[TIFF Review] Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Hamnet, Silent Friend, Rental Family, Rose of Nevada
On the final two days of the Toronto International Film Festival, I watched five films, including this year's People's Choice Award winner Hamnet and the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award winner Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
This film is a movie version of the Canadian comedy series Nirvanna the Band the Show, continuing its mockumentary style as it follows Matt (Matt Johnson) and his elaborate plan to perform at the Rivoli restaurant. Compared to the original series, the film's scheme is on a grander scale, with an opening stunt sequence that could rival the Mission: Impossible franchise. The film's mockumentary format, documenting Matt and Jay's (Jay McCarrol) silly plan and the reactions of others, is truly hilarious.
The second half of the film adds sci-fi elements, turning it into a Back to the Future-style comedy with plenty of humor and self-deprecating moments. Through it all, the audience gets a deep sense of Matt and Jay's friendship. Shot at numerous Toronto landmarks, with streetcars, news clips, and cameos from passersby (and animals), it's the most "Toronto" film the writer has seen and will resonate with local audiences.
Hamnet
This film tells the story of Shakespeare's wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley), from her perspective—their meeting, falling in love, and raising their children. For any parent, the greatest joy is seeing a new life come into the world and watching their child grow. But Agnes endures the most terrifying thing a parent can face: the death of her son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). Max Richter's score, combined with the sounds of nature and Łukasz Żal's intimate camera work, allows us to feel the characters’ emotions. As the mother, Agnes has a deeper connection to her child and a more profound grief. In the scene of Hamnet's death, the score fades away, allowing the audience to focus on Jessie Buckley’s beautiful and heartbreaking performance, feeling her pain in the silence. In contrast, Paul Mescal's performance is more internal. His sadness is subtle, but his eyes alone convey his emotion. His return home after his son’s death is a truly layered scene. The film’s final act, which presents parts of the stage play Hamlet, beautifully shows how an artist channels their own experiences and emotions into their creations and how art allows people to express their feelings and connect with others.
Silent Friend
This film is set on a German university campus and weaves together three stories from different eras: in 1908, Grete (Luna Wedler) is among the first female students in the botany department; in 1972, botany student Gundula (Marlene Burow) experiments with a plant's sense perception and meets her classmate Hannes (Enzo Brumm); and in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, neurologist Professor Tony Wong (Tony Leung) studies a Ginkgo biloba tree on the empty campus.
These three stories are unrelated, but they all take place on the same campus, and the protagonists have a connection to the ginkgo tree. The editing is deliberately non-linear, interweaving scenes from the three timelines as if time is irrelevant. The tree is the constant, more important character in the film. It's a presence that the characters pass by or observe in all three eras. In the 2020 timeline, Professor Wong's research turns the tree into a character, allowing the audience to see its life through instruments.
If this tree is a living being, what is its role in the film? For most of the film, it observes humanity. The movie spans over a century, covering events like the struggle for women to enter academia, World War I, World War II, social upheaval in the '70s, and COVID. These events might be significant to humans, but for the ginkgo tree, it's not a long period of time, which reflects how insignificant humanity is in the grand scheme of nature and history. Since the tree has been observing humanity for over a hundred years, does it feel bored? Does it feel lonely? We don't know much about plants, but the film portrays several lonely human beings and how they form connections. In the 2020 timeline, Professor Wong, isolated by the pandemic, can only connect with others through a computer until he forms a touching friendship with a campus security guard. Tony Leung has few lines in the film, but his eyes alone convey his character's loneliness. In the final scene, his gentle expressions and gaze as he reaches out to the security guard make the audience feel the power of human connection. That, perhaps, is the magic of Tony Leung.
Rental Family
The film follows Philip (Brendan Fraser), an American living in Japan, who is recruited to be a surrogate to help clients through difficult moments in their lives. As a surrogate, Philip takes on two main roles: a father figure in a single-parent family and a visitor to an elderly, famous actor with dementia. Along the way, he forms close bonds with them. The stories touch on themes of death, family, single parenting, aging, and memory loss. The performances by Shannon Mahina Gorman, who plays the daughter, and Akira Emoto, who plays the famous actor, are both very moving. Unfortunately, the film's limited runtime doesn't allow for a deeper exploration of these Japanese social issues. Additionally, we don't learn much about Philip's own personality or background, so he truly becomes an easily replaceable character whose only function is to move the plot forward.
Rose of Nevada
This film is about a fishing boat that disappeared decades ago and suddenly reappears. Two men, including the protagonist Nick (George MacKay), join the crew to go fishing. The film has sci-fi elements, but its focus is on the psychological state of Nick. Shot on 16mm film, its grainy, rough texture makes it difficult for the audience—just like the characters—to distinguish between timelines. The rapid editing, images of countless fish, sounds of crashing waves, and an unsettling score all immerse the audience in a tense and disturbing environment. The experience of sharing Nick's temporal confusion makes it an unforgettable film.
Photo: TIFF