Amazingly, this was the first TIFF screening I've ever seen at Roy Thomson Hall (normally they don't have films open to regular patrons that I'm interested in seeing). This year" I'm going to two here. A week from today, it will be "Vertigo".
The film focuses on the life of a painter and transgender pioneer, Einar Wegener, who adopted a persona as a model for his wife which led to his transition and tragic death when surgery to construct a vagina went wrong (Lili Elbe, as she was known at the end of her life, died in the early part of the 20th century).
The attention at the screening went to Tom Hooper, the director, and Eddie Redmayne for his performance as Wegener/Elbe. One of Hooper's previous films, "The King's Speech", saw its meteoric rise begin at TIFF and this film shares a similar style and attention to detail. It's a sumptuous film to look at. Redmayne provides a strong performance as the transitioning artist but my feeling was that it was Alicia Vikander as the wife who was the real emotional centre of the film. She gave it a spark that I think it needed to raise it up to another level.
The walk from the Lightbox to RTH is an obstacle course of advertising and promotion, from iced tea to Visa cards to cars. It's probably more concentrated here than anywhere else at TIFF and in an event devoted to the business and selling of film is saying something.
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