TIFF: Hat Trick Monday - 3 for 3!!

I saw three movies on Monday and really liked all of them.

Started the day with Never Let Me Go, based on the acclaimed book of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. It stars Carey Mulligan (as narrator Kathy), Keira Knightly (Ruth) and Andrew Garfield (Tommy) who meet as schoolchildren at Hailsham, what appears to be an idyllic boarding school. While it's partially a classic love triangle type of story, their lives are complicated by the more serious fate that awaits them after their education.

The filmmakers have done a good job of not spoiling the plot details of the movie in the trailers and information I've seen so far, so I won't do it here. I will say that the movie is a wonderful adaptation of the beautifully written book and all three of the leads do a good job in their roles, particularly Mulligan in only her second major film. Definitely worth putting on your 'must see' list.

My afternoon movie was the world premiere of The Sound of Mumbai: a Musical, from first time director Sarah McCarthy. The documentary follows a group of children from the slums of India who have an opportunity to perform the songs of 'The Sound of Music' at a prestigious performing arts centre with a professional orchestra.

The kids profiled are all incredibly engaging and McCarthy does a great job of capturing the unselfconscious moments between the children, the rivalries that spring up, their family lives and their hopes that this opportunity will change their lives. There's a really interesting juxtaposition between these children and a girl who routinely performs at the centre and is clearly from a wealthy family. I found it a bit sad coming to the end of the concert and knowing that the kids were going to go back to life as usual the next day.

I have to also say that the Q&A was one of the best I've seen yet with folks in the crowd asking specific questions (and not rambling on with their own thoughts) and thoughtful answers from McCarthy. If only the guy who asked about the rights to the music had been listening to the woman who asked the question directly before him. Many of the questions centred around what was happening now to the kids in the movie and McCarthy talked a lot about having to tread carefully to figure out what the best way to support them would be, whether that be in improving the school itself or setting up individual scholarships or something else. I remember reading about all of the problems that the children from Slumdog Millionaire had springing out of the money involved and I think that it's probably a good strategy for the filmmakers to move cautiously. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the film's website to see what the future holds.

I ended the day with the premiere of Rabbit Hole, directed by John Cameron Mitchell and starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as two parents struggling to deal with the loss of their 4 year old son to a tragic car accident. It's based on the Tony award winning play and was adapted for the screen by the playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. Not the movie to pick if you're looking for something light but really well done. The performances throughout are really stellar, including supporting turns by Diane Wiest and Sandra Oh and I wouldn't be surprised to see Kidman on the Oscar ballet next year. And as sad as the premise of the film is, I was happy that it ended on a note of hope.

Mitchell introduced the movie, flanked by Kidman and Eckhart, but was fairly brief in his remarks. I do wish that if there is no plan to have a Q&A after the film (which there wasn't here), especially for screenings that are twice the price, that the filmmakers and actors would take a little more time to talk about the movie beforehand. Hearing about the process of making the movie and the thoughts of those involved is really one of the main reasons I go to the festival.