SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2010
Book a week off work, buy those cashmere sweats you’ve been eyeing and settle in for another stellar season of cinema at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Herewith, the feature flicks we’ll be queuing for based on our celluloid soft-spots:
Up-and-coming Canuck: Heartbeats
A
twist on the classic love triangle, the sophomore effort from
Montreal’s Xavier Dolan received a standing ovation and the Prix de la
Jeunesse at Cannes this year.
Arty doc: Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Director
Tamra Davis unearths her personal footage and interviews of Basquiat
kept under lock and key until now to trace the young artist’s swift
rise and sudden death. We previewed the film earlier this year and
walked away moved and inspired.
British romp: Tamara Drewe
This modern comedy of errors had us at “loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd.” Add in a leather-clad Dominic Cooper and being charmed is a sure thing.
French flirtation: Certified Copy
Take
a ten dollar trip to Italy with this film starring Juliette Binoche as
an antique shop owner in Tuscany who strikes up relations with an
English author. Also a Cannes winner, Binoche took home the Best
Actress prize.
Period piece: Anton Chekhov’s The Duel
With glowing reviews from the likes of the New York Times and the New Yorker,
this film adaptation of the 1891 novella is apt to be anything but
bland and boring with critics attributing adjectives like rich, deft
and evocative to it.
The film festival runs September 30 to October 15, 2010. Purchase tickets and view schedules at www.viff.org
