Clooney’s Michael Clayton Among TIFF 2007 Galas

The Gala selections at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival include a 1930s crime drama set in Shanghai, the return of Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I, and an animated film that serves as a cautionary tale about the environment.

Fugitive Pieces – As in previous years, TIFF’s opening night gala is a Canadian film. This year the honour goes to Toronto-born director Jeremy Podeswa’s cinematic take on Canadian writer Anne Michaels’s acclaimed novel, about a writer trying to come to terms with a turbulent past. As a child Jakob (Robbie Kay), who has just seen members of his family massacred, is rescued from Nazi-occupied Poland by Athos (Rade Sherbedgia). The two eventually emigrate to Toronto, and as Jakob grows into a man (Stephen Dillane) he’s increasingly concerned with what happened to his sister Bella (Nina Dobrev), a mystery that threatens to consume the troubled man.

Rendition – In this timely film, Reese Witherspoon plays a pregnant woman whose Egyptian-American husband (Omar Metwally), suspected of having links to terrorism, is whisked away to a Middle East detention facility by U.S. authorities. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the idealistic young CIA analyst who gets wrapped up in the case and finds himself questioning the actions of his superiors. Tsotsi director Gavin Hood’s film features a formidable cast including Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin and Peter Sarsgaard.

Michael Clayton – George Clooney plays the title role in this film about a “fixer,” a lawyer brought in to assist high-profile clients out of potentially scandalous situations. When Clayton’s mentor (Tom Wilkinson) has a meltdown in the middle of an important case for the firm, he’s forced to step in and help save the reputation of both the firm and its client, an agro-chemical conglomerate represented by its own ambitious litigator (Tilda Swinton), despite his own moral reservations.

Terra – The animated directorial debut from Montreal-born Aristomenis Tsirbas features a celeb-packed vocal cast and an urgent message about environmental awareness. Evan Rachel Wood voices the main character Mala, an alien girl living on the planet Terra. When humans, who have exhausted Earth’s natural resources and that of three other planets, fix their gaze on Terra, Mala must come up with a plan to help save her people from being eradicated.

Eastern Promises – Canadian director David Cronenberg follows up the masterful A History of Violence with Eastern Promises, his second collaboration with actor Viggo Mortensen. Here Mortensen plays Nikolai, the driver for a Russian restaurateur (Armin Mueller-Stahl) with ties to the mob. Naomi Watts plays Anna, a midwife drawn into their world after one of her patients, a young Russian woman, dies in childbirth, leaving behind a diary that provides clues about her identity.

Le Deuxieme Souffle (The Second Wind) – A remake of the classic 1966 Jean-Pierre Melville film, Souffle stars Daniel Auteuil as a gangster who’s broken out of jail and is looking for one last score before settling down with his ever-loyal girl Manouche (Monica Bellucci). But he has a few surprises in store for him as the police have convinced his crew that he’s an informer.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age – Cate Blanchett returns to the role that made her a star nearly a decade ago, Queen Elizabeth I. Indian-born director Shekhar Kapur is also back for the sequel, which features a stellar cast including Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh and Samantha Morton as Mary, Queen of Scots. In The Golden Age, Elizabeth finds herself facing her greatest challenge yet, an attempted overthrow of Protestant England in 1585 by devout Catholic King Philip II of Spain. Geoffrey Rush also returns for the sequel, reprising his role as Sir Francis Walsingham.

Also:

The Last Lear – Indian film about an aging stage star (Amitabh Bachclan) preparing to take on his first cinematic role despite his disdain for the medium. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh.

The Jane Austen Book Club – Maria Bello, Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy star as friends who start a book club devoted to Ms Austen’s literary works. Based on the Karen Joy Fowler novel, the film is Robin Swicord’s directorial debut.

Sleuth – Kenneth Branagh directs this cat-and-mouse thriller starring Michael Caine as a writer whose wife has fallen under the spell of a younger man, a struggling actor played by Jude Law. With a sharp screenplay by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, Sleuth’s story is all about the male ego and one-upmanship.

Across the Universe – Beatles tunes combine with the visionary style of director Julie Taymor in a musical love story set during the Vietnam War era.

Cassandra’s Dream – Woody Allen’s latest stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Firth as brothers forced to make some difficult decisions after their uncle (Tom Wilkinson) comes to them in desperate need.

Cleaner – Samuel L. Jackson plays a crime-scene cleaner with a shady past who becomes caught up in a murder after he erases all the evidence from the scene.

L’Age des tenebres (Days of Darkness) – Oscar-winning director Denys Arcand completes his acclaimed trilogy, which began with Le Declin de l’empire americain and Les Invasions barbares, with L’Age des tenebres. Set in the near future in an Orwellian Montreal, the film centres on a civil servant whose bleak real world interrupts the lavish fantasy life he’s created for himself.

Blood Brothers – Produced by John Woo, the directorial debut from Alexi Tan tells the story of three men whose loyalty to one another comes into question after they fall into the Shanghai underworld in the 1930s.

Reservation Road – Joaquin Phoenix stars as a father grieving the loss of his son to a hit-and-run driver (Mark Ruffalo). The film, directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), morphs between tearjerker and vigilante film as Phoenix’s character hunts for the man who tore apart his family.

The Walker – The subject matter of Paul Schrader’s film seems innocent enough – well-bred gentleman Carter Page III (Woody Harrelson) earns a living accompanying society women to important events. But when one of the women’s husbands turns up stabbed to death Page finds himself the prime suspect.

Closing the Ring – Shirley Maclaine plays Ethel Harris, who after losing her WWII veteran husband drowns her sorrows in alcohol. But when her daughter Marie (Neve Campbell) receives a call from a boy in Ireland who claims to have a ring belonging to Ethel it sets into motion a chain of dramatic events.

Caramel – Set against the backdrop of a beauty salon in Beirut, Caramel looks at the varied lives of the women who enter its doors. Director Nadine Labaki also stars in the film as Layale, the salon’s charismatic owner.

Emotional Arithmetic – Susan Sarandon stars as Melanie Winters, a woman who survived a Nazi camp outside Paris and is now settled in Quebec with a husband, son and grandson. But ghosts from her past begin to haunt her as she discovers the man who saved her life in the camp, Jakob (Max von Sydow) is alive. When he comes to visit he brings Christopher (Gabriel Byrne), who Melanie felt a romantic spark with back in France. 

George Clooney in a scene from Gala film Michael Clayton.