OK, it took me much longer than expected to put up the post. Sorry to all the friends, who are reading this. I think, you can subscribe to updates, if you have your own MSN Live Space. Anyway, let's proceed.

You never know, where you lose and where you find at TIFF. Rescue Dawn, that was my second choice, turned out to be the most rewarding experience so far. First, because the movie is very well done: classic and traditional it is, but in the same time very personal, realistic and intimate. Second, the director, 2 actors, crew showed up for the presentation, hanged around after for the Q&A session (that was quite long), were in good mood, honest and funny. And third, it had the feeling of a premiere: 0.5-km line, Ryerson theatre full packed, again, people, responsible for the movie, present. There was even the family of the protagonist in the audience.

Christian Bale outdid himself. Honestly, I never expected that from the Batman. True, he starred in some inordinary movies, but it's his portrayal of the Knight, that left me cold and made me sceptical about him pulling out Rescue Dawn. But it proved to be wrong assumption. Pushed to a limit physically, challenged to portray very difficult emotions, he was great. I think, he should definitely get a nod for this performance. By the way, in real life Christian seems to be very modest, corteous and intelligent person.

The movie is based on a real-life story of Dieter Dengler, a friend of Herzog's, who got into prisoner camp after his plane was gunned down while on a mission over Laos in 1965. Werner Herzog already made a critically acclaimed documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly on the same subject.  The whole film is a story of capture, escape and survival of this regular pilot of German-American background and other soldiers, no supermen in any case. The enemy is also shown without usual now political correctness, just as the protagonist sees him.

The director doesn't make any anti-war statements, he just tells the story of his friend in a very intimate way. The story of the extraordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, in whom his natural optimizm, hopefulness and will for life, often attributed to immigrants, invoke courage, decisiveness and survival instincts, that he himself never thought of and doesn't even notice.

The supporting ensemble of actors, especially Steve Zahn (!) and Jeremy Davies, help Bale to pull the weight. The score and cinematography deserve a special nod: Herzog uses modern classical music in a very impressive way.

But because the movie is not anti-military or political, which is usually not approved now, it may not be awarded anything. Although, it probably won't bother Herzog. He made a great tribute to his friend.