33rd Toronto International Film Festival Coverage: Day Seven
Day 7 and the festival is beginning to wind down. It’s always a time when you’re torn. On the one hand a break from the hustle and bustle is within sight and on the other hand, well, you’re gonna miss that hustle and bustle.
Che isn’t just a movie it’s a moviegoers marathon. Though its newly-minted distribution deal will see it released as two films, TIFF is screening it in all its glory: 262 minutes of butt-numbing footage.
The press conference featured producer Laura Bickford, director Steven Soderbergh and star Benicio Del Toro.
Soderbergh was brought the idea back when he worked with Del Toro on Traffic. He knew the film would be a challenge but added that “If you have Laura and Benicio Del Toro come to you and say, ‘Would you consider getting involved with this?’ and you say no, I don’t know what you’re doing making films.”
He added that he “…didn’t know a lot about Che when they asked me about getting involved, but we wanted to know why this iconic image is plastered on everything from tote bags to coffee mugs even when people don’t know what it represents.”
Soderbergh’s drive to make this film was different than his previous works. “I have to say that my relationship to this movie is different from any other movie that I’ve made because I felt obligated to make it, and that’s different from wanting to make it.”
Knowing that Che Guevara could be a harsh and unwavering leader to his troops, Benicio thought it was necessary to show some vulnerability to the character and felt that the portrayal of his asthma helped in that area.
It was then off to Ryerson to cover Brian Goodman’s film about crime and friendship in a South Boston neighbourhood, What Doesn’t Kill You. Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet and festival regular Mark Ruffalo posed on the carpet ad did Lindsey McKeon and Angela Featherstone.
Over at Roy Thompson Hall, the gala treatment was being given to Neil Burger’s The Lucky Ones. The story about an emotion-filled road trip taken by three Iraq War veterans was represented on the carpet by Rachel McAdams and Tim Robbins, while Entourage star Emmanuelle Chriqui also made an appearance.
We then closed the night off with the premiere of Fifty Dead Men Walking. Kari Skogland’s film about an IRA informant stars Jim Sturgess, Rose McGowan and Ben Kingsley.