Day two in Toronto and I have already seen two five star movies and a rattling good entertainment.
Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is not a play I am familiar with so take Ralph Fiennes’ adaptation at face value. His Rome has a vivid Bosnian War feeling to it, with Fiennes as the returning warlord, spurned by his political leaders and seeks vengeance with the support of his erstwhile enemies. Fiennes is majestic in the title role but Vanessa Redgrave is outstanding as his mother, the power behind the throne. I don’t think I have err seen her given so much space and rein in a screen performance but this is breathtaking. It is a chilling tale which comes across with disturbing plausibility.
Ms Redgrave is there in queenly form in Anonymous, playing the ageing Elizabeth (her daughter playing the queen’s younger self) a grand scale confection with plenty of dark secrets. The premise is that Shakespeare was an illiterate sot who was the nom de plume for the Earl of Oxford (played with great presence by Rhys Ifens – so good to see him getting proper recognition). This is not the light and fluffy meringue of Shakespeare in Love but an entertainment that plays fast and loose with literature and history. It will be arriving on your screen in just over a month.
Highlight, so far, for me, has been The Artist. It created a very positive buzz at cannes in May and deservedly so. It is practically a silent movie, shot in black and white, celebrating the dying days of silent cinema and the hey days of Hollywood. If this sounds familiar, well, yes, it does draw heavily and affectionately on Singin’ in the rain but presents itself with such charm and elegance and wonderful humour. It is fun for all the family and I can’t wait to show it to you but there is, as yet, no release for it.
More later.
John
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