The Freakpit - Live from Toronto!

Some might say that flying three thousand miles to sample a documentary film festival is perhaps taking a devotion to films a bit too far. I did it though, so what's the extra effort of actually trying to update the blog while I'm here?

Well, okay, so it's also because I plan to do a bit of shopping this morning too but most of the shops don't open until 10am (it's currently just after 9am). I guess that's why they all manage to stay open to midnight then.

I've been impressed with what I've seen here so far, though I confess that so far it's limited to shops, some nice weather, a couple of films (obviously) and watching people be terrified at the top of the CN Tower. One of those people being terrified was kind of my fault, but that's another story - after all, you tune in to this blog to read my nonsensical ramblings of a film-based nature, not to listen to how nice my holiday is. I did have quite a nice chicken caesar salad in the hotel before bed last night though.

The first film I attended at the Hot Docs festival yesterday afternoon was THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, a rather depressing and disturbing look at the crisis in Darfur. It's told through the eyes of an ex-marine who was working as a photographer there and spent six months taking photos of the atrocities. Dismayed at being unable to do anything, he came back to the USA and began doing his best to alert the world to the crisis and the need for action.

As you'll know if you keep up with the news, it hasn't exactly been a resounding success. Lots of people thanked him for raising the issue, some didn't, and marches and television appearances seem to have ultimately fallen on more deaf ears than willing helpers. Or rather, those who are willing are not the ones who wield the real power.

It's an affecting and unsettling piece but one needs to take into account the fact that it's a very personal film. As a view into the life of a helpless witness, it's a stunning piece of work; as an overview of the situation in Darfur and the Sudan in general, it's limited in scope. That said, the film still deserves to be seen by a wider audience in the hope that one day it might be seen not just by the willing but by the willing and able.

That film was shown in a theatre in the Royal Ontario Museum - it was okay, but not as nice as the lovely little Isable Bader Theatre, where I was to see my next film.

ZOO is an oddity indeed. The springboard for this film came from a man being admitted to hospital with serious internal bleeding (which later killed him) after indulging in a rather inappropriate act with a horse. No, I'm not kidding. This incident not only resulted in a change in the law in Washington (it wasn't illegal to begin with?!?) but also in the discovery of a circle of men who got together to, er, show their love for animals.

While it sounds ripe for titillating exploitation, ZOO actually paints a very serious portrait of the men involved in this and does its best (with mixed results) to explain why people would do such things, and examines the effects it has on the people involved, on their families and even on the animals themselves. And it isn't very pretty.

If there's a flaw with the film it lies in the mix of documentary style and dramatic reconstruction. I don't have a problem with people who massage the truth to suit their own ends (I'm looking at you, Michael Moore) but as soon as you introduce reconstructions and actors into a documentary it makes me immediately wonder how much of what I'm seeing is true.

Yet, at the same time, the style works in creating a real mood and sense of foreboding as we follow the different characters leading up to the incident in question, aided by a slightly too earnest classical score to give the piece some added gravitas.

For the most part it's a succesful experiment, but you can't help but have some niggling doubts about the whole thing when you find yourself laughing at some of the more ludicrous aspects. Funny they may seem, but it distracts from the very serious problem at the heart of the film - a man not only had some serious issues with his life, but died. The film seems to forget that on occasion.

And on that cheery note, I'm off for a muffin and a coffee. Cheers!