Monthly Archives: February 2015

TIFF Books on Film Returns March 2 to June 22

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Remains of the Day | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

TIFF’s Books on Film series returns for its fifth season on March 2nd with an exciting line up of great cinema that began as outstanding literature. This seems especially timely after a year that’s been fantastic for film adaptations of books — recent box office hits (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Fifty Shades of Grey, any number of superhero movies) also began as books, as did at least half a dozen of the top contenders this awards season. The TIFF series celebrates the translation of the page to screen, with film screenings followed by CBC host Eleanor Wachtel (Writers & Company) interviewing filmmakers, authors and experts about the art of adapting a book for the screen.

TIFF Books on Film 2015 Schedule:

Monday, March 2, 7 pm
James Shapiro (Professor of English at Columbia University) on Coriolanus

Coriolanus. Credit: Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library.

Coriolanus | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library.

Trailer:

Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler and Shakespeare — need I say more? Fiennes also directs this modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, about an exiled Roman general who allies with his sworn enemy to take revenge on the city that spurned him. 

Esteemed Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro will discuss the perennial challenges of bringing the Bard to the screen.

Monday, March 16, 7 pm
Kazuo Ishiguro on The Remains of the Day

This is the one I’m seriously geeking out over. Kazuo Ishiguro is an amazing writer, and The Remains of the Day is, bar none, my favourite among all of his works. He will be at TIFF Bell Lightbox (in person!) to talk to Eleanor Wachtel about the film adaptation. The film itself stars Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, so really, how can it be anything but spectacular?
Monday, April 13, 7 pm
Lynn Barber on An Education
An Education | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

An Education | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

Trailer:

I’ve heard a lot of great things about this film starring Carey Mulligan and adapted from a memoir by English journalist Lynn Barber about her teenage love affair with a dashing con man. It will be great to see how it plays out on screen, and then to hear from Barber herself on the adaptation of her life.

Monday, May 11, 7 pm
Allan Scott on Don’t Look Now

Don't Look Now | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

Don’t Look Now | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

Trailer:

Daphne du Maurier had a gift for atmosphere in her writing, and this film, adapted from one of her short stories, sounds decidedly creepy. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a married couple who is haunted by a series of mysterious occurrences after the death of their daughter. Best part? Screenwriter Allan Scott, who will be discussing his adaptation with Eleanor Wachtel, is also known for creating the stage musical adaptation of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which just makes him more awesome to my inner theatre geek.

Monday, June 1, 7 pm
Irvine Welsh on Trainspotting

Trainspotting | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

Trainspotting | Courtesy of TIFF Film Reference Library

Trailer:

To be honest, I’ve never watched this classic based on a book (also a classic!) by Irvine Welsh. The film stars Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller though, so I’ll definitely have to give it a try. The author himself will be speaking with Eleanor Wachtel after the screening of this film.

Monday, June 22, 7 pm
Phillip Lopate on The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Courtesy of Photofest

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Courtesy of Photofest

Essayist, poet, novelist and film critic Phillip Lopate speaks with Eleanor Wachtel about this classic 1969 adaptation of Muriel Spark’s world-famous novel. The film adaptation stars Maggie Smith — Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey, among many other legendary roles, with Jean Brodie being among her most famous. I also loved Muriel Spark’s book, and look forward to hearing it discussed at TIFF.

How to subscribe:

Series subscriptions to Books on Film include all six events and are on sale now. Subscription pricing as follows (regular price subscribers save $30 off the cost of single tickets): adult member $153, adult non-member $180, student/senior member $122.40, students/senior non-member $144.

Single tickets available starting on Wednesday, February 25: adult member $28, adult nonmember $35, student/senior member $24, student/senior non-member $29.75, groups of 20+ $31.50.

Purchase tickets online at tiff.net/books, by phone from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET daily at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433, or visit the Steve and Rashmi Gupta Box Office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET daily at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West.

Review | When Everything Feels like the Movies, Raziel Reid

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24043806When Everything Feels like the Movies is an unbelievably raw, powerful book. Reading this book is a visceral experience, and I almost didn’t write this review because there is no way I can express the power of Raziel Reid’s writing. He plunges us deep into the mind and heart of his narrator Jude, and creates such a rich, textured voice for his character that Jude will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Jude is a hilarious narrator whose humour belies the depth of his experiences and pain. A young teen bullied for being gay, Jude copes by imagining himself a movie star. Boys chase him and call him Judy because they are rabid fans. Graffiti about him on bathroom doors are notes from secret admirers. Classmates stare at his outfits and made-up face because the school hallways are actually red carpet premieres and he’s the star. It’s a comforting fiction that crumbles with the first punch, even as he desperately attempts to cling to it. In a particularly heart-wrenching moment, he scrambles to his feet and races away from a group of bullies, describing all the while how he is really acting out a lush, beautiful scene from a movie.

The reason this book is so powerful is the language. Take this passage about bathroom graffiti for example:

They made portraits of me, too. They were my graffiti tabloids. I was totally famous. I’d imagine that the drawing in the handicap stall of my alleged crotch with “Hermafrodite Jude/Judy” scribbled next to it was the cover of the National Enquirer. Misspelled headline included. I was addicted to them. I’d look all over the bathroom and on all the walls in the hallway, and if there wasn’t one waiting for me on my locker for Jim to paint over at the end of the day, I was crushed. I wanted them to hate me; hate was as close to love as I thought I’d ever be. [p. 18]

Passages like that just blow me away. I mean, wow. The studied casualness of stating a desire for this graffiti, contrasted with the subtle dig at the spelling error, and then wrapped up at the end with an almost off-hand remark. Reid manages to pack more sincerity in that final sentence than in the rest of the paragraph, yet the emotion in that last line can be felt throughout, even as Jude pretends otherwise. Bravo, Raziel Reid, is all I can say.

Then Jude falls in love, with a popular boy who happens to be straight. If you know the author’s inspiration for this story, then you already know how that turns out. If you don’t, then I urge you to avoid spoilers at all costs. The ending seemed sudden to me and I thought it came out of nowhere. But I can imagine that’s how it would have seemed in real life as well, especially as Reid keeps us firmly locked within Jude’s perspective.

The controversy around the content of this book has brought it to the attention of many more readers, but it has also almost eclipsed discussion about the book itself, which I think is a shame. Read it to take a stand against censorship, if you like, but also read it just because it’s a very, very good book. Jude is a star, and his story will pull you right in and never let you go.

Review | Something Wiki, Suzanne Sutherland

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20860645Something Wiki is about a shy twelve year old named Jo, who has three brainy friends and edits Wikipedia for fun. When two of her friends suddenly decide they’re too cool for her, Jo has to deal with a situation unfortunately all too familiar with many young girls. Add to the mix a twenty-four year old brother moving back home with his pregnant girlfriend, and Jo’s dealing with quite a bit to handle.

Sutherland does a great job of capturing a young girl’s voice, and her writing took me right back to my days as a tween. I remember being like Jo — Wikipedia wasn’t around back then so I had to scribble my feelings in an actual paper journal, but I can certainly relate to her worries about bad hair cuts, monstrous zits, and not quite fitting in with friends who are finding new interests. Kudos to Sutherland for giving Jo a real acne problem, rather than the usual trope in movies of otherwise beautiful girls freaking out over a single pimple. The story feels real, and Jo is a sharp, witty narrator. Her sardonic asides give way to real pain though, and it’s almost painful to read about how cruel young girls can be.

I lent my copy to my sister after reading, and about halfway through, she asked me if Chloe (Jo’s best-friend-turned-kinda-mean-girl) ever gets her comeuppance. Unfortunately, Sutherland ends the story before the girls enter high school, which means we never get to see if Chloe gets major zits before the prom or ends up unable to land her dream job after university. There is some closure, but as in real life, things aren’t completely wrapped up in a tidy little package. The book does give a glimpse of hope, however — J, the girlfriend of Jo’s brother, is the cool older sister type who wears awesome outfits and is beyond caring what others think of her. Attitude-wise, she’s who Jo can grow up to become, and both provides emotional support and a reminder that things do get better.

Despite being in the title, the Wikipedia angle almost seems unnecessary. Perhaps it will resonate on a different level with contemporary tweens, but it  mostly just reminds me of those Baby-sitter Club notebook chapter introductions.

Something Wiki is fantastic realistic YA. It’s much tighter — plot-wise and style-wise — than Sutherland’s first novel, and is sure to resonate with many young girls and women who remember all too well the pains of growing up.

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Thank you to Dundurn for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.