Turin Film Festival Day 5 on
Turin Film Festival - Day 1 - 4 -
www.girl.com.au/turin-film-festival-day1to4.htm
Turin Film Festival - Day 5 and Day 6
Started the day with a stroll around the city. Visited the Holy Shroud, which was brought to Torino in 1578. It was last put on public display in 1998 and 2000, the next public showing is scheduled for 2025.
However if you want to visit before 2025, there’s a photographic copy of display inside the cathedral.
The good thing with visiting the city in winter is that the queue’s to see the Shroud do not snake around
the block.
The best film of the festival so far has to be Lars
and the Real Girl, starring Ryan Gosling and directed
by Aussie Craig Gillespie. It’s a gorgeously offbeat
tale about a young man (Gosling) who introduces his
brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his sister-in-law
Karin (Emily Mortimer) to his new friend Bianca, who
he met on the internet. Their immediate response is
one of shock and despair. Has the sweet, socially
challenged introvert gone completely mad? You see
Bianca is a anatomically correct, custom made silicone
doll, but Lars sees a friend. How will they explain
this to the residents of the sleepy mid-Western town?
Now while the idea of a young man having a
relationship with a blow up doll sounds like the stuff
exploitation films are made of, this is nothing of the
kind. Written by Six Feed Under vet Nancy Oliver,
this is a tender and charming little tale brought to
life by the performances. Gosling is rumoured to be
up for an Oscar nomination. While that seems like a
long shot, not because of his performance which is
brilliantly understated and should be applauded
because he continues to choose the most unexpected
material, but because the Academy tends to reward
'weighty' dramas, although there was Little Miss
Sunshine. Lars is an endearing film and is slightly
reminiscent of Capra in that Gillespie balances the
pathos and the humour, the morality and the whimsy.
10 Items or Less, which is screening in the Premier’s
section was a surprise find today. Starring Morgan
Freeman and Paz Vega (a Penelope Cruz lookalike), it’s
another engaging little off beat drama about an ageing
actor (Freeman) who has not made a film for four years
and has agreed to consider doing an indie film about a
manager in a low rent supermarket. He asks to be
dropped off at the market in Carson, (a suburb of
L.A.) so he can research his character. He becomes
fascinated by one of the checkers, Scarlet a young
woman from Spain stuck at the ten items or less lane.
The actor chats her up and when her shift ends he asks
for a ride and helps her prepare for a job interview.
A most unexpected relationship blooms.
"I wrote this just before I headed off to make Lemony
Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events," says
director Brad Siberling in the press notes. "And after
that film where I was in a soundstage environment for
two years, I started watching a lot of Italian
Neo-realist movies for mental therapy - and I realised
I had written a gift for myself where I could just go
out with two great actors on the street and shoot
away." The film is no deep and complex philosophical
rumination on life, but it is an enjoyable piece of
entertainment and besides, most films that Morgan are
in are worth seeing for him alone.
After all that, I was in need of some fresh air so
went off to check out the Cathedral of San Giovanni
Battista. This is the only remaining example of
Renaissance church architecture in Torino. The bell
tower was built in 1470 and completed in the 1700’s by
Filippo Juvarra. Also in the centre of Torino are
the remains of an ancient Roman theatre dating back to
the first century AD. The tiers of seats, orchestra
pit and some of the external columns can all still be
seen. The theatre was only discovered in the 19th
Century.
Caught some of John Cassavetes Johnny Staccato TV
series today the celebrated police series which
starred Cassavetes and wooed American audiences in the
late 50’s and early 60’s. Cassavetes not only starred
in the series but also had a hand in directing it as
well. One of the joys of attending the Cassavetes
retrospective in Torino, besides getting to watch
these classic films up on a big screen, is listening
to Seymour Cassell and Al Ruban remember the old days.
Here’s what Cassell had to say about Johnny Staccato.
"I wasn’t working with John when Johnny Staccato came
out. When John came back to New York he made Shadows.
One night we were in a bar and Shadows was to be
screened in London. So he says to me, why don’t we
take a few days off and go to Ireland? It was 4.30am.
We caught a plane at 7. After a few days in Ireland he
said he wanted to go to Paris with Gena, and I
insisted on going with them. I had a ball in Paris.
When John told me it was time to head back to the
States I said I wanted to stay in France - I could get
a job in a café. True, I didn’t speak a word of
French. I ended up going to London. As soon as I got
there, the director of the BFI called me, the next day
they were supposed to show Shadows. She thought I had
a copy of the film. I told her I had nothing to do
with it and called John in New York. Where’s the copy
of the film, I asked him. He replied, I’m not sure,
but I think it might be somewhere in my garage. That’s
the way we were."
Turin Film Festival - Day 7 and Day 8
Today was Irish day. Caught two Irish films, Once and
Garage (which is In Competition) and both were
fantastic. Once won the world cinema dramatic audience
award at Sundance this year and is the tale of a young
Dublin busker Glen Hansard, (former member of the
Irish group The Frames) who dreams of recording his
songs and making his first album. Marketa Irgiova, a
young Czech musician (who was only 17 when making
Once) is working as a cleaner but would like to play
the piano like she did in her country. They meet by
chance on the streets of Dublin and immediately bond
over their shared love of music. They fall in love
and decide to start a band. Writer director John
Carney wanted to make an "original film almost like a
visual album, but with a realistic modern love story
at its heart." He has, and you can’t help but fall in
love with this tender tale that is all the more
charming because the lead performers are musicians
rather than actors. There’s a guileless quality to
what they do and it’s endearing to watch. This is not
a typical musical in any shape or form. A typical
musical is over the top numbers where the bounds of
reality are dissolved completely. Here Carney does
stretch reality at times, but he’s opted for an
understated and modest approach, which works. There’s
an easy charm to this film that will win you over.
Garage, by Lenny Abrahamson (Adam & Paul) has also won
a prize prior to Torino. It took out the CICAE Art and
Essai Cinema Prize at Cannes this year. The story
revolves around the sweet and harmless Josie (Pat
Shortt), who manages a gas station in a little town in
the Irish countryside. The rest of the townspeople
treat him like a village idiot but he’s actually a
simple man, solitary, irreparably optimistic and happy
in his own way. His simple life changes when a young
apprentice arrives at the garage. Naively convinced of
having found a friend, Josie shares with him some of
his adult habits (alcohol, porn) without knowing that
he’s committing a crime, which would make him lose his
job.
"The film is about the transformation in the Irish
countryside," says Abrahamson. "That have made people
like Josie become uprooted beggars. What I find
interesting about Josie, like the real people
encountered in the film, is that you need some time to
understand what goes on in their head. And I think
this is the film’s purpose, understanding." The
appeal of the film is Shortt who delivers a
heartbreakingly sweet performance as the slightly
feeble and befuddled Josie.
I have to mention one of the star attractions of the
city, and a very apt one seeing we’re here for the
film festival, and that is the Museo Nazionale del
Cinema. Now seven years old and built in a converted
Jewish temple, this is a must see if you visit Torino.
The building, which is referred to as the symbol of
Torino dominates the city with its 1675 metres height
and until recently was one of the highest masonry
structures in Europe. The tower was designed in 1863
by Alessandro Antonelli. It’s the only museum of its
kind in Italy and one of the most important in the
world. The museum covers five floors, and everywhere
you look there is something to see. There is movie
memorabilia, sections dedicated to the historical
origins of film-making, from the early shadow puppets
people use to play in their living rooms with
lanterns, right through to masters like Fellini.
The detail and thought that have gone into creating
this is staggering. When you walk inside the building
you find yourself in the Temple Hall where a colossal
idol from the film Cabiria (1814) dominates
proceedings. It’s also an interactive museum, and you
can take animated tours. In the middle of this
impressive space is a "naked" elevator, which takes
you up to observation deck. Posters of famous
filmmakers and stars line the walls, movie sets have
been recreated and classic films are screened all day
long onto the walls of the museum, which you can view
from specially designed lounge chairs, with speakers
built into the headrests. Then when you’ve finished
you can take the lift up to the Mole Antonellina, to
enjoy a bird’s eye panoramic view of the city, 85
metres up.
Turin Film Festival - Day 9
And the winners are......
TORINO 25 / FEATURE FILMS COMPETITION
The Jury of Torino 25 / International Feature Films
Competition of the 25th Torino Film Festival, chaired
by Piers Handling (Canada) and composed of Robert
Guédiguian (France), Aki Kaurismäki (Finland), Carlo
Mazzacurati (Italy), Laura Pariani (Italy), André
Téchiné (France), Jasmine Trinca (Italy), awards the
following prizes:
Best Film (euros 25.000) to: GARAGE by Lenny
Abrahamson (Ireland, 2007)
Special Jury Prize (euros 10.000) to: THE ELEPHANT
AND THE SEA by Woo Ming Jin (Malaysia-Netherlands,
2007)
Best Actress Award to: JOAN CHEN for the film THE
HOME SONG STORIES by Tony Ayres (Australia, 2007)
Best Actor Award to: KIM KANG-WOO for the film
GYEONGUI SEON / THE RAILROAD by Park Heung-sik (South
Korea, 2006)
ITALIANA.DOC
Best Italian Documentary, in collaboration with Persol
(euros 10.000) to: LA NACIÓN MAPUCE by Fausta
Quattrini (Switzerland/Italy/Argentina, 2007)
Special Jury Prize (euros 5.000) to: L_ESAME DI XHODI
by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio (Italy, 2007)
Special Mention to: BIÙTIFUL CAUNTRI by Esmeralda
Calabria, Giuseppe Ruggiero and Andrea D’Ambrosio
(Italy, 2007)
ITALIANA.CORTI
Best Italian Short-length Film, in collaboration with
Lancia (euros 10.000) to:
GIGANTI by Fabio Mollo (Italy, 2007, Super16 mm, 24)
Special Jury Prize _Kodak Award (euros 3.000 in motion
picture film) to: PRIMOGENITO COMPLESSO by Lavinia
Chianello and Tomás Creus (Italy-Brazil, 2007, anim.,
11)
Special Mention to: IL RESTO DI UNA STORIA by Antonio
Prata (Italy-Switzerland, 2007, DVcam, 30)
REGIONAL COMPETITION / SPAZIO TORINO
The Jury of the Regional Competition awards the
following prize:
Best Short-length Film (euros 2.600 in laboratory
services offered by Blue Gold, Milan; euros 5.000 in
technical services offered by Unistudio, Torino) to:
IL LAVORO di Lorenzo De Nicola (Italy, 2007, Digibeta,
16)
CIPPUTI AWARD
The Torino Film Festival, in collaboration with the
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, awards the 2007
Cipputi Award prize:
Best Film About the Working World (euros 5.000) to: IN
FABBRICA by Francesca Comencini (Italy, 2007)
FIPRESCI AWARD
The Jury of the Fipresci Award awards the following
prize: Torino 25 / Feature Films Competition: Best
Film to:
GYEONGUI SEON / THE RAILROAD by Park Heung-sik (South
Korea, 2007)
AUDIENCE AWARD
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL / By Craig Gillespie (USA,
2007)
