Toronto 2005: Day Five

DAY FIVE

Things got a little harsher at the festival yesterday. And no, I’m not talking about the midnight Jello wrestling event in the Cumberland fountain between Peter Rice and Ruth Vitale. (How Peter managed to wrestle through all that Jello and never get a stain on his suit, only James Bond himself could ever understand.)

Two acquisition-minded films hit the festival and hit it hard, though there is no clear indication that either will manage a major theatrical pick-up before it’s all over. The hotter of the pair was David Ayer’s Harsh Times, which was profiled in the New York Times even before it arrived at the festival. The film stars Christian Bale in a performance somewhere between Batman and Patrick Bateman (aka the American Psycho), though the role is far more based in hard reality than either of those films.

Bale’s character is a discharged soldier trying to reclaim a handle on reality. In tow, he has his best friend, played by Six Feet Under’s Freddie Rodriguez. As he wanders from an effort to get into the LAPD (too white) to a return to federal government wet work, you know the story is not going anywhere good. Misery follows this sad soul like a puppy follows a steak. And misery loves company.

It is impossible to watch Harsh Times and not acknowledge that screenwriter-turned director Ayer has a lot of talent. Ironically, it is often the script that hits some false notes – usually of the street talking variety – more so than the work of the novice director. He and Bale take you deep into the pain of this character and the rage-eyed view of the world. Ayer is not afraid of indulging in extreme coincidences or the sometime dumb choices he chooses for his characters to make. Still, Harsh Times will inevitably get a pick-up in the end based on the value of Home Entertainment rights to any Christian-Bale-kicks-ass film. There is no doubt that you leave the film both shaken and stirred.

The problem for the producers and sales reps is that it’s not clear that people want to have either experience.

Much easier to dismiss, but also in a wrongheaded way, is The District!, a Hungarian animated feature by Aron Gauder. Perhaps Team Vitagraph will end up fighting for the film to get at least a small place at the table.

In any case, the film, which offers a modified version of Eastern European technique rarely seen in the U.S., is a kind of version of South Park, with a heavily crime-ridden district as the small mountain town. Any notion that occurs to this group of players can happen in The District, but rarely does an opportunity to be politically incorrect go untaken. And as The District turns, so turns the world. Cameos by world leaders, especially Hungarian leaders, are constant and satire is the tone.

Women are not only prostitutes, but they are big-breasted and oft uncovered. Men are pimps, drug dealers, and low-rent crime lords. And the kids of The District are into all of it... at least a little. Ethnicities are slurred and the taste line is as well.

But the thing about The District that has value is the distinct flavor of the culture and the animation. Both are relentless. Both seek to push for a deeper truth than traditions tend to allow. And it is very, very funny at times. But you will find yourself embarrassed at what you laugh at, as well as what seems to be too true for comfort.

by David Poland