Confessions of a Festival Junkie: Day Two

Most film festivals of any significance try to include at least a couple of mainstream titles if for no other reason than to placate patrons attending opening and closing night events. Even the mighty Cannes has been the sight of such not so high-brow fare asThe Dark Knight and The Da Vinci Code in recent years.

Toronto has always had more than its fair share of movies for the masses; particularly among its gala presentations. The comedyGhost Town certainly fits that mold and new films by Spike Lee, The Secret Life of Bees and Flash of Genius are among studio offerings that aspire to some degree of artistic and/or social distinction.

Last year Toronto hosted the North American premiere of No Country for Old Men by the Coen Brothers that went on to win the best picture Oscar. This year the Coens return with Burn After Reading, a flat out comedy with a pretty solid bedrock of social satire.

The Brothers have done there fair share of comedies over the years but, obviously, this is the first time they’ve followed up winning the top Oscar prize with a bit of silliness. The reaction among the critical community to the movie hasn’t generally been embracing and one gets the distinct impression it’s largely because of some degree of snobbishness; it’s not viewed as appropriate to go from the lofty heights to lighter fare.

Now while Burn After Reading has a lot of antic material, it also has some very serious underlying issues. The film is about a woman determined to have a series of cosmetic surgeries that her insurance company has deemed elective procedures not covered by her policy. When what are perceived as classified documents fall into her lap, she sees a way of exploiting them to her own advantage and the film proceeds to chronicle the damage she wrecks on those in her path.

Without revealing a thing, the film manages to complete the circle in a satisfying fashion that few recent comedies can claim. Those with short memories might remember that No Country while greatly admired came under the spotlight for a conclusion many felt was inappropriate or unsatisfying. Detractors of the current film have grudgingly agreed that they cannot fault its craft or storytelling.

The legitimacy of its scathing portrait of the keepers of our national security came crashing home moments after the screening. On the way into my next film – the extraordinarily entertaining Korean western The Good, The Bad, The Weird – I spotted Sony Classics co-president Michael Barker.As I approached to say hello it was clear he was being grilled by theater security officers and I could hear him saying to them: “it’s just a conventional Blackberry.”

Barker was at a screening and prior to leaving opened his Blackberry to check for messages. The security thought he might be recording off the screen and examined his gadget meticulously before concurring that it could not have been employed in a piracy cabal. They apologized but Barker told them he was a staunch anti-piracy advocate and continued on a couple of steps. As we talked another security officer stepped up and as politely as possible asked to take a look at his pass and once more he was deemed legit.

Like the characters in the Coen film it was not so much the pursuit of law breakers that rankled but the manner in which the minions of noble values flexed their authority – perhaps even gleefully wallowed in it – that seemed like more than a glancing intrusion.

Friday saw the debut of Me and Orson Welles, one of the titles at Toronto that’s being shopped for distribution. It was warmly received at the public screening and I counted at least seven senior level execs from substantive distribution companies.

The prospects for Welles, a coming-of-age yarn centered on a teenager who winds up part of the auteur’s Mercury Theater company in its nascent incarnation circa 1937, aren’t as stellar as they might have been a couple of years ago. Part of the reason according to several potential buyers is that it’s “not edgy” whatever that means.

However, the bigger problem is that the way in which the American marketplace has evolved makes the financial template … the way in which money spent has a chance to turn a profit, makes it difficult for a medium budgeted movie to work economically. While the film could well find a buyer, acquisitors favor event movies and those that have a niche appeal that can be exploited on a low risk level.

No one quite knows how to successfully distribute a film that’s not patently mainstream. But for a movie that can be acquired for a guarantee of less than $200,000 what’s evolved is a strategy where fewer than 200 prints can be circulated to major cities as well as ancillary revenue streams from video on demand, discs and other cable outlets. Once one has to compete with a costly advertising campaign the stakes escalate rapidly and relatively few films can earn their way to success. This year there aren’t many success stories on the order of The Visitor to refute the trend.

– Leonard Klady

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