TIFF 2020: MLK/FBI

 

MLK/FBI is a documentary about how the FBI under J Edgar Hoover obsessively followed and bugged Martin Luther King Junior during the 1960s. The material was interesting and we learned some things we did not know, but the delivery was very dry. The title ought to have been FBI/MLK. It was a mix of old footage, clips from fictional films and TV shows about the FBI (those parts seemed very hokey), images of FBI reports and interviews with people who either knew King (Andrew Young, for example) or knew about the inner workings of the FBI (James Comey). The end result was not as moving or impactful as we had expected.

TIFF 2020 Overview  

TIFF 2020: The Father

 

The Father stars Anthony Hopkins as a man slipping into dementia, and Olivia Colman as his daughter, trying to support him. The film plays tricks with the viewer to make us identify with the father, and understand how it feels to lose your grip on reality. On our walk around the neighbourhood after the film, Susan and I were still trying to put some of the pieces together. It's a disturbing, depressing film, but a well-executed one, with an outstanding performance by Hopkins.

 

TIFF 2020 Overview 

TIFF 2020: One Night In Miami

 

One Night in Miami brings 4 real-life friends (Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X) together for a fictional gathering at a critical point in time. Clay has just beaten Sonny Liston to become World Heavyweight Champion, Brown is at a pivotal point in his NFL career, Cooke is trying to win over white audiences with his music, and Malcolm X is struggling in his role at the Nation of Islam, worried about enemies both inside and outside the organization. The 4 friends discuss issues of race and power, mostly in a modest hotel room in Miami in 1964. We see each of their different approaches to the issue, and the pros and cons of each.

The pace of the film is very slow, and for most of it there is very little action. That made it tedious at times, but the message and the relevance to our own time was still powerful. Eli Goree's performance as a playful and at times childish Cassius Clay stood out for me.

TIFF 2020 Overview