Toronto is a vibrant city for cinema, and as such there’s always lots to see. These weekly posts will cut through the mainstream releases to highlight the Top 5 cinematic events to check out each week.
1. Early Summer/Late Spring (TIFF Lightbox)
If you have thus far missed any of the Lightbox’s fantastic winter programming of Japanese classics, you can make it up by attending the two Yasujiro Ozu masterpieces playing this week. Both are considered the Japanese master’s finest post-war films (along with Tokyo Story) and both star Ozu muse Setsuko Hara, without which these movies may not have been nearly as mesmerizing. (Friday Mar 8 at 6:15pm/Saturday Mar 9 at 7pm)
2. Neighboring Sounds (TIFF Lightbox)
Few films have explored the psychological effects of soundscapes as successfully and meticulously as Neighboring Sounds, the first fiction feature film from Kleber Mendonça Filho. The Brazilian city Recife is treated as a labyrinthine network of emotions sizzling under the menacing humid air: anguish, anxiety, fear, anger and the briefest moments of pleasure threaten to spill out in living rooms, concrete walls and swimming pools. This is a subtle little film not to be missed. (Friday Mar 8-Thursday Mar 14)
3. The Bitter Ash (TIFF Lightbox)
Larry Kent’s debut feature film delivered a surprise punch for the Canadian independent film scene when it came out in 1963, its frank depiction of young, freewheeling sexuality so scandalous for its time the film was nearly banned. Many see the influence of the French New Wave in The Bitter Ash, but its murky cinematography, cigarette-smoke-filled settings, bared sexuality and loose acting recall the kineticism of John Cassavetes. This screening will show a restored print so you definitely don’t want to miss it. (Thursday Mar 14 at 8:15pm)
4. Cast A Dark Shadow/Chase A Crooked Shadow (Carlton)
Toronto Film Society present a fantastic little British double-bill, with the late-period noir Cast A Dark Shadow, about a crazy male gold digger, and Chase A Crooked Shadow, a suspense thriller about a woman who claims someone has stolen his brother’s identity. Dry wit and a focus on classicism is what marks these films from their American counterparts’ psychological dramas. (Monday Mar 11 at 7pm)
5. The Spiral Staircase (TIFF Lightbox)
Many have compared Robert Siodmak’s Gothic horror classic to the thrilling brilliance of one fine Alfred Hitchcock, a comparison that apparently left Siodmak alarmed. This superbly disturbing mid-1940s haunted house film employed the point-of-view device of the killer many years before it would become a cliché in slasher films, and the end result, in addition to the suspenseful script, visual metaphor of the staircase to the mind, and noir-like cinematography, marks The Spiral Staircase a horror gem far beyond its time. This particular screening will show an archival print. (Tuesday Mar 12 at 6:15pm)
