Motifs in Cinema: The Dichotomy Between Fantasy And Reality

"Motifs in Cinema is a discourse across several film blogs, assessing the way in which various thematic elements have been used in the 2012 cinematic landscape. How does a common theme vary in use from a comedy to a drama? Are filmmakers working from a similar canvas when they assess the issue of death or the dynamics of revenge? Like most things, a film begins with an idea - Motifs in Cinema assesses how the use of a common theme across various films changes when utilized by different artists." 

- Andrew K.

Andrew has a knack for providing us with great motifs to explore for this series, but for the second year running, nothing piqued my interest as much as the dichotomy between fantasy and reality. At the risk of coming off as incredibly conceited, let me quote myself from last year's article to illustrate why I remain so interested in this topic: "Fantasy, in the strictest sense of the word, is inseparable from the cinema. What are fictional films if not the fantasy of those who imagine them, write them and act them? What is fantasy if not the imaginary world we immerse ourselves in for a few hours in the dark?"

All cinema can essentially be boiled down to that word: fantasy. It's all unreal and imagined. Take a film like Argo, for example, that tells the true story of a landmark political event, and yet, remains so infused with the glorification of the proceedings that it becomes difficult to suspend disbelief when the Iranian forces are chasing the airplane on the airport tarmac. On the other end of the spectrum is Holy Motors, so unhinged from reality that all presumptions about the real world are destabilized and fantasy becomes the default mode of thought. Monsieur Oscar permanently lives in purgatory between fantasy and an alternate reality.

Take This Waltz: Sarah Polley's Love Letter to Toronto

Most people in the world rarely get to see their hometown portrayed on the big screen. Now, some certainly get luckier than others: Parisians have had that luxury for decades; Berliners have enjoyed it intermittently; London has been central to many films, and of course, only the aforementioned French capital even comes close to New York and Los Angeles in terms of the quantity of cinematic depictions.

Tehran, the city I was born and raised in, has its large share of portrayals on film, but the picturesque vibrancy of the city is often sacrificed in favour of the hard-edged coarseness of its urbanity. Poeticism in Iranian cinema will forever be associated with the countryside vistas of Kiarostami and Ghobadi – with Majid Majidi’s Oscar-nominated Children of Heaven being the lone exception that comes to mind.

That leads me to my adopted hometown of Toronto. Lovely as the city and its residents *ahem* are, it’s fair to say that Toronto isn’t world renowned for its glamour. Upon first visit, it is the mosaic of architectural styles under an oddly detached grey coating that attract attention, not the colourful bay and gables of College or Queen, or the energy of Chinatown. The city's name brings to mind images of snow-covered avenues much quicker than the pastel-coloured summery backstreets of downtown. On the silver screen, too, the portrayals give that vibe. If, indeed, the city represents itself at all, for in many of the films shot here, Toronto is merely a stand in for other locations – Mean Girls’ Math Contest sequence is something of a cult among University of Toronto students who have all spent quite some time in Convocation Hall - the building where the scene was filmed - but never see the school’s name mentioned.

So it was breath of fresh air to watch Sarah Polley’s bittersweet, but impossibly romantic ode to Toronto. The story of the film – a married woman who becomes attracted to another man – isn’t Toronto-specific, but Polley’s direction leaves no doubt about where she hails from. Putting aside the not-so-subtle Canadian references – from the film’s title taken from a song by the legendary Leonard Cohen to a screening of Mon Oncle Antoine at The Royal – it’s obvious that Polley knows the city like the back of her hand and as a director with a heavy emphasis on visual storytelling, uses this background to map out the characters' emotional arcs. Never has the beach looked as beautiful or as relevant to me as it does through Polley’s lens, neither has Little Portugal ever felt so dreamily languid.

Of course, it works in Toronto’s favour that the film that takes place within it is such a powerful piece too. Reductive as it may sound, one can think of this film as a lighter, breezier, but equally potent version of Blue Valentine, not only because the two films share the same leading lady – more on Williams' excellent performance to come in the next few days – but also because similar to Valentine, Polley’s film details the inevitable ups and downs of a relationship with painful honesty. In this film, the work seems even more effortlessly assured.

Whatever the reason, Take This Waltz never managed to gain the attention it deserves. Its TIFF debut was met with a politely appreciative, if divided, reaction that didn't give the film the critical foothold it needed. It was never going to be a major commercial success either, so chances that the film will be an important awards player come the year's end are very slim. But don't let any of that discourage you. Torontonian or otherwise, it is well worth your time.

My Top Dozen Most Anticipated Films of 2011

12. Tintin
If Steve Spielberg's doing two movies in a year, one of them has to show up on this list. Between Tintin and War Horse, I'd pick this one because: 1- Tintin is a childhood obsession; Those are the only comic books I've read in my life. 2- The promotional material looked interesting. 3- His chapter is probably going to be better than Peter Jackson's, given Jackson's post Rings career so I'm putting my hope in this part of the series.

11. On the Road
I'm a big fan of the original novel by Jack Kerouac and Walter Salles has proven himself with road films before, but the actors worry me. None of the three leads in this film are in the calibre that the characters deserve, in my opinion. To be honest, I'm not as excited for this particular film as much as I am for On the Road getting a cinematic treatment, I just hope it turns out fine. Regardless of that, the purpose of the list is to talk about the films I'm most definitely going to watch. On the Road is one of them.

10. Winnie the Pooh
I know, I know. "How does anyone rank this film so high on a most anticipated list?" I hear you ask with your eyebrow raised. Well, first of all, films that open on my brithday weekend are always important to me. (Last year's Inception was such a treat.) More importantly, like Tintin, Winnie is something of a childhood obsession and the trailer made me oh so nostalgic. Not to mention that Craig Ferguson, one of my most favourite people will lend his voice to Owl, and his last voice work in How to Train your Dragon was funtastic.

9. Crazy, Stupid, Love
As funny and cheerful as I Love You Phillip Morris was, I'm not familiar enough with the work of this pair of directors to consider them the biggest factor for my interest in this film, but they certainly showed chops at making comedy. Crazy, Stupid, Love gives them the opportunity to work with the funniest TV actor of our times (Steve Carrel), the promising starlet of Easy A (Emma Stone), and two of the finest actors of their respective generations and my personal favourites (Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling). Carrel and Moore cast as a couple may be quite an awkward match, but the story sounds intriguing and I especially want to see what Gosling can do with comedy after his exceptional work in Lars and the Real Girl.

8. Hugo Cabret
My feelings about the Scorsese films that I've watched range somewhere between "enjoyed", "liked", "loved" and "can't get over how amazing it was, I don't think it can be any better". His last film Shutter Island wasn't his best, but it was an enjoyable venture into genre filmmaking. Hugo Cabret's story is the type of fantasy I usually like and the cast is terrific (Moretz notwithstanding). It also brings Michael Stuhlbarg back to the screen after his incredibly underrated work in A Serious Man. I'm not sure how big the role is but it's nice to see him in a Scorsese film nonetheless.

7. Take This Waltz
My fascination with Sarah Polley will lead me to the theatre to see ANYTHING she does, let alone her second directorial feature with a pairing of Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen.
The premise sounds like something she'll do well with, and the title of the film is taken from one of Leonard Cohen's best songs (cause you know, that's usually an indicator of how good the film is!) I really don't see this one going wrong, so I'll be first in line.

6. A Dangerous Method
Honestly, everything about this film screams perfection. It was about damn time for a top-notch director to take over a project about Freud, or Jung, or better yet, Freud AND Jung. Cronenberg's recent run of films have been brilliant and he's teaming up with his two-time collaborator Viggo Mortensen here. If that's not enough, add Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley to the equation. If this film doesn't excite you, I'm really not sure what will.

5. The Grandmasters
I'm a sucker for visually rich cinema and of today's working auteurs, no one does that better than Wong Kar Wai. In The Grandmasters, he returns to Martial Arts cinema, from which he's been away for almost 17 years now. On top of that, he's reuniting with Tony Leung and we all know how that collaboration turned out before. (In the Mood for Love is in my top 5 favourites of the last decade.) Let's hope for an early North American release.

4. The Skin that I Inhabit
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Bad Education, Volver.
Case Closed!

3. Nader and Simin, A Separation
The Iranian film community and I seem to agree that Farhadi is getting better film by film. This Iranian auteur was largely unknown outside of his native country until his last feature, About Elly won best director at Berlinale and best picture at Tribeca. Separation will also premiere in Berlin this month. Aside from Farhadi himself, there are other factors at play that make me all the more excited for this. The film's production was stopped halfway through by the government, which is Iranian code for "this film is gonna be great." Also, some of Iran's biggest stars are in this film, including three actors from the stellar cast of his previous feature. Whether I'll get to see this film in 2011 depends on how much the TIFF programmers love me, but here's hoping.

2. Shame
Steve McQueen's second effort behind the camera would top my list had it been scheduled for release in any other year. Hunger is one of the most powerful films I've seen in my life and Michael Fassbender gives his best performance there. (That's no small compliment given how great he is on a regular basis.) Here they are reuniting and teaming up with Carey Mulligan for a modern day story set in NYC about a man who has to deal with his sister in the middle of his sexcapades. Interesting premise, amazing cast, promising director and already strong promotional material.

1. Tree of Life
If you remember my list from last year, you probably saw this one coming. Back then, I wrote that the name Terrence Malick alone guarantees a number one spot on a list of this sort for me. As if that wasn't enough, a whole other year of anticipation and a trailer that promises another epic of the scope of Malick's last features have only made me more impatient. June 10th really can't come soon enough.