Nacho Vigalondo's latest film Daniela Forever received it's World Premiere in the prestigious Platform section at the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. I was on the red carpet for the premiere and spoke with actor Henry Golding about his acting process, grief and working with Nacho Vigalondo.
Nacho Vigalondo's latest film Daniela Forever received it's World Premiere at the 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was in the prestigious Platform section of the festival. I was on hand and was able to talk about the movie, dreams, grief, the internal struggles of being an artist. The first time I interviewed Nacho was in 2011 when one of his short films was included in ABC's of Death which also had a world premiere at tiff in the Midnight Madness programme.
Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle in Coralie Fargeat's The Substance.
Coralie Fargeat emerged on the midnight madness scene when her feature film debut Revenge received its world premiere in the midnight madness programme in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Revenge was a film of extremely violent violation towards the body. In this case, a mistress Jen (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) was brought along to a remote house on a “guys” hunting weekend. The wealthy predators view Jen as an object to be assaulted and then discarded. Jen survives and then sets out to pursue exactly what the film’s title states. Revenge. Jen changes the balance from victim to virulent vindicator. Fargeat’s debut is a portrait of vivid violence. Fargeat stated in interviews that the film had so much blood that the prop team would often run out of fake blood. Fargeat’s style as a filmmaker was already very much apparent in Revenge. The use of color to contrast. Jen’s fluorescent pink star earrings frame the dirty face of a person who has been to hell. Pink becomes a color of determination and strength. Revenge was also comprised of beautifully photographed shots.
Almost seven years to the day Coarlie Fargeat has returned to midnight madness at tiff with her second feature, The Substance. The film won the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. Expectations for Miss. Fargeat’s sophomore film were high. This could be seen in the demand for tickets for the North American premiere. This was the first screening of the movie at tiff, preceding even a Press & Industry screening. A seat in the Royal Alexandria Theatre was running upwards of three hundred dollars. The demand could also and rightfully so be ascribed to Miss Fargeat’s leading actors, Demi Moore, and Margaret Qualley.
The first hint of what lied ahead for the midnight madness audience was the oversized pink headbands inscribed, “Pump It Up” that were given to people arriving at the cinema. Throughout the 1200 people in the audience - that all too familiar buzz of 600 hundred conversations happening at the same time - little pink dots could be made out in the sea of people.
The Substance continues Miss Fargeat’s themes of violence upon the body. Where Revenge was a paroxysm perpetrated by predators, The Substance is self-inflicted bodily harm in a society that craves self harm visited upon others.
The film begins with - what is already one of my favorite opening sequences in a movie. We see the creation of a star on Hollywood Boulevard. From workers installing the star, pouring concrete, and smoothing it out, to the star being placed and polished. People pass by the star and stop to take pictures, pause to look at it, and touch it lovingly. The years go by. Not kindly. Heavy foot traffic has taken its toll. People spill food onto the star. Some try to clean it half-assed. The years continue. Cracks begin to emerge. A perfect visual metaphor for the film.
Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle a television fitness personality. High energy. Once high ratings. Elisabeth overhears the show’s producer Harvey, played with obnoxious fury by Dennis Quaid stating that the show needs a younger lead and Elisabeth needs to be fired. The name of the producer is also not lost on anyone paying attention to monsters in Hollywood.
Clearly and rightfully distraught, Elisabeth drives away from the television studio. Out of nowhere tragedy strikes. It strikes sidelong into Elisabeth’s car when another car crashes into her car. Elisabeth is now sitting in a doctor’s office in one of those barely enough material temporary gowns. The doctor informs her she is fine and can leave. The doctor then leaves. A leering assistant approaches Elisabeth and says there is one last test. She incredulously sits as the assistant trails his hand up her very visible spinal column through the opening of the gown. He states that she is a perfect candidate and hands her a small envelope.
Elisabeth is now in the luxury house that years in the spotlight have afforded her. A giant portrait of a younger Elisabeth is hung on the wall opposite the giant windows overlooking Los Angeles. The painting is ever present reminding an older Elisabeth that she is aging. Alone, depressed, and replaying the conversation. Elisabeth opens the envelope to find a large black USB key with white letters stating The Substance. She inserts the key into the side of her television. The video begins with two eggs being fried in a pan. “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One, single, injection unlocks your DNA. Starting a new cellular division. That will release another version of yourself. This is The Substance. You are the matrix. Everything comes from you. Everything is you. This is simply a better version of yourself. You just have to share. One week for one. One week for the other. A perfect balance. Seven days each. The one and only thing not to forget. You. Are. One. You cannot escape from yourself.” This is punctuated by a great sound from the movie’s sound design. A creepy near indescribable guttural sound.
The Substance promotion in Toronto. Photo by me and enhanced by me.
Elisabeth goes to a train wreck of a dinner with Harvey watching him consume shrimp with a wildly gross abandon. He informs her she is done. She goes to the studio where he delightfully greets Elisabeth and shoves a banker’s box into her arms.
Now back at home. The painting is still young, Elisabeth is older by another day and calls the number. The voice from the video answers. She informs the voice that she is interested in The Substance. Elisabeth is given an address. She goes to it and retrieves a key card. 503. She then proceeds to an alleyway and enters, quite comically into a stark white room with numerous numbers. She approaches box 503. The box opens to reveal a large box. Once back at home, Elisabeth opens the box to reveal three other boxes. She opens them to reveal needles, bottles, tubes, and instructions for use. She then goes to a large stark white-titled bathroom and inserts the needle filled with a green substance. What follows is a pure midnight movie.
Miss Fargeat is a student of the horror genre. There are numerous references throughout the movie, Both intentional and perceived by me. Much like another French extreme film that opened the 2023 Midnight Madness programme, Titane. Both films are direct descendants of the early work of David Cronenberg. I also saw Odes to Re-Animator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Society, and Tarantino. Even with all of these nods to other films and filmmakers, Although the DNA of The Substance is influenced by other horror cinema, the majority of The Substance’s adenine and thymine are wholly a unique stylized look at the themes of aging, identity, and self-harm.
Moore and Qualley are incredible playing off one another. If lesser known actors had been cast in these roles what would follow in all likelihood under the vision and direction of Miss Fargeat would be still an insane midnight move. With Moore and Qualley, The Substance is poised for major mainstream audience appeal. The Toronto International Film Festival has been a proverbial launching ground for Academy Award buzz. Perchance Oscar (tm) will recognize the work of two actors very much steeped in a horror film? I think so. Demi Moore has said in interviews that the first time she read the script, “...this could either be amazing or it can be a fucking disaster.” I can attest that The Substance is fucking amazing.
I have joined the feature length documentary Tales of Zone 7 (An Oral History of the Making of Cherry 2000) as a co-producer. This making of documentary will be featured on the 4K release of Cherry 2000 which was written and directed by Steve De Jarnatt who also wrote and directed Miracle Mile.
Cherry 2000 is a cult movie from 1987. It stars Melanie Griffith who plays E. Johnson who is a tracker hired by a businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) to replace his android wife - the titular character Cherry 2000 (Pamela Gidley) who has shorted out.
Johnson and Treadwell wind up in the wasteland and wander into Zone 7 which is a lawless and dangerous place currently under the tyrannical rule of Lester (Tim Thomerson). What does it mean to love? What does it mean to be human?
Robert Aaron Mitchell with director Steve De Jarnatt
There is still time left to join the campaign. There are lots of different options available to contribute to the finishing of this making of documentary and other supplemental materials. Click here.
With Executive Producer Sarah Dillard Mitchell
Director Robert Aaron Mitchell
Here is the post-screening Q&A
I am thrilled to announce that The Bobby Diamonds Story has won Best Short Documentary at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival. Yesterday I received the award. Click HERE for an interview I did with the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Iko Uwais interviewed by Robert Mitchell at the 2011 The Raid World Premiere
As a way of introducing myself, and also to take a little time to do a
some reminiscing, I wanted to talk about my first Midnight Madness
screening.
It was a Saturday, the second day of the 2003 film festival and the
second year I was attending. I was set to watch two films that day. The
first was Takeshi Kitano's latest film Zatoichi at the Elgin theater theater at the base of Yonge street followed by a screening of Alien
with Sir Ridley Scott in attendance. That is already an amazing day of
cinema. Little did I know what the night would bring. Suffice to say Zatoichi
was amazing and I wasn't the only one who must've thought that because
several days later the film would win the audience award.
Leaving the theater and stepping into the bright early September daylight I slowly wandered up Yonge street bopping in and out of stores looking at DVDs. My mind wandering, thinking of the amazing sword sequences I had just watched.
By five o'clock I found myself standing in what was supposed to be my
second and last line up for a film that day. Perhaps because of kismet,
the unifying field or just one of those things, the woman who stood
directly in front of me had stood directly behind me hours earlier
while I waited for Zatoichi.
We began to talk about many different films and she asked me if I
would be going to Midnight Madness that night. I replied that I had
heard of Midnight Madness but that I had never gone. She then informed me
that there was a film playing that night entitled, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior.
Since my teenage years encompassed skateboarding, eating pizza and
watching kung fu films every Saturday, I was always up for a good
martial arts film, but, alas, I did not have a ticket. The woman informed me
she was a volunteer and that she would use one of her vouchers and procure
me a ticket. True to her words she came back from the box office with a
ticket for Ong-Bak and what would become my first Midnight Madness film.
Oh yeah, the Alien reissue was amazing and, not only was Sir
Ridley Scott in attendance, but Yaphet Kotto sat in the audience with us
and watched the film ... but I digress.
Cut to INT.: The Uptown Theater Saturday night around 11PM.
With the usual energy that comes with a warm Saturday night, this
particular night had the added excitement of a world premiere. The crowd
had changed, they were younger and much more enthusiastic. Although it
was a long day and I was fighting exhaustion, one could not not get caught up
in the moment and feed off the energy that you were surrounded with.
We were finally seated in the amazing theater that was the Uptown 1 (see above photo (R.I.P))
and a man came onto the stage and introduced himself as "Colin Geddes,
the Midnight Madness programmer" to a huge amount of applause and
cheering. He then went on to relate a tale of seeing Ong-Bak at the buyers market at the Cannes film festival and that Luc Besson, the director of La Femme Nikita, had already bought the film.
Colin Geddes then introduced the director of the film, Prachya Pinkaew, who
had almost not made the screening due to being held up by customs and
had to resort to taking a cab from the airport to the theater to make
the screening on time. In fact, he had had no time to stop off at the hotel
to unpack his luggage. When Prachya stepped out and onto the
stage you would never have known that a mere hour or so before he had
been on a plane coming from the other side of the world.
With the introductions finished the house lights dimmed and the
curtains were slowly drawn and little did we know what we were about to
see. You could look in a thesaurus and no amount of adjectives could
ever do Ong-Bak justice. The film was completely and utterly
amazing. When the final credits rolled and lights came back on, sitting
in that theater - which was now in the wee hours of Sunday morning -
you knew you had just witnessed the emergence of a new talent unleashed
upon the world. The star of the film Tony Jaa without a doubt would become the next big action star.
As Colin and Prachya came back onto the stage the crowd
rose in a standing ovation and if you had ever been in the Uptown 1
you can attest to how many people that was.
After the Q&A I stumbled out of the theater and into the night,
dizzy from the amazing I had just watched. Wandering around the
local neighborhood I popped into a store and bought a chocolate milk,
when the thought crossed my mind to double back to the theater and
see if I could get a picture with the director.
Outside of the box office stood Colin and Prachya with a few other
people. I approached them and asked if I could have a photo. Colin
then snapped a picture at a crazy angle and the moment was captured.
I'm the dork with the red beard standing beside one of the greatest
action directors to emerge in the twenty first century.
I don't speak a word of Thai and I believe Prachya didn't speak much, if any, English. But, when I said to him that Ong-Bak was the best fighting film I had seen since Drunken Master II, a flicker of recognition passed through his eyes. We had bridged the language gap through action films.
When the house lights came back on that Sunday morning I immediately
thought to myself how many times are you going to be in a world
premiere audience and be able to say I was there the night the world
was introduced to the next big thing. In an instant I was hooked and
have been attending Midnight Madness ever since. This will mark my sixth year.
I also would like to thank that volunteer for taking me to my first Midnight Madness screening.
