toronto film festival: day 1

i went to bed early last night just so i could wake up to catch the latest martial arts costume drama the banquet starring the ubiqutous zhang zi yi. then at 8am this morning, i looked at my watch, changed the time to 10am and rolled over instead... welcome to the relaxed lazier film festival version of wongie. in years past, i would have gone hell or high water to wake up sleep deprived to watch a film. these days, i know that at some point in my life, i'll watch the film (if not, well... the stars just weren't aligned for me to experience this).

luckily something did align an hour later as i checked out the latest melodrama from acclaimed norwegian director susanne bier (brothers) called after the wedding (efter brylluppet).

programmed under the gala presentation section, 'after the wedding' tells the story of social worker Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) who returns to copenhagen in order to convince wealthy entrepenuer Jorgen to donate money to the indian orphanage that he works for. by some twist of fate, Jacob discovers that Jorgen and his family are more connected to him than he's mentally prepared and well... drama ensues.

though the plot kind of falls under a solid tv movie of the week, it's the emotionally realistic performances of this amazing cast that bring the film to above average status. for that reason alone, 'after the wedding' is worth seeking out.

the film ended on a somber note, so i needed a lighter movie to balance my emotions.


i could have easily caught one of my favorite movies of the year 'the host' again, but i wasn't sure if i needed to see the hilariously scary monster film by myself (i'd rather go with people watching it for the first time).










so i scanned the list of the 30 movies showing today and gleefully saw that the british comedy 'confetti' was showing. i had read about this rom-com awhile back and was especially interested in the fact that my favorite comic actress jessica stevenson (spaced) was starring alongside the awesome martin freeman (the office) as one of the couples vying for the most 'original' wedding in a competition.

taking the cue from the christopher guest school of comedy filmmaking, 'confetti' collects a wonderfully hilarious ensemble group of actors and sets them loose in preposterous situations (the themes of the three competing weddings are 'tennis', 'nudist' and 'musical'... and yes, we see a fair bit of willy in this movie). though some scenes come across forced and painful to watch, jessica & martin (plus Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins, who play wedding planners heron & hough) clearly provide the touching heart and soul of the movie. i know, a movie about weddings makes me an official sap, but something worked in this film and i was completely won over by the end. so bleh to all you cynical folk and say hoorah for weddings!

so, i was in a good mood and ready to check out two more films, but then hunger kicked in and well... like i said, this is a new dawn for festival wongie.