High ideals meet harsh reality at TIFF
The pursuit of high ideals rarely follows a straight path toward contentment and enlightenment — and maybe never gets there at all.
Unintended consequences ensue when good intentions meet harsh reality, often happily but sometimes disastrously. I was fascinated by how often this theme was explored in the films at the Toronto International Film Festival, which concludes its 11-day run this weekend.
Here’s how idealism met realworld challenges in five of the most talked-about features at TIFF 2017, which will be coming to regular theatres in the days and weeks ahead:
Downsizing: What could be more idealistic than radically altering your life to save the planet? Alexander Payne’s social satire begins with a scientific breakthrough and an altruistic premise: A new process allows humans to be shrunk to one-fifth normal size, greatly reducing their demands on the Earth’s endangered resources. There’s a bonus for being virtuous: You can now afford the fabulous house and toys you always wanted but couldn’t afford, because they’re miniaturized, too.
But when Matt Damon’s protagonist Paul undergoes the procedure, he discovers that “getting small” means losing large in some aspects of his life that he hadn’t considered. The majority of humans opt to remain regular size and many of them look down on the little people, literally and figuratively.
Payne and his co-screenwriter Jim Taylor have a fascinating concept going in but they don’t fully explore the ramifications, shifting to conventional — albeit quirky — romance midway through.
I Love You, Daddy: Comedian Louis C.K. has always been fearless in his comic approach to awkward or taboo topics. But he really pokes the hornet’s nest with his second feature film, which he wrote, directed and stars in and made guerrilla style this past summer. He addresses predatory sex with underage partners by having a very game John Malkovich play a famous filmmaker whose antics will bring to mind anything you’ve ever heard about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
C.K. plays a show business titan who treats almost everybody badly, especially his harried production partner (Edie Falco, brilliant). But he absolutely dotes on his Lolita-ish daughter China (Chloe Grace Moretz), who is 17 going on 18 and for whom no desire is too beyond — except for when she’s befriended by Malkovich’s randy filmmaker, 50 years her senior.
What does a man who aspires to be a perfect dad do in such a situation? There are many thoughtful moments in the film but also cringeworthy ones, not least of which is when the suspicion dawns that C.K. is also attempting to exorcise the allegations of sexual impropriety that have been made against him.
Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington courts more Academy gold with his deeply felt portrayal of an idealistic and eccentric defence attorney whose values may not be as rocksolid as he thinks they are, in this film written and directed by Nightcrawler’s Dan Gilroy.
Washington’s title character Israel has a brilliant legal mind and a long history of championing the rights of the poor and downtrodden. But he’s awkward and abusive in social and courtroom situations, which is why he’s always worked in a back office in his activist L.A. law firm.
When circumstances force Israel to fend for himself and face the outside world, he encounters a dangerous temptation: He’s privy to confidential information that could land him a $100,000 award and solve a financial crisis, but which would compromise his high-minded ideals.
Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo co-star, both adding strong support to this absorbing character study.
mother!: Darren Aronofsky rains biblical mayhem upon a married couple played by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in this explosive TIFF talker now in regular theatres.
What these lovebirds want to do, or so they say, is to just live peaceful and fulfilling lives in their new rural abode. “I want to make a paradise,” says Lawrence’s character, who aspires to be the perfect wife.
Bardem’s character, a famous poet fighting writer’s block, seems to be a devoted husband but he’s a more selfish person — he ignores his wife’s concerns when strangers keep arriving at the house, acting as if they were meant to be there.
What follows, among other things, is a smartly executed but seriously troubling elaboration of the most cynical of maxims: “No good deed goes unpunished.”
The Shape of Water: To the Cold War paranoids of the U.S. government, the exotic merman (Doug Jones) being held captive in a topsecret laboratory is an “asset” that might be used in some military fashion against the hostile Soviet Union. He’s also called a godless “abomination” by his captor and chief antagonist (Michael Shannon).
But cleaning woman Eliza (Sally Hawkins), who quietly mops the floors of the facility, sees the merman with eyes of enchantment. Unable to speak, but fully able to express herself, Eliza has grown used to being written off and abused by judgmental and ignorant people.
She recognizes and bonds with the merman, whom she views as a fellow lost soul and perhaps something more. But her innocent rapture doesn’t mesh with the ruthless intentions of the government.
Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fantasy is another likely Oscar contender. It’s a sensual ode to love that looks beyond surface distractions and seeks to dive right in. Peter Howell is the Star’s movie critic. His column usually runs Fridays.