By Anne Brodie Vadim Perelman’s WWII slow-burn Persian Lessons looks at an event that couldn’t possibly be true. Set in 1942 in a Nazi Germany concentration camp and based on real events it’s the story of a rabbi’s son who goes to dizzying extremes to save his life; every moment that passes without the truth being discovered is agonising. Gilles… View Post
Marie Clements’ one-hundred-year saga of the lives of an indigenous family in Canada is a work of art, transcendent and essential. Grace Dove is Aline, stolen from her family by the government and placed in a residential home run by sadistic nuns and priests, a fate all too common in our history. Aline persists and thrives, as an example of… View Post
By Anne Brodie Mary Harron’s Daliland on Salvador Dali’s later years in New York and Spain isn’t a great movie – but it’s great fun. It’s 1974, a happening time in Manhattan’s elite arts and social circles. Dali (Sr Ben Kingsley) and his tempestuous muse/wife Gala (Barbara Sukowa) are ensconced at the St. Regis Hotel for their twentieth winter. Dali… View Post
So another summer up north at the cottage and you’d think the extended family would settle in for some r and r. But no, a succession war between sister and brother Justin and Maisy May that broke out last season takes on a new and terrifying element with an unexpected arrival. Similar to a plague of locusts but not. What… View Post
By Anne Brodie The Toronto Japanese Film Festival, one of our premiere film fests, drawing international films, fans and creators to town begins its 12th annual edition at Kobayashi Hall at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, June 8 to 22. The Centre offers top current and premiering films, visiting filmmakers, musical performances, art exhibitions, and of course, Japanese food. A… View Post
By Anne Brodie Writer-director Marie Clements’ devastating Bones of Crows follows a Cree woman from childhood through her life and one hundred years of violent, hateful abuse of indigenous people in Canada. Set against historic government decisions that resulted in discrimination as policy in Canadian law, its dynamic, deeply felt human stories are the driving wheel. Our shameful past comes… View Post