This year’s TIFF essentially confirmed what 2024 is all about in Asian cinema terms: co-productions, Chinese cinema, ASEAN genre films and a Japanese industry that has gotten back to the top due to its ever present stability. The program was quite interesting in general, as it combined genre with art house in an almost equal ratio, in a rather unusual move for a festival, where the selection tends to linger towars the latter. The result definitely worked, particularly in terms of diversity, with the program including from experimental titles to intense crowdpleasers and everything between. “She Taught Me Serendipity“, “Pavane for an Infant“, and “Harbor Lights” are among the highlights of a selection that includes a number of gems.
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1. Film Review: Sima’s Song (2024) by Roya Sadat
“Sima’s Song” is an excellent film that manages to highlight the issues Afghanistan faces and have been facing in the most eloquent fashion, while presenting a story that remains entertaining from beginning to end.
2. Video Interview: Roya Sadat and Aziz Deildar
3. Film Review: The Harbor Lights (2024) by Adachi Mojiri
Through a powerhouse performance by Miu Tomita and the overall handling of the melodrama and the many impactful comments it makes, “The Harbor Lights” emerges as a truly great movie, definitely among the best of the year.
4. Film Review: Orang Ikan (2024) by Mike Wiluan
Mike Wiluan directs a film that, despite its historical basis, essentially aims to entertain through an approach that moves towards martial arts, survival horror and monster movie. The local legend of Orang Ikan (check the interview for more details) gives a local flavor to the whole thing, while the remote island the story takes place in is definitely the ideal setting for such a movie. In that fashion, the combination of forest, caves and beaches and the way Asep Kalila has captured them give the movie one of its biggest traits, with Wiluan taking full advantage of the location, that is essentially another one of the characters. Particularly the scenes in the cave are bound to stay in the mind of any viewer.
5. Video Interview: Mike Wiluan
6. Film Review: Black Ox (2024) by Tetsuichiro Tsuta
Apart from narrative and context though, in terms of production values, the movie is truly majestic. The cinematography of Yutaka Aoki captures the various settings the protagonist roams in in exquisite fashion, with both the mid and the long shots being rather well handled. The black-and-white actually adds to aesthetics of the images instead of detracting, while also making the two colored sequences stand out significantly. Lastly, some sequences, as the one with the graves and the one with the photography will definitely stay in mind, with the second also emitting a sense of hilarity that is actually found throughout the film.
7. Video Interview: Tetsuichiro Tetsu
8. Film Review: Valley of the Shadow of Death (2024) by Jeffrey Lam Sen, Antonio Tam
Jeffrey Lam Sen and Antonio Tam direct a rather interesting movie, which essentially questions whether Christianity’s teachings, and particularly the one about forgiveness, can actually be followed by those who advocate them. Of course, by having Leung having to forgive his daughter’s killer (and much worse actually) they stretch the question to its extremes, in an element, though, that works particularly well for the drama in the movie. Furthermore, that the concept of abortions is also dealt with, and in a way that is connected with the aforementioned, adds another level to the context here, essentially carrying it from the majority of its duration.
9. Film Review: Spirit World (2024) by Eric Khoo
“Spirit World” is a film that leans heavily on its cast, although not only on their acting, but perhaps even more on their real-life personas, which also add an intense meta level to the movie. Masaaki Sakai who plays Yuzu for example, is a Japanese actor, singer and martial artist, best known to English-speaking audiences as the title star of the TV show “Monkey” and also a member of the surf band, the Spiders, with his capacities actually dictating the story to a point. Catherine Deneuve, being 81, could be perceived as having many similarities with Claire, particularly regarding her latter’s angst whether her performances are still as good as when she was younger. Lastly, Yutaka Takenouchi as Hayato, a filmmaker with a block, could be perceived as an alter ego of Eric Khoo, who had not shot a movie since 2018 and “Ramen Shop”.
10. Anime Review: Look Back (2024) by Kiyotaka Oshiyama
The most appealing element of Kiyotaka Oshima and Studio Durian‘s work here is how the manga pages turn into the actual lives of the protagonists and vice versa, in a meta aspect that works excellently both for the narrative and the animation. The way the thoughts and overall lives of the girls become inspiration for their manga, and the way their work affects their lives create a very appealing cycle, which Oshima explores to the fullest in order to present his comments.
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