Jazz

Cronenberg and Arcand at the Toronto Film Fest
Canada's Girard will present Silk, from a novel by Baricco
By Paola Bernardini


With a surprise appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) press conference, director David Cronenberg shone a spotlight on his latest movie, Eastern Promises, which will be presented at the 32nd edition of the festival.
“We are still shooting, that’s why Viggo [Mortensen] is here with us,” said Cronenberg about the protagonist of his thriller. “Our work in London became front-page news; it became so hot that it turned... radioactive.”
The cast was in fact shooting near a building owned by exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky when some technicians detected traces of polonium, a dangerously radioactive element.
Viggo Mortensen, after a fortunate collaboration in History of Violence, was again chosen by Cronenberg. This time he plays a mysterious and pitiless Russian gangster linked to one of London’s most famous “families” of organized crime.
His life changes upon meeting Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent housewife who accidentally uncovers evidence against the family. As is customary for Cronenberg (Crash, The Fly, Spider), this film doesn’t lack murders, double-crossings and vendettas. Also starring are Vincent Cassel (husband of Monica Bellucci), Sinead Cusack and Jerzy Skolimowski.
“Working with Cronenberg is always a great experience,” said Mortensen (Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo, Psycho, G.I. Jane). “We are wrapping up the shooting, but a lot remains to be done. As David said, we’ll be on time and over budget, as usual, but everything will be ready for the TIFF.”
Overall, 81 Canadian movies will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 6 to 15.
Another world-famous Canadian in attendance will be Denys Arcand with his Days of Darkness, starring Marc Labrèche. The Quebec director will premiere his latest work, a movie that borders reality and dreams, on the edge of an interpretation of our time as the returning Dark Ages.
Days of Darkness is very different from The Barbarian Invasions, which won acclaim in 2003 in Cannes (best script) and received an Oscar in 2004. Once again, the protagonist is the Mr. Nobody living inside each of us, who this time redeems his daily routine through daydreaming himself as a medieval knight, a star of political debates, an unrepentant Don Juan.