The Toronto International Film Festival has descended upon the city, and with hundreds of choices, picking the right film to see can be overwhelming. We’ll be bringing you recommendations every day, from major Hollywood features to compelling docs — the best from around the world. These are films that deserve to be seen, either during the festival or after.
Blue is the Warmest Colour
Rating: 4.5/5
This year’s Palme d’Or winner is intimate, startling and emotional, and for better or worse, it will be talked about for a long time. A very close and watchful camera follows the 17-year-old Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) as she explores her sexuality and forms a relationship with the older Emma (Léa Seydoux), confronting personal and professional issues along the way.
The camera stays steady on Adèle for most of the film, whether she is eating, drinking or simply staring. The three-hour run time makes this a lengthy movie, but it’s paced exceptionally well; several explicit sex scenes, including one that seems to go on for 10 minutes, may challenge some viewers.
Directed with care and dedication by French-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche, it’s a coming-of-age story grounded in reality, with honest humour and authentic conversation. It’s a gripping and potent film, one that will certainly be memorable for some time — if you can handle it.
Sept. 5, Winter Garden Theatre, 7 p.m.
Sept. 7, Scotiabank 4, 2 p.m.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Rating: 4/5
Here is a film starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as a vampire lovers who sleep all day and rove around at night pondering the mysteries of life.
The pair make a most striking on-screen couple in this quiet and atmospheric picture that touches on loneliness, love and destruction. To be sure, it’s a peculiar film, with random bits of humour and contemplative conversations on the past, present and future of humankind.
Hiddleston plays Adam, who calls humans “zombies” and is the more awkward and uncertain one in the couple. Swinton plays his wife of some centuries now, named Eve (of course), who is more assertive and confident, traveling across the globe to visit him in his desolate and dark apartment in Detroit.
The film changes upon a visit from Eve’s younger sister, a vampire named Ava, played with brilliant teenage waywardness by Mia Wasikowska. While her presence increases the activity and noise in this tempered film, it is simply another chapter in the lives of two people who have been through everything and seen it all.
Sept. 5, Ryerson Theatre, 9 p.m.
Sept. 7, Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, 12:15 p.m.
Tim’s Vermeer
Rating: 4.5/5
Penn and Teller — yes, the Penn and Teller who perform magic, debunk myths and simply entertain as a very odd couple — bring to us this mind-blowing documentary about inventor Tim Jenison.
Jenison, a man who is very successful but who has never painted seriously in his life, believes he knows how Dutch master Johannes Vermeer crafted his famous paintings in the 17th century, and thinks that he can do the same, scientifically, of course.
Part investigation and part character study, Tim’s Vermeer is about dedication, determination and science taken to the extreme, told in a light-hearted yet spellbinding way. Penn and Teller add quite a bit of wit to a film that is both refreshing and staggering. Masterfully chronicling years upon years of unbelievably meticulous work by Jenison — I hesitate to give away his hypothesis and method — we end up with an astounding piece of work that cannot be missed.
Sept. 5, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 6, Scotiabank 2, 1:30 p.m.