• Wide Release
• Director: Sook-Yin Lee, David Sutherland, David Weaver, Aaron Woodley
• Written by: Sook-Yin Lee, Aaron Woodley , David Sutherland , David Weaver
• Running Time: 89 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Gil Bellows, K.C. Collins, Carly Pope, Lisa Ray, Ricardo Hoyos, Samantha Weinstein, Tygh Runyan, Toka Murphy, Olivia Palenstein, Cameron Kennedy, Frank Moore, Michael Rhoades, Judy Sinclair, Joris Jarsky, Ingrid Hart, Shauna MacDonald, Daniel Park, Ellora Patnaik, Elva Mai Hoover, Louise Naubert, Richard Leacock, Stephen R. Hart, Carly Street, Ajit Zacharias, Kelly Harms, Kristina Pesic, Mark Dailey, Mojalefa Murphy, Raquel Gil-Jimenez, Carlos Diaz, Gene Mack, James Lafazanos, Ben Lewis, Julian Richings

After arriving with only a picture and nothing else, a mute immigrant child (Toka Murphy) meekly walks out the gates of Pearson International Airport, and away from his bewildered government bureaucrat handlers, and into the bustling streets of Toronto. He hops on the first bus he sees, and quickly sets off on his grand journey across Canada’s most famous city… or, as I call it, “Canada’s gaping, unwashed anus.” Yeah, that’s where I’m coming from. Anyways, it is this child and his random interactions and observations of (and with) the big city folk that strands together this collection of four inconsistent, but surprisingly enjoyable, short films known as “Toronto Stories”.

Shot on 35 millimetre in and around notable Toronto landmarks and streets, the various independent directors - funded partially by Canadian tax dollars - are able to churn out a reasonably engaging slice of Canadiana. The first two stories are better than the last two, maybe because of their universal appeal, but I'm sure each story will mean more to certain Torontonians based upon the shooting location. With respects to the connecting story, apparently it was left up to the discretion of the directors how they chose to weave The Child in and out of their narratives. In some, he figures prominently, while in others, not so much.

Moving into the first story, Aaron Woodley’s “Shoelaces“, easily the best of the lot, begins with The Child, on his knees, attempting to drink from a polluted sewage reservoir (the first glimpse into a story that symbolically marries death and innocence into the death of innocence). Before he can get a good mouthful, he is immediately halted by the warnings of another young child, Jacob (Ricardo Hoyos), who suggests that if he wants a drink, the water fountain in the park might be more suitable. This faint interaction between these two eventually bleeds into the main story and The Child all but exits as quickly as he arrives. His sudden exodus is met with nothing more than a shrug of Jacob’s shoulders, and for good reason, he has another friend, Cayle (Samantha Weinstein), quickly in place, filling the void, and moving the story.

Structured to come off almost as a quasi fairy-tale, “Shoelaces“ utilizes stop-motion animation, haunting music and interesting cinematography, to tell a story that seems very much like a grand metaphor for one child’s sometimes startling, sometimes exciting venture into puberty… and into his own manhood. Through the use of symbolism, the director, Aaron Woodley, does an interesting job of portraying the death of innocence -- childhood innocence, that is. It isn’t by coincidence that the kids run through a graveyard, or that the kids encounter the jumper on the side walk with his skull cracked open. Death punctuates every frame of the story, as it is consistent with Woodley’s message -- with the exit of the child, more adult realities come to bare. For Jacob, he longs to be with Cayle but has not the nerve (or maturity) to clarify his feelings. From the very start of the film, Cayle, who we discover, lost her mother years earlier, and who confides in Jacob that she, “misses her” - is easily the more mature of the two, something illuminated with her very adult handling of the two bullies. It isn’t by chance that Jacob is the one chasing after Cayle in the graveyard -- following behind Cayle, who has clearly already begun her journey into adulthood, and to which Jacob is only beginning. An apparent rumour of a monster living in an underground tunnel somewhere in Toronto, leads the two on clandestine night-time investigation. The monster itself seems to be a metaphor for their shared burgeoning sexual, and emotional, awakenings, and upon sighting “the monster“, they run terrified. A secondary perspective, reveals “the monster” to be nothing more than a hobo sleeping it off. This speaks to the reality of sex, that, as a child, can seem rather frightening, but with maturity and sudden, unexplained puberty-born desires, another, less frightening, perspective is made aware. By kissing Cayle, Jacob seems to be actively embracing his progression into adulthood. This first story is simply amazing!

The second short story is written, directed and produced by former- MuchMusic VJ, Sook-Yin Lee. The aptly-titled, “The Brazilian”, follows a beautiful, deep-thinking, but extremely lonely, Toronto woman, Willia (Lee), as she navigates tempestuous romantic waters in her bid to form a meaningful, long-term relationship with a man, Boris (Tygh Runyan), whom she hunches is suffering from Asberger's syndrome (a type of extreme social disorder). Every attempt at breaking through his emotional fencing, is immediately repelled with the stark reality of his condition -- that he simply doesn‘t care; not about her, not about anyone. The ever-changing Boris is so unavailable, that he refers to himself as Polkaroo, forcing Willia to make a mad dash down to the local library to find out what a ‘Polkaroo’ is. At the end of her proverbial rope, Willia eventually elects to get The Brazilian (urban dictionary defines it as “waxing your pubes“) in a last-ditch effort to get Boris’ attention (or, maybe, to place herself in Boris’ mindset), to no avail. In an emotionally pungent final, Willia admits to Boris that she thinks about him all the time, to which Boris replies, “I don’t think about you at all.” Possibly the most un-romantic response to a romantic gesture that I‘ve ever heard on film. Wow! This might be conjecture on my part, but I have a sense that this downbeat tale of desperation and love amongst Kensington Market thirty-something eccentrics, emerged out of to Lee’s personal desire to express her disillusionment with contemporary dating, and her own inability to find a true and lasting romantic connection amongst her increasingly detached, increasingly materialistic peer-base. Also, her willingness to go naked at least three separate times during the very short segment, speaks to a woman truly given to her art, a dedication that has probably turned off many a potential mate (anyone who has seen "Shortbus" knows what I'm talking about, I'm sure.). In a sense, she’s telling the audience, including those Kensington Market eccentrics, “This is what I am. I have nothing to hide.” Not sure why, but “The Brazilian” stayed with me long after my initial screening for many reasons, some of them deeply personal. God, what a daring woman Sook-Yin Lee is - truly an artist with talent to spare.

Considering how superb the last two stories were, I knew was probably expecting far too much with David Sutherland‘s “Windows” especially when it started off so poorly. Regardless, even with the appearance of Carly Pope, I was less than impressed when it was all said and done. When a young man, Doug Shannon (Joris Jarsky), busts out of jail, he quickly reunites with his former partner-in-crime, Alton Morris (K.C. Collins), for what he assumes will be an easy ride back to his ex-girlfriend’s place. Upon learning that Doug broke out, Alton begins to get antsy because, as it turns out, Alton has gone legit, even opening his own lucrative window washing service while Doug was away. Roshanna (Carly Pope), Doug’s ex is even less excited about his showing up on her doorstep, and she lets him know it, culminating with a goofy hostage situation and a obvious lesson regarding the ever-widening divide between the rich and poor in Toronto. Everything about this story shrieked ‘unfinished‘, as if David Sutherland had a much larger story worked out in his head, but became weary of developing it further the moment adapting it to a shooting-script became a reality. I didn’t care about Doug, even despite Sutherland’s various attempts to humanize him and I loathed Roshanna. Next!

The last story, David Weaver‘s “The Lost Boys”, actually sees The Child, who had up to this point in the film drifted in and out of the previous stories like a ghost, actually become a driving force behind the narrative. Following the death of his own child in a swimming accident years earlier, an apparently upwardly mobile, happily married man, Henry (Gil Bellows), had what amounted to a full-blown mental breakdown. In the aftermath, he retreated into the seedy underbelly of Toronto, living day to day as just another homeless, crack-addicted statistic. That’s where we are when the story begins. One night while lounging out at Union Station, Henry has an awkward meeting with The Child. He doesn’t realize the significance of this meeting until a bit later when he is confronted by the same child’s image on a television screen, notifying the public at large to be on the look-out for him. Returning to the meeting place, Henry discovers that the child is gone. He’s been on the streets long enough to know that something’s up. He immediately senses that the kid was probably abducted. Sadly, despite his best efforts to get help, he can’t seem to get the various authorities to take him seriously. The notion of a missing child touches a raw nerve from his past, ultimately pushing Henry to use his street savvy and wits to track the child down… and save him. For me, this segment speaks to a much larger problem within Toronto, and most any major city, with regards to how the homeless are treated by the police and the public, in general. Gil Bellows offers up the film’s most complex, gritty performance here and really is the singular element that keeps his storyline exciting. Truly a tragic hero and a great piece of work.

As I said in my opening paragraph, I’m not a fan of Toronto and make every effort to stay as far away from it as I can. On the other hand, “Toronto Stories” almost made me want to venture around the city just to see the streets and landmarks where this film was shot. Yeah, I said almost.

Imdb.com link

Wikipedia link

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