by MARK SLUTSKY

Strange things are afoot at the Toronto International Film Festival. For the most part, it runs like a well-oiled machine—screenings start on time, publicists are on top of things, audiences are happy. But some events are getting a little out of hand at the 2006 edition’s opening weekend—though with generally hilarious results.

One of TIFF’s most anticipated films this year is the Larry Charles-directed Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as the titular culturally illiterate Kazakhstani TV journalist. The film was to premiere at a Thursday-night “Midnight Madness” screening (with tickets selling on the grey market for hundreds of dollars), and the event was attended to with great pomp—Borat showed up on a donkey accompanied by women dressed as peasants, people were flying Kazakh flags, it was a big event.

But shortly into the film, something went wrong with the projector and the screening had to be stopped; first Charles took the stage to console the audience, then, improbably, Michael Moore (who had apparently tried to fix the projector!), then the B-man himself. To the chagrin of the crowd, though, the film couldn’t be resumed and was postponed until the next night. (Incidentally, it’s as offensive and disgusting and hilarious as you’d hoped it would be.)

Reel misfortune

I had also been anticipating Argentine director Israel Adrián Caetano’s Crónica de una Fuga, about a group of men who escape from a prison in the dark days of Argentina’s military regime. When the scheduled press screening began, though, the title that came up on the screen read simply: Crónicas. A low rumble of discontent went through the theatre. Still... it kind of looked like it might be the right movie... though I hadn’t noticed that John Leguizamo was in it... nor Alfred Molina... wait a second... Suddenly the sound cut out and a very embarrassed spokesperson announced that indeed the wrong movie was screening. And it wasn’t even a movie from this year’s festival! In fact, Sebastián Cordero’s Crónicas had screened at TIFF two years prior, at the 2004 festival, and someone had sent the wrong print over.

The hijinks continued the next night at a special screening of Guy Maddin’s new Super-8 silent film Brand Upon the Brain! Presented in the lovely Elgin theatre (site of most of TIFF’s galas), the film was accompanied by music performed by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, narrated by Louis Negin, and live sound effects were produced by a foley team dressed up (in Maddin’s words) in “labcoats, ties, and wellingtons.”

Unfortunately the show was delayed for half an hour (rumour had it that the mini-Orchestra was still rehearsing), the film started at the wrong place and the teleprompter went haywire, leading to the amusing sight of Maddin creeping into the box where Negin was performing and giving him spoken cues. Ultimately it all didn’t detract from the pleasure of the entertaining and inventive (and very funny) film.

Spies and mutants

One of the festival’s early hits, and deservedly so, was Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s delightful monster movie The Host, about a ridiculous mutant tadpole that emerges from Seoul’s Han river and goes on a rampage. There’s an undeniable undercurrent of political allegory (with a vicious swipe at the U.S. and the WMDs-in-Iraq issue) and it only enhances this often-hilarious and exciting flick—my only complaint is that it’s maybe half an hour too long. Chances are it will see a little trimming before it gets released here, and for once that might be a good thing.

Another early fest fave is the German film The Lives of Others, written and directed by the young (take a deep breath) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Set in East Berlin in the mid ’80s, the film stars an excellent Ulrich Mühe as a Stasi agent assigned to spy on a playwright (Sebastian Koch), a Party loyalist who has nonetheless managed to make a romantic rival of an apparatchik who wants him out of the way. Beautifully shot, with meticulous production design, the film is part political thriller, part melodrama, and it received something like a 10-minute standing ovation at its gala premiere on Thursday night. It should open here early next year.

A big Cannes hit, and an obvious object of curiosity in Toronto is John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig follow-up, Shortbus, about a group of sexually active New Yorkers (including Canada’s own Sook-Yin Lee) and their issues. The movie’s garnered a certain amount of notoriety for its full-on, explicit sex scenes, but amazingly, the film—which could either be too precious, self-satisfied or just plain self-serious for its own good—manages to be incredibly winning and sweet, not to mention consistently funny. Also a Cannes sensation, of course, is Pedro Almodovar’s gorgeous Volver, featuring fantastic performances from Carmen Maura and particularly the va-va-va-voom Penélope Cruz.

Also a visual stunner is Aki Kaurismäki’s follow-up to his great The Man Without a Past, Lights in the Dusk. It doesn’t quite hit the heights of the former film, though, in all fairness, it’s content not to reach for them. Exquisitely shot, with deep, rich colours and the characteristic deadpan Kaurismäki tone, it’s a pleasure to get lost in.

People were curious enough about the new Christopher Guest film, For Your Consideration, to pack a 9:30 a.m. press screening—on a Sunday, mind you. A departure from his usual mockumentary style, the movie’s about a low-budget movie, Home for Purim, and what happens when Oscar rumours start flying about its cast. Not the strongest film from the Guest/Eugene Levy axis, but some good laughs in there for sure.

Party favours

Of course, there are always the parties, which are either too good for you to be invited to or not quite as glamourous as you’d hope. I was all psyched to get a fancy-looking gift bag at one particular soirée. I was less thrilled to discover it contained a bottle of fabric softener, an air freshener, some breath strips and a diet chocolate bar. What are they trying to tell me? I did feel momentarily redeemed, however, when a TV producer at the Canadian Film Centre barbecue on Sunday asked me if I would serve Gordon Pinsent (actually, she referred to him as “Canadian Hero Gordon Pinsent”) a burger in front of the television cameras, for some reason. The venerable actor, who stars alongside Julie Christie in Sarah Polley’s feature directing debut, Away From Her, seemed kind of confused about it himself, but was gracious and sweet regardless, making my one random celebrity encounter far nicer than last year’s, where a couple of Canadian Idol judges made fun of my fake moustache. Hurray for Gordon Pinsent, Canadian hero!

[Note: At presstime, Gordon Pinsent was resting at home after collapsing at a party on Monday night. We wish him a speedy recovery.]

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