Highlights From TIFF: Communists, Drug Cartels and Jazz

Be on the lookout for these films.

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It’s been 40 years since the Toronto International Film Festival started, and in that time it's evolved from a small festival for film lovers to its current standing as one of the biggest and most prestigious film festivals in the world. There are mega-stars on just about every corner (Johnny Depp, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Kristen Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch—just to name a few) and fans with pens and notepads ready for autographs and iPhones on stand-by for selfies. There are hundreds of films of all varieties and glitzy parties that can be just as important for festival-goers for their promise of rubbing elbows, inking deals, and indulging in an insurmountable amount of free-flowing alcohol. 

In 1976, 35,000 people attended the inaugural edition. This year, 500,000 attendees are expected. The fest’s People’s Choice Award has also become a known predictor of potential Oscar Best Picture winners (a.k.a., The King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire and 12 Years a Slave).

Four decades and thousands of movies, red carpets, parties, and celebrities later, the festival has certainly morphed into something different, something much bigger. But even though there are more stars than you can count and plenty of glitz and Hollywood-centric focus (premieres this year include The Martian, Demolition, and Black Mass), the festival still offers a home for smaller or more unusual titles—and an audience that shares a true love of cinema.

Don't worry—we've checked out some of the best TIFF that look at a variety of topics, from famous jazz musicians to young love to communists. The festival runs until September 20th. 

Trumbo

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Director: Jay Roach

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Louis C.K., Helen Mirren, John Goodman

Despite having a serious story in its belly, Trumbo also brings a sense of breezy joy and humor—particularly with Louis C.K., Helen Mirren, and John Goodman in the picture. Known for doing his best work in the bathtub and a cigarette in-hand, Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) is as successful a screenwriter as they get, with a freshly inked deal with MGM to his name, making him the world's highest paid screenwriter.  That is, until the House of Un-American Activities Committee decides to give him a lift down. A member of the communist party and a firm believer in First Amendment rights, the charismatic, wry, and self-assured Trumbo goes on to sacrifice his career and life to stand up to the tyranny of the McCarthy Era. For his brave act of defiance, he is held in contempt of Congress and sentenced to jail time along with ten other industry players—The Hollywood Ten, as they came to be known.

This was a dark time in American history and Hollywood was merely a reflection of that. People were placed in impossible positions, friends betrayed friends, and a sense of paranoia haunted the country. What would you REALLY do, asks the film? Would you merely denounce communism or would you name names? The bigger point, the film claims, is that no one should be asked to make these choices in the first place. Blacklisted, Trumbo has to resort to writing anonymously, mostly trashy B-movies for the King Brothers (Goodman and Stephen Root), but two of the scripts happened to be The Brave One and Roman Holiday, winning him Oscars he could never claim. 

Brooklyn

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Director: John Crowley

Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Michael Zegen, Domhnall Gleeson

There's something truly irresistible about seeing life through Ellis Lacey's eyes (Saoirse Ronan) in Brooklyn, a story about a young Irish woman who leaves home for…you guessed it…Brooklyn. Her journey isn't easy—from the motion sickness she endures on the boat to the homesickness she experiences while in her new land; from dealing with loss to finding love with an Italian-American fella, a considerably charismatic Emory Cohen. Not a lot happens that's particularly unusual, but every moment matters. There's humor, and melancholy sadness; there's tenderness and there's boldness—there's life in this beautifully and subtly crafted film from a script by Nick Hornby. Brooklyn is definitely worth a visit.

 

Sicario

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Director: Denis Villeneuve

Stars: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya

With director Denis Villeneuve at the helm, there's more to Sicario than what you'd expect from yet another Mexican drug cartel movie. Yes, there's intense action and brutal violence that might want to make you look away—like the rows of rotting corpses found in a home belonging to the cartel—but if you do, you'll miss something else. How we engage with this escalating war-like fight against drug cartels at the border between U.S. and Mexico, is also changing the fabric of our own humanity. Can you only fight fire with fire? What lines are we willing to cross?  

It's this world of moral ambiguity that Emily Blunt's idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer is thrust into and we experience it all through her, similarly disoriented. It's a visceral, tense experience. Nothing is quite as it seems. Josh Brolin's character may or may not be a CIA spook, and Benicio Del Toro's quietly enigmatic Alejandro won't hesitate to kill or torture to get what he wants. Problem is, it's hard to tell which side he's on. Beautifully crafted with cinematography by Roger Deakins, a score by Academy Award nominee Jóhann Jóhannsson and powerful, distinct, understated performances, Sicario is a fresh take on an old genre. Ultimately, the film doesn't offer any reassuring answers, only questions. But they are questions well worth asking.

Born to Be Blue

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Director: Robert Budreau

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo, Callum Keith Rennie

Part fact, part fiction, Born to Be Blue is a reimagining of a moment in iconic jazz trumpet player and singer Chet Baker's life. After a brutal beating by drug dealers who knocked out his teeth and left him unable to play the trumpet, Baker attempts to overcome a heroin addiction and regain the ability to play again with the help of a good woman (Carmen Ejogo). Ethan Hawke brings a strong sense of crashing fragility, desire for love, and a hunger for validation to his excellent performance, painting a portrait of a man whose biggest obstacles seem to be his own lack of confidence in his talent without drugs and a deep desire to make exceptional music. By the time he hits that last note, you get the title.

 

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