OCTOBER 6, 2009 HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD COMEDY TECHNOLOGY BOOKS/NYR NEW YORK CHICAGO DENVER VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur Posted: September 14, 2009 02:47 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index Toronto Film Fest Day 4: Two Documentaries and a Little Girl Read More: Adoption , Ballet , Capitalism: a Love Story , Documentary , Frederick Wiseman , Michael Moore, Movies , Toronto Film Festival , Entertainment News You could spend an entire film festival going from press conference to round table to one-on- one interviews.</p><p> I'd rather see the films and worry about interviews some other time.</p><p> Besides, atfestivals there are so many reporters millingabout that 20 minutes one-on-one is akin to an hour together at any other time of the year.</p><p> Still, Vera Farmiga was so sexy and good in Up In The Air that I was happy to do a drive-by with her (how else to describe a 14 minute chat?) and miss the first film of the day (starring, ironically, Vera Farmiga).</p><p> After that I had a carefully choreographed string of films -- all thrown off by the fact that Michael Moore's documentary had unexpectedly grown from 107 minutes to about 120 minutes.</p><p> CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY ** 1/2 out of **** -- The movie was longer than I expected; more haphazard than Sicko , one of his strongest efforts; and didn't throw an early diss at Obama like I assumed.</p><p> Still, it had its moments, should stir up talk and get people thinking again about what just happened on Wall Street and Washington.</p><p> Moore's patented approach is on display here: he begins with a cute appropriation of an old film about the decline of the Roman Empire to illustrate the parallels between it and the US.</p><p> He gets personal by showing old home movies, takinghis dad to the desolate field where a factory used to be that his dad worked at; and returning to Flint.</p><p> In the movie's weakest element, Moore also revives some old tricks, like walking up to the corporate headquarters and demanding to speak to the CEO.</p><p> But he also captures some realheartache, like the farm family being evicted from their home and some real hope, with workers at a plant standing up to their dismissal from their jobs with only three days notice.</p><p> And while the link is a tad tenuous, the story of teenagers sentenced to a juvenile detention center by a judgegetting kickbacks is horrifying.</p><p> I wish anyone other than Moore would narrate his films: I just don'tlike how he reads his own material.</p><p> And going back to Flint didn't really pay dividends ... until he discovers that Flint is actually a routing center for sending out foreclosure notices to people all over the country.</p><p> Kicking people out of their homes is about the only source of job growth for Flint, atown that Moore immortalized by showing the pain of foreclosures with his breakthrough hit Roger Make HuffPost Your Home Most Popular on HuffingtonPost 1 of 2 Conservative Bible Project Cuts Out Liberal Passages 5,633 Comments SNL Vs.</p><p> Obama: Sketch Details All The President's Failures... 6,102 Comments Jessica Simpson Dons See-Through Jumpsuit, Muumuu (PHOTOS) 222 Comments Katla McGlynn Kevin Smith Talks Judd Apatow, Weed, And... 90 Comments Dr.</p><p> Maoshing Ni 5 Ways To Age Naturally 81 Comments Arianna Huffington Lack of Legal Help: One More Way... 461 Comments Madonna & Lady Gaga's SNL Catfight (VIDEO) 328 Comments As Layoffs Persist, Good Jobs Go Unfilled 2,047 Comments BIG NEWS: Jon & Kate Plus 8 | Celebrity Skin | Rihanna | American Idol | Health Action | More...</p><p> LOG IN | SIGN UP Be the First to Submit This Story to Digg Get Breaking News Alerts Share Print Comments never spam & Me.</p><p> Using Wallace Shawn to talk about the economy is just bizarre (and I like Shawn).</p><p> But Moore gets some gold out of angry Congressmen and women who felt sideswiped by the Bush administration.</p><p> And his clip of FDR pledging to fight for a new bill of rights as soon as WW II is over is inspiring.</p><p> A job, a roof over your head, decent medical care -- these aren't pie in the sky radical notions because a hugely popular president was ready to push for them more than 60 yearsago.</p><p> And if Moore's film can get people talking about financial bailouts and whether medical care isan inalienable right then I'm certain he'd be happy indeed.</p><p> Note: at the end of the press screening,the film got some strong applause, which doesn't often happen.</p><p> Maybe the room was filled with freelancers like me who can't afford health insurance.</p><p> Unfortunately, the movie ended at 2:15 p.m. rather than 2 pm., which threw my carefully mapped out schedule into disarray.</p><p> So I took a chance on a film I knew nothing about that was close by andworked for me, time-wise.</p><p> A BRAND NEW LIFE *** out of **** And what a happy treat it was.</p><p> Apparent first-time director Ounie Lecomte shows an assured touch in this reportedly autobiographical story about a little Korean girl whose widowed (?) father takes his little darling on a "trip" to a Catholic orphanage and then leaves her and sadly walks away.</p><p> She's a determined little girl, but the orphanage ispeopled with very understanding staff so her outbursts and stubbornness are treated with empathy and care at every turn.</p><p> Not that the orphanage is idealized.</p><p> One older girl with a deformed leg weeps when she realizes she is being placed with an old couple that really just want to use the girlas a cheap servant.</p><p> But our heroine settles in -- albeit warily -- until we realize that this orphanage can't be a brand new life.</p><p> This is just a way-station.</p><p> And the routine when a little girl is adopted -- the other kids sing "Auld Lang Syne" and then the adopted child is ushered into a car while theothers break into another song.</p><p> It's like a ritualized dance of leaving.</p><p> The child actress in the leadgives one of those natural, unaffected performances that arise only from a child who hasn't acted being overseen by a sensitive, smart director.</p><p> And while the film isn't a depressing affair, it pulls no punches either.</p><p> Our heroine's genuine despair over her lot is dramatized in some remarkablescenes of fury and pain on her part.</p><p> A final memory of her father seemed to provide the perfect grace note for the film, until an unnecessary scene follows it.</p><p> That doesn't ruin the film by any stretch, but it's always sad to see the perfect final grace note superseded by less inspired touches.Lecomte has delivered a very confident debut.</p><p> Then after dinner with my host and friend Chris at a Japanese restaurant, I buckled in for a 2 hour and 38 minute documentary about ballet.</p><p> LA DANSE: LE BALLET DE L'OPERA DE PARIS *** out of **** -- I might be underestimating the recent work of legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.</p><p> We are so familiar with his work and style that a new movie by him doesn't astonish or surprise on some level.</p><p> But it adds to his body of work, which typically includes a detailed look at an institution of some sort.</p><p> Of course, Wiseman doesn't interview people or create a narrative (at least, not an obvious one).</p><p> He just observes and shares what he's seen.</p><p> In this case, it's the world of the Paris Opera Ballet company, one of the best in the world.</p><p> Certainly they must have the best digs: the dancers rehearse in an endless series of spaces, one more dramatic and inspiring than the next.</p><p> Anyone with even acasual knowledge of ballet won't be surprised by anything here.</p><p> But the attention to detail, the way a choreographer will have dancers repeat one bit of business again and again until he's molded them into what he wants or conversely loves a little fillip done by a dancer and highlights it andgets them to rehearse that again and again so it can be a formal part of the piece.</p><p> Staff meetings,cafeteria workers, union meetings, live performances, planning for the arrival of "Big Benefactors," all of it unfolds for us without the luxury (or distraction) of some forced narrative, like the birth of a new dance piece or some such thing.</p><p> The asides of some of the instructors are priceless, but wedon't really get to know them or the dancers or the administrators or anyone really except -- somehow -- the company itself, the Paris Opera Ballet.</p><p> Engrossing.</p><p> Visit me online at my website, MichaelGiltz.com.</p><p> Join me on Facebook.Belong to Netflix? Friend me and get easy access to thousands of my ratings and reviews.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Related News On Huffington Post: Michael Moore: I May QUIT Documentaries Obamas' Anniversary (PICTURES): President, First Lady Celebrate 17th Wedding... 415 Comments Sotomayor Asks More Questions In An Hour Than Thomas... 2,517 Comments Don't Miss HuffPost Bloggers 1 of 2 Alec Baldwin Let the Philharmonic Play in Cuba John Zogby Decision Day For Democrats: Poll Shows Path to Healthcare Reform Get Breaking News Alerts Report Corrections Send A Tip Nicole Richie Gets Visit from Mom After Car Accident READ MORE Tom DeLay to Quit Dancing with the Stars READ MORE PHOTO: Kate Hudson Poses as a Blushing Bride READ MORE Video The Recession Capitalism: A Love Story Cuba Barack Obama Small BusinessHuffPost Social News connects you with friends and the news Huffington Post Apps and Feeds More Celebrity News at People.com HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES digg it13 diggs Keith Olbermann To Deliver Hour- Long "Special Comment" OnHealth Care digg it68 diggs Fox News's Shepard Smith GoesAfter Sen.</p><p> John Barrasso OnPublic Option digg it14 diggs Dana Ullman: Epidemic Of FeverPhobia: The Facts On Why FeverIs Your Friend digg it45 diggs Schwarzenegger LatestRepublican To Back Health CareReform Michael Moore's Grapes of Wrath Munchkin Reunion Video: Aging Cast Reunites To...</p><p> Jessica Simpson Dons See-Through Jumpsuit, Muumuu (PHOTOS) ESPN's 'Body Issue' Of Naked Athletes: Serena...TORONTO — Michael Moore says he made his latest documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story," as though it were his last.</p><p> And it might be.</p><p> The...</p><p> Related Blogs On Huffington Post: Michael Moore: This Is It! 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Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to You must be logged in to comment.</p><p> Log in or connect with Ads by Google The School of Visual Arts MFA Social Documentary Film Classes start in the Fall 2010 www.mfasocdoc.sva.edu HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type
