I'm very sorry, I did not have time to post last days. I have several reviews and stories coming. In the meantime, please, look at some photos I've managed to take so far.

Truffaut is back! Not in person, but in spirit in Anne Fontaine’s new film “Nouvelle Chance”. I thought this mood was lost forever in French cinema. The mood, that I’d call easy-going drama or melancholic comedy, or, perhaps, light-hearted dramedy. No outright passion, but a kaleidoscope of sub-tones. Anyway, anyone, who saw Truffaut’s early works, knows, what I mean. But even his latest movies were much different. Still, it’s all present in “Nouvelle chance”. And the main character Augustin, portrayed very naturally by the director’s brother Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc, is a direct follow-up to Antoine Doinel, the character, whose personality is often sad and poignant, but never pathetic. The shots of Augustin, riding a bicycle, look classic from the very first glance.

The plot is about mid-aged actor, who doesn’t have a constant acting job and doesn’t make his living by performing - it’s rather his lifestyle, so he performs for the sake of it, wherever he can. For one of his projects, requested by some factory’s management to entertain their Swedish partners, he employs the talents of an old operetta actress (played by French film icon Danielle Darrieux) and former star of TV shows (played by Arielle Dombasle – another symbolic figure). It all turns out a bit different, than was expected, of course. At first, I was slightly disappointed by what seemed quite abrupt and non-concluding ending, but on the second thought I understood, that it was, on the contrary, very much concluding: cause meeting effect, art becoming reality, history repeating itself and all the heroes getting what they were striving for.

Anne Fontaine said during Q&A, that she made the movie for Danielle Darrieux, who is exceptional there. Though other actors are, again, very natural; maybe, because the characters are close to their real-life personas.

It’s always a pleasure to watch good, realistic acting – in dialogues, mimic, movements. Unfortunately, we are deprived of that in so many North American productions, where overacting or non-acting is considered a norm.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 for Truffaut’s fans, 4.5 out of 5 for the rest.

I've got all me choices granted, except two - Venus and Copying Beethoven. I decided to try what I have without making exchanges. So, my chances to see Peter O'Toole and Ed Harris during the festival are quite weak. They may show up for the second screening, because both of the second screenings are not early in the morning. I think, it's worth trying, we'll see tomorrow, when single tickes become available. Instead of Venus I'll go to Rescue Dawn, of which Herzog's fans were very excited. For the love of arts I've got The Pleasure of Your Company, so now I can get my portion of Jason Biggs.

Today I dropped off the envelope with my choice of 10 festival movies. I was sitting till 2AM the night before, trying to make it. I tried to employ intuition, but it didn't always work . In the end I took over myself and didn't choose Babel. That practically leaves me out of its screenings for the festival, but chances were little, anyway, and I decided not to look for the heavy stuff. The love of fine arts won - I chose Copying Beethoven instead. So, the list is (the second choice in braces):

Also I go to GALA for Mon Meilleur Ami. BTW, did you know, that the word "dog" is present in 5 titles! It happened so, that Bugmaster and Time made it into the list 2 times. Never planned that .

Nobody is inclined to comment, so I'll continue . Browsing the programme I've stumbled upon some things, that may interest a lover of movies, in which positive emotions prevail:

On the other page Little Children can become an event. Just watch the trailer on the official site.

 

Some addition to the list of movies, that I consider worth seeing during TIFF 2006:

That's it for today!

 

 

Ok, so I begin to compile my own list of movies to see during the Festival. And it's starts with Venus. The synopsis sounds like a feel-good movie and it stars Peter O'Toole, who is coming to Toronto! To see Peter O'Toole live is the chance not to miss. I remember as a kid enjoying How to Steal a Million (1966) with O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in Ukraine on TV - a brilliant movie. Then, of course, he played in Laurence of Arabia (1962) - the film, I became aware of much later than of How to Steal a Million, though. In my opinion he is an actor the size of Laurence Olivier, Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon. Just check his filmography on IMDB. Imagine, the guy is still working hard! Somebody might see him in Troy. He is 74 now. Checking IMDB, I found, that the film is directed by Roger Mitchell, responsible for Notting Hill. I just love this movie, so it's great news to me.

You can call me crazy, but today I bought a Gala ticket for Mon Meilleur Ami and a Programme Book, spending overall about 80 CAD. Pretty impressive, eh? And that's it! A Good Year was rush-only and I doubt I would dare to buy another Gala ticket . I have decided to watch The Banquet at the morning screening, if they have one. It's funny, but on Saturday night the films that I had chosen were among the only several movies with tickets still available. Not much demand, I guess . I've made their day! At the official website they also have different souvenirs for sale, like bags or notebooks. I remember getting them for free! Oh, maybe, I will get something with my 10 coupons. Anyway, it's time to compile my film list for Tuesday. I'll try to do it tomorrow. It will definitely include Alatriste and Fay Grim.