43rd Toronto International Film Festival Coverage: Day Five

Monday, September 10th, 2018 by Ian Evans

First Man courtesy of TIFF.

It’s Monday, day five of TIFF and the heavy load of the opening weekend has passed. The Festival is still humming but there is that slight feeling that the hardest part is over.

Damien Chazelle, who has already thrilled audiences with Whiplash and La La Land, now turns his sights to the heavens, as his First Man had its screening at the Elgin Theatre. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong and follows the events and the tragedies that lead up to his historic first steps on the moon. I’ll be screening the film in a few days and I’m looking forward to it.

David Lowery’s The Old Man & The Gun brought Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford to the Elgin to promote this true-life tale of an unrepentant bank robber living his life by his rules. The cast also features Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Elisabeth Moss, and Casey Affleck. Lowery said it was a real luxury to work with Redford and Spacek. The praise came in the other direction too as Spacek said she adored working with Lowery because he’s so collaborative and a consummate filmmaker.

Over at the VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA took its turn on the red carpet. The beautiful black and white film examines two women in 1970s Mexico. Though both are facing single motherhood, their different social statuses will affect their futures drastically.