Mamet, Puri, Rosi, Freeman and Hackman Spark Montreal Fest

The 24th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival got off to a rousing start this weekend, with David Mamet's State and Main providing one of the many early cinematic excitements. Unspooling in world premiere, this biting satire of a movie production in a sleepy New England town, with buffo performances by the likes of William Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffmann, ranks as one of Mamet's best. In town for the shooting of his next flick Heist, Mamet wowed the jam-packed marquee Imperial cinema by speaking to the public exclusively in French.

The same Imperial had been the scene of a moving tribute to the great Indian actor Om Puri only hours earlier. First introduced to Western audiences by his memorable performances in My Son, The Fanatic and East is East, Puri had already recognized by Montreal Fest president Serge Losique as one of the greats of world cinema fifteen years ago, when Puri first visited the festival.

Montreal's Indian community, unsurprisingly, came out in full force to salute him. However, what was remarkable about the hommage, which bears witness to the vitality of world cinema in events like the Montreal fest, was the fact that the bulk of the capacity crowd on hand was comprised of movie buffs of all kinds of ethnic heritage, thrilled to have discovered such a great actor. Puri's homage coincided with the world premiere of the well-made children film My Little Devil, in which he receives top billing. The film was entirely shot in the Indian state of Gujarati and co-produced by Montreal's well known Productions La Fête.

Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman provided some Hollywood star wattage on the first public evening of the fest, to present the North American premiere of Under Suspicion, a remake of the French classic film noir Garde à vue. Yet, in the spirit of Montreal's genuine focus on world cinema, the two American stars were outshoned by Italian director Francesco Rosi in local press coverage. Rosi received a lifetime achievement award on opening night, a tribute linked to a special sidebar on contemporary Italian cinema. An early stunner in this Italian section is the shattering The Sky is Falling, shown in international premiere and starring Isabella Rosselini and Jeroen Krabbe.

The official competition had a fine start in this first weekend. The opener Le goût des autres, the commercial hit of the year in France, received kudos all around. The Day The Ponies Come Back, Jerry Schatzberg's first film in ten years, shot in the Bronx with (not many) French coin and shown in world preem here, was well liked by the public, although less by local critics. Canada's Protection, a harrowing tale of a social worker at the frontline, was uneven, yet featured some extremely powerful scenes. Off competition, among the films making their world/international premieres, Austria's Born in Absurdistan and Germany's Falling Rocks (starring the beautiful Yugo actress Anica Dobra) are making waves. Among the North American premieres, France's Une Affaire de gôut and Russia's The Wedding were mobbed by frantic festivalgoers.

Over a hundred film directors and actors are expected for the fest, with Agnes Jaoui, Olivier Assayas, Pavel Loungine and François Ozon having already made the early trek. A stunning 30-film selection on brand new Latin American films, most definitely the biggest sidebar from the region at a major film festival, is among the highlights of this extremely rich program. At ground level, festival fever is as intense as ever among, with most screenings, however obscure, selling out.


FilmFestivals.com reporter
Dominique Arel