As of this week, the 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival is officially underway, once again bringing together some of best and brightest in the world of cinema. This year, TIFF will feature no fewer than 366 films from 70 different countries across the world. It's certainly a daunting amount of film to take in, so we've narrowed it down to some of the opening week's highlights in this edition of our Film Roundup. Have a look, then head over to our TIFF section for more extensive coverage of the ongoing festival.
First up, Tunisian-French director Abdellatif Kechiche continues to leave audiences engaged but unsettled with his Palme d'Or winning film Blue is the Warmest Colour. The explicitly detailed style of the film, which recounts the story of young girl's search for sexual identity, proves at once intriguing and frustrating. Click through to read exactly why.
Next, Ramon Zurcher artfully observes the absurdities of "polite" society in his minimalist directorial debut The Strange Little Cat, while acclaimed Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino offers his trademark exploitation of life's banal idiosyncrasies in the equally excellent The Great Beauty.
Elsewhere, Hollywood vet Ron Howard's biographical film Rush falls flat due to a relatively one-dimensional depiction of the rivalry between former formula one drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Meanwhile, concert doc Metallica: Through the Never 3D offers exhilarating concert footage that is somewhat regrettably juxtaposed with an unnecessary and irrelevant narrative.
Finally, having already acted in basically every film that's come out over the past two years, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has forayed into the realm of feature length directing with Don Jon, which successfully and hilariously plays on the notions of selfishness and obsessive habits.
These films represent but a mere glimpse at what TIFF has to offer. Check out our #TIFF2013 section for more festival coverage.
First up, Tunisian-French director Abdellatif Kechiche continues to leave audiences engaged but unsettled with his Palme d'Or winning film Blue is the Warmest Colour. The explicitly detailed style of the film, which recounts the story of young girl's search for sexual identity, proves at once intriguing and frustrating. Click through to read exactly why.
Next, Ramon Zurcher artfully observes the absurdities of "polite" society in his minimalist directorial debut The Strange Little Cat, while acclaimed Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino offers his trademark exploitation of life's banal idiosyncrasies in the equally excellent The Great Beauty.
Elsewhere, Hollywood vet Ron Howard's biographical film Rush falls flat due to a relatively one-dimensional depiction of the rivalry between former formula one drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Meanwhile, concert doc Metallica: Through the Never 3D offers exhilarating concert footage that is somewhat regrettably juxtaposed with an unnecessary and irrelevant narrative.
Finally, having already acted in basically every film that's come out over the past two years, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has forayed into the realm of feature length directing with Don Jon, which successfully and hilariously plays on the notions of selfishness and obsessive habits.
These films represent but a mere glimpse at what TIFF has to offer. Check out our #TIFF2013 section for more festival coverage.
