TIFF 2013: Day 3 + 4 Capsule Reviews - Unforgiven and Can a Sing Save A Life?

September 9, 2013 TIFF 2013 No Comments

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Editor’s Notes: The following reviews are part of our coverage of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit http://tiff.net and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.

Unforgiven (Lee Sang-il)

An example of trans-cultural cinematic exchange, the Japanese remake of Unforgiven (1992) draws parallels with other cross-pollinating western/samurai films, such as Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven, Rashomon/The Outrage, and A Fistful of Dollars/Yojimbo. With the already established notion of transmigration between the samurai jidai-geki and the Western, Sang-il takes this already proven to be effective pattern to illustrate a period piece that resembles the events of Eastwood’s mythical drama. On the other hand, using both guns and swords, the film takes certain narrative liberties to forge its own identity. With a voracious final act and a powerful score, the film is an emotionally stirring but somewhat lacking refrain of the original. Sang-il effectively remoulds the story and environment by placing the events in a snowy Japan, wherein a landscape of whiteness gives a similar impression of vastness as does the sandy desert of the West. In spite of this, Sang-il’s remake seems somewhat out of place and therefore does not quite carry the weight of the original.

70/100 ~ GOOD. Sang-il effectively remoulds the story and environment by placing the events in a snowy Japan, wherein a landscape of whiteness gives a similar impression of vastness as does the sandy desert of the West. In spite of this, Sang-il’s remake seems somewhat out of place and therefore does not quite carry the weight of the original.

 

Can a Song Save Your Life? (John Carney)

Carney’s Can a Song Save Your Life (2013) is heart-warming, and the interesting drama and plot development is complemented by a constantly appealing musical score and many funny moments. In the film, Dan (Mark Ruffalo) states that music creates pearls out of life. He is able to see music come to life all around him, but has been unable to for some time. In a beautiful scene where he listens to Greta (Keira Knightley) for the first time, musical instruments move independently and create sounds heard in his head. Dan’s focus is to convey the energy and potential of music into the actual world. As such, creating pearls through music may also mean helping one give the energy and positivity to reshape and even ‘save’ one’s life. With some of the narrative told in flashback episodes, some of the narrative told through exposition, the viewer is able to see the characters both fall into their darkest moments and lift out of that darkness—because of music. Moreover, the film serves as a discourse on artistic integrity and authenticity. Found in the contrast between Greta (Keira Knightley) and her ex-boyfriend’s musical priorities and Greta’s resistance to be treated as cattle by a record company, Can a Song Save a Life? proffers a much needed debate between the business needs of recording studios and the creative needs of the artists being recorded.

78/100 ~ GOOD. Carney’s Can a Song Save Your Life (2013) is heart-warming, and the interesting drama and plot development is complemented by a constantly appealing musical score and many funny moments.

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Kamran Ahmed

Staff Film Critic. Visit my personal blog at Aesthetics of The Mind
Kamran's areas of interest include formalism, realism & reality, affect, and notions of the aesthetic. With experiences as a TA, an event panelist, a presenter at conferences from UofT to Harvard, and a writer of a self-authored film blog, Kamran would like to share with others his profound interest in the profilmic in the hopes of inspiring, in them, a similar love for film.