before 300 was released and he became an international star. Up to that point, his biggest films included the Tomb Raider sequel and Dear Frankie.

Random Star Sightings: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Aaron Eckhart, Gerard Butler, Catherine Keener, Keanu Reeves, Twilda Swinton, Cillian Murphy, Sarah Polley, Maria Bello, Laura Linney,Jeff Daniels, Eva Longoria, Noah Baumbach, Aaron Stanford, Robin Tunney, Alan Cumming, Atom Egoyan, Clement Virgo, Clifton Collins Jr., Thomas Vinterberg,

Pushed to Limit...I Lost Control

The Limits of Control


Many critics will say that it is far easier to talk about something you hate than it is to express why you loved a film. Well in the case of Jim Jarmusch's latest film, The Limits of Control, it is tougher talking about work that you disliked when it was made by people you normally love.

The story centres around a mysterious Lone Man (Isaach de Bankolé) who is sent to Spain to complete a job. While the nature of the job is not divulged to the audience at first, you get the sense that it is the type of work that can only be handled outside the realms of the law. In order for the Lone Man to complete his mission, he will have to exchange information with a series of individuals (Gael Garcia Benal, Twilda Swinton, John Hurt, etc.) and keep his mind pure of sexual temptation (Paz de la Huerto).

The Limits of Control is a film where the end result is not as important as the journey to it. To truly understand the journey, one must realize that the end result is being aware that our reality is not our reality. Confused? Well this type of philosophical discourse essentially makes up the majority of this film. Some of the discussions serve as clues to events that will happen later in the film; while others are merely random musings on everything ranging from the misuse of the word " Bohemian", when talking about artist, to this history of musical instruments.

If nothing else, The Limits of Control is easily one of the most quotable films of the year. Though you will have a heck of a time trying to figure out what all the lines mean in relation to the film. For example, Twilda Swinton's character remarks that "the best films are like dreams you are not quite sure you just had." The problem with this statement is the fact that the slow dreamlike nature, in which events unfold, is downright maddening. If anything it is a painfully slow nightmare is only scary due to how boring it actually is. Gael Garcia Benal offers up an enlightening pearl of wisdom in "everything changes by the glass you see it through." Despite all these deep and profound lines by time you reach the climax of the film, if you can even call it a climax, you realize that it all really boils down to a "I think I can, I think I can" moment. Where envisioning your goal allows you to achieve it.

I know some may argue that I am missing the bigger philosophical picture but I am not ashamed to admit I just did not get it. When Jarmusch's characters are not spewing cryptic philosophical rhetoric, the rest of the film plays like a silent travelogue for Spain. It is really tough to find the deeper meaning in a film when the one character who holds to key to everything, Bankolé's Lone Man, only manages a few words every twenty minutes. I was originally willing to give Jarmusch the benefit of the as he is a director I usually enjoy. Plus the cast featured many actors/actresses that I love. Yet it is tough to praise a film that feels like a warmed over David Lynch picture that was left in the philosophical oven for far too long. Due to the calibre of talent involved, The Limits of Control is one of the most disappointing films of the year.