Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2010 Day 5 - Saturday November 13, 2010

Day 5 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival had family on the mind from the dysfunctional family in Toilet to the ruffled feathers of the families of a teenaged couple in Eighteen. Emotions were in the air and journeys were to be had!

Toilet
Dir: Naoko Ogigami
Cast: Alex House, Tatiana Maslany, David Rednall Masaki Motai
Canada/Japan

Dysfunctional family and culture run amok in Toilet, which had an absolutely packed house last night at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival and had many of the cast & crew in attendance at the screening. The film certainly has it's Toronto roots showing as it was filmed here (although it's actually set in the US), with familiar faces & locations on screen. We follow a family through a dysfunctional and eccentric set siblings Ray, Lisa and Maury and their grandmother from Japan, however a language barrier exists between the generations. It's not the only barrier here as there are strong emotional barrier in each of the characters, all of whom have their own issues to work though. It's an interesting tale of the individual journeys with the collective family journey, which although unintended become completely intertwined.


Crew & cast from Toilet at the post screening Q&A

Eighteen
Dir: Jang Kun-Jee
Cast: Seo Jun-yeong, Lee Min-ji, Know Hyeok-pung
South Korea

A beautiful and bittersweet tale of young love, Eighteen follows eighteen year old Tae-Hoon and his girlfriend Mi-Jeong, who have hid their relationship from their respective families. It's a absolutely heart wrenching tale filled with truths of the heart on every front. The challenges Tae-Hoon and Mi-Jeong face expand beyond their romance, however you can feel how the weight of the relationship impacts every decision, action, agreement or conflict they engage in. I love how Eighteen combined a beautiful understated tone with such strong emotions and actions, and how it never pulled all punches. It's range is grand, from beautiful and sweet to brutal and sharp. It achieves a lovely experiential tone that allows the viewer in through a fantastic range of emotions, and it was quite the journey to take.



The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2010 runs from November 9 - 15, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada