Toronto Film Fest

"The essence of film begins when a director frames their first shot. At that very moment, the world comes into focus and another extraordinary story begins to unfold.

Among North American festivals, Toronto does the best job of being everything to everyone: a star-studded glamour tour, a collection of topical material for the casual moviegoer, a review of the current work of art-house stars, a recapitulation of the last six months of international art cinema. It draws films from over 60 countries around the world, from Vietnam to Iceland; Kazakhstan to Chile and beyond, it is a lavish collection of films from major directors, taking you on a worldwide cinematic tour.

Maybe the size of the Toronto Film Fest is a problem, lots of celebrities and media in town, creating a problem with getting tickets to movies that you want to see..I don't really hate the ticket system, having to get a coupon package in order to do a pick of films..
AND even if you have chosen your films in advance, doesn't mean you will get your film selection, you still have to have a draw out of all the other coupon holders..

So what luck do i have for this yr?? There are a total of 46 boxes..
my package was in Box # 32, and which was the box that they drew as being first??
# 36!!! so my film selections are being almost dead last, really really disappointed..
but that's life, what can you do about it..

So i will be trying to coverwhati have watched in the film fest...
giving u guys a glance at what is out there in the world cinema right now...

Paradise Now
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Country: Palestine/ The Netherlands/ Germany/ France

The headlines are sickening, but they keep coming. Suicide bombers are now a fact of life. But the questions we ask after such carnage have become helplessly rhetorical: who would do such a thing? And why?

In the West Bank town of Nablus, Said (Kais Nashef ) and his friend Khaled (Ali Suliman) eke out a meagre living fixing cars. They squabble with hard-to-please customers; they take breaks to smoke a water pipe and chat. Then a serious, bespectacled man approaches and tells them their time has come. From this moment forward, they are in preparation for their mission.

The director looks at the struggles that the occupied Nablus are going through, where their freedom are taken away, most of the citizens are living under poverty, with unemployment, and even without clean water..

" If you are afraid of death, you are already dead;
If you are not afraid, you will have a quick and smooth death "

You will try to do everything that you can toavoidd it, which already let death be the center of your live...
The main character Said, wanted to sacrifice himself so that it can change the situation of the occupation in the country..
is it as a form of resistance? or just a form of revenge?
It will just give the Israelis an excuse to keep on the occupation and do more violence in Nablus..
then is there a way out of this loop??

This movie is a way that the director is doing his rebellion...
he is using this movie as a protest to the world, to the US who are funding the Israelis...
the movie is aneutrall look at what force pushes the good hard working citizens to become a suicide martyr...

But because the director was trying not to do any condemnation or manifesto, he is keeping a distance with the film, and the characters in the movie do not have enough depth, their development is not strong enough to leave a strong impression in the audience..
It is like an essay without a strong argument, just displaying the facts, without any personal opinions..
maybe because it is a sensitive subject, so the director do not want to give too much of his views

The movie gives a clear contrast in the living standards between Israel and Nablus,
skyscrapers, imported cars, cell phones, big billboards all other the city, while the other is packed with the most basic brick houses, old used cars...
it opened the audiences eyes in the area...
This movie has lots of heart, can really see the effort that the director had put into it..

The actors are all from stage drama, the first feature movie for most of them,
but the acting was really good, esp. when the scenes are all real locations where suicide bombers shoot their final statment video before their "heroic" deed...

One of the most impressive scene is when the two characters have their final supple before they headed out..
it resembled the final supple scene in the Bible..
Jesus was having the final supple with his disciples before he heads to the cross..
to die for all the sinners of this world..
to rebel against the world order and death...
a light from God lit Jesus from above...

In the movie scene, there are also the same number of ppl..
a light from the ceiling on the two main characters...
only these two are to rebel in a worldly order,
thinking that their deeds are cherished by God..
only in a human view...

i rate 3/5 for this movie..