TIFF 2021: Digital Secret Movie Club and Film Festival

For the first time in many years, in 2020 we did not participate at all in the Toronto International Film Festival and we ceased being TIFF members.  We were already miffed at TIFF after the debacle that they made in the treatment of the loyal Patron Circle members/donors back in 2019 and were seriously considering ceasing to be members or at least reducing the size and scope of our membership.  The pandemic became the final straw when it became clear that we would not be able to watch movies the way we used to for the unforeseeable future.

The protocols put in place to control the spread of COVID19 decimated the size and scope of the 2020 Film Festival, which valiantly tried to carry on with a mere 50 films shown either outdoors or at drive-ins, as well as digitally.  At that time, we were not comfortable at all with the thought of watching movies with the general public, even while socially distanced and wearing masks.  There were also too few films of interest to us to make it worth our while.

Instead, we did participate in the first digital Secret Movie Club, a programme which we had attended in person for the past few years.  In the past, the Secret Movie Club involved trekking to the TIFF Bell Lightbox on a Sunday morning, partaking in a buffet breakfast of muffins, danishes, fruit cups and coffee, then sitting in the theatre to watch a movie that would be revealed on the spot with a brief introduction by the host (usually Norm Wilner, film writer for NOW magazine).  We would get a sneak peek at a movie that would soon be generally released in theatres.  Following the movie, there would be a moderated Q&A (either live or on video call) with someone associated with the film.  This could be a director, star, producer or subject matter expert on the topic of the film.  There are 7 movies in the series, occurring approximately once a month between October and April.  In general the movies were ones that we might not have picked to watch on our own, pushing us a bit out of our usual comfort zone. But for the most part, they were quite enjoyable and we were glad to experience them.

During the pandemic, we obviously could not continue to watch the movies live at the Lightbox, so instead the Secret Movie Club went digital.  For a fraction of the price for my husband Rich and I ($98 for the household as opposed to $175 per person), we got to watch the 7 movies online from the comfort of our home by streaming them on our laptop which we plugged into our TV via HDMI cable for better audio and visual.  We were given a 48 hour period during which we could watch the movie and the taped Q&A, with the ability to pause, rewind or restart if desired.

Obviously we no longer got the breakfast, but all in all, I preferred this format.  I could watch in my jammies at my hour of preference, did not need to take the time to travel to and from the theatre, and it was much more cost effective.  I did not miss the big screen experience since we were mostly watching smaller indie movies that did not have huge sound or visual special effects.   The 2020-2021 season’s movies included the American/Korean movie Minari which was nominated for Best Picture and won for Best Supporting Actress, as well as The Courier, a spy thriller starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel Brosnahan (of Mrs. Maisel fame). To further our experience, I arranged a post-mortem Zoom chat with some friends who also participated in the digital Secret Movie club and we discussed and debated the merits of the movie that we had each just watched.  It will be interesting to see if there will still be a digital option for the secret movie club once the pandemic is over and things get back to “normal”.

For the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival season, TIFF expanded its movie selections from 50 to just under 200, with more in-person screening opportunities and a few big stars actually attending.  They also continued the digital offerings but not all the movies were available in this format and despite being digital, the streaming logistics mirrored much closer to those of live screenings.  There was a fixed start time for each movie, and a 4 hour window in order to complete watching it.  The number of “tickets” to each streaming was limited and a movie could be sold out.  All these restrictions were part of a possibly futile attempt by the movie distributors to prevent or at least limit movie piracy.

Still not comfortable with the thought of being in an enclosed theatre, albeit distanced and masked, but still in the vicinity of audience members and press potentially from abroad, we decided we would try the digital process.  Having gone from traditionally watching 30-40 movies in a typical festival year to quitting cold turkey last year, we thought we would dip our toes gingerly back in by buying a 3-movie digital package.  This gave us the right to pick three digital movies when our turn came up.  After getting used to being high-level TIFF members and getting early slots for movie selection which ensured that we got all of our choices, it came as a shock when now that we were non-members, there was hardly anything left when our turn came up.  None of the movies on our short list (or even our long list) were still available and yet we were under pressure to pick something before our selection time ran out.   In the end, we chose from what was available and it turned out that our final, last minute pick was our favourite.

This was the movie Jockey, about a previously successful jockey in his waning days, who learns that a younger, inexperienced jockey on the same circuit might actually be his son.  This was a small, intimate movie that eschewed all the typical sports and horse-racing tropes.  The focus was not on training for or building up to the big race that the elder mentor guides his protégé towards winning.  Instead there was character development that delved into the lives and tribulations of jockeys.  One scene in particular felt like an “AA meeting” for jockeys, where a group of them sat in a circle and described overcoming their death-defying, potentially career-ending accidents and injuries. The unique perspective came from the fact that the writer/director of the movie grew up in this environment since his father was a jockey.  The movie was filmed at working stables and racetracks where most of the extras were actual jockeys, grooms and trainers. Even amongst the cast of actors, the only name that I recognized was Molly Parker.  I was not familiar with Clifton Collins Jr. as the main protagonist, or Moises Arias as his potential son.  In addition to being a sweet but slow-moving story, what stood out was the beautiful cinematography, filled with sunsets and backlit shots.

Our other two films included a strange, almost documentary-styled Spanish film called “The Odd-Job Men” and a documentary on the life of celebrity chef Julia Child.  The Odd-Job Men follow around a team of three handymen as they go from job to job, dealing with eccentric clients.  Through the interactions of the three men, including the inner thoughts of the new guy who is not of the same ethnicity, we are exposed to themes of alienation, loneliness and cultural prejudices.  Interestingly, the 3 main characters are not actors but real handymen who were trained for their roles.  In the Q&A, the man who played the character with racist tendencies voiced his concern that the audience would label him a racist, which he declares adamantly that he is not .. he just plays one in the movie. The Julia Child documentary uses many archival photographs taken by her husband Paul Child, as well as past TV interviews to augment memories from those still alive who knew her in order the present her life story.  Both Julia and Paul worked in administrative roles for the OSS (predecessor to the CIA) in their younger days before she pursued her love for cooking in her late 30s. While it is now a well-known fact how accomplished and impressive Julia Child was in her culinary career, the most interesting fact that came through in the documentary was how devoted Paul Child was in supporting her passions, allowing them to supersede any of his own personal ambitions.  This was quite unusual for a man of his era.

While we were not able to select the movies that we wanted to watch the most via our digital 3-pack, we luckily were able to find other movie buff friends who did have access to a few of them and were able to wangle an invitation to watch with them.  My favourite was the German movie “I’m Your Man”, surprisingly starring hunky British actor Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey) as an almost life-like android named Tom.  Set in a futuristic world where robotics have advanced to the point of developing humanoid walking/talking/self-learning machines, it is up to the no-nonsense, non-sentimental female scientist Alma to decide whether this robot, that was specially developed for her using studies of her own thoughts and memories, could act as a viable life partner alternative to a real human.  This delightful romantic comedy has many funny moments but also explores the more philosophical questions of what it means to be human.  It was asked in the Q&A how Dan Stevens was chosen for this role.  It turns out that he can speak fluent German and has acted in other German films.  Regarding whether an robot, designed to be your perfect mate who  anticipates your every need and desire, could be a viable life partner, the internet chimed in with a definitive “Yes .. if he looks like Dan Stevens!”  I think that I concur!

The animated film “Where is Anne Frank” takes a unique, fantastical perspective in revealing the tragic story of Anne Frank, her family and her famous diary.  It is told from the point of view of Kitty, the imaginary friend that Anne addressed the entries of her diary to, as if she were writing letters to this confidante, to whom she could reveal her inner-most thoughts and fears. By some unexplained magical event, Kitty comes to life in present day Amsterdam, emanating from the diary that sits in a glass case inside the Anne Frank House (now a museum).  While she is within the house, Kitty is invisible to the public.  But as she snatches the diary and exits the building in search of her friend Anne, suddenly she can be seen and interacts with the people around her.  Through Kitty’s journey of discovery, the story of what happened to Anne and her family is revealed.  A sub-plot highlights the plight of refugees in the Netherlands who face deportation back to their homelands and tries to draw parallels between them and the persecution of the Jews in Anne’s days.  While admirable in intent, these scenes came across as a bit preachy in my mind.  Also a “romance” between Kitty and an activist skater-boy (meant to parallel a possible romance between Anne and Peter, whose family was in hiding with her) felt forced. Nevertheless, this film is quite innovative in its telling of a well-known history, bringing it to life for a new generation.

Are You Lonesome Tonight is a Chinese film noir that uses the “Rashomon Effect”, showing and re-showing the same scene multiple times from different perspectives, each time adding more to the storyline.  On the surface level, the plot involves an air conditioner repairman who accidentally strikes and kills a man on a dark, deserted road, hides the body, then befriends the dead man’s widow through several aborted attempts to admit his guilt and show remorse.  As we get deeper into the story and with each re-telling, we realize that much is not what it originally seemed to be.  Following the definition of a good noire, the movie is dark and atmospheric with a flawed protagonist, although the widow does not play the role of the stereotypical femme fatale.  The title “Are You Lonesome Tonight” references the various lonely characters in the movie, but also the actual Elvis Presley song is played and then sung several times throughout the film.  There is a quick moment at the end of the movie that seems like it will play out as a typical cliché, but turns out to be a psych, which we should have realized all along, once we remembered the key elements of the genre.  As the credits rolled, there were some closing comments which often appear at the end of movies, providing a post mortem of what happens next after the timeline of the movie is over.  In this case, it was shown only in Chinese characters with no translation (despite the rest of the movie being subtitled!)  Not being able to read Kanji but to be deterred, I took a snapshot of the characters and ran them through Google Translate.  I got an answer but am not sure there was not something lost in translation.