Introduction

TIFF [2001]

September 11th

For me, "it" will always be synonymous with the ringing of a cell phone (and by now, you should know damn well what I mean by "it") -- as if I don't have reason enough to hate these things going off in the middle of a movie.

I was enjoying an 8:30 AM screening of Korea's "Musa The Warrior" as best I could on Day Six of the 26th Toronto International Film Festival, seriously deprived of sleep (five hours) and caffeine (the Varsity Cinema hadn't the foresight to open the snack bar at that early hour). "Musa" was more or less a private show, save for (maybe) ten others spread out through the venue's comfy stadium seating. I had grown used to the constant in-and-out traffic -- it's with some regret that I affirm for any of you who have suspected the critics often don't sit through the entire movie that you are correct (although to be fair, some are buyers looking to merely "sample" a potential purchase).

But just as I was anticipating the leisurely pace of this historical epic picking up with the appearance of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"s Zhang Ziyi, the cloying ring-a-ding of the latest vile cell phone micro-breakthrough jarred me up in my seat like a zap from The Tingler. There was some urgent muttering, then silence after my row-mate bolted from the theatre. He returned to pantomime something to the others nearest the exit, then, they left. Then another phone went off, to my amazement it seemed no one but me came to this thing in analog mode (my Luddite-issue festival kit consists of a few Sharpie markers, the official program guide, three Toronto dailies, and a paperback I never get to). When it hit me that I was on the verge of being the only person left in the Varsity 2 -- I just chalked it up to "Musa" being a tough sell.

"As stunned as I was by the horrific images onscreen, I felt a twinge of guilt at what I felt was my voyeuristic intrusion into the mass misery of others. Movies ARE all about voyeurism, but this was raw, and real in the worst way. Most of those around me were from the American media, and a sizeable portion of that body came from publishing offices in New York City. I saw grown adults going weak in the knees, falling into tables for support, embracing complete strangers to shield their eyes. I felt their shock, anger, and sense of violation, but I doubt to their degree -- after all, I've never walked out of a theatre to see my hometown destroyed on the news."

My coffee craving drew me to the concession area, where I was taken aback by a capacity crowd (and it's a big lobby) standing rapt in front of the TV monitors, which are ordinarily tuned to an in-house trailer channel, now all synched to the shakeycam images on CNN. I could scarcely make out the commotion -- something about planes hitting the twin towers. A frantic server snapped me out of my incredulous trance: "Have you heard, man? They blew it up! It's gone -- the World Trade Centre is gone!"

Well, not quite "gone", but within a ninety-minutes, the towers would crumble. Incredibly, a second plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and a third went down in Pennsylvania, not far from where visiting friends had returned home only two days earlier.

Life had suddenly become an Irwin Allen movie -- there was a tangible fear that perhaps it wasn't over. The workday had scarcely begun -- would there be similar attacks in other cities?. Even more unreal acts of violence, the likes of which even Shane Black and Skip Woods hadn't conceived? Maybe I subconsciously feared that "Musa" could be the last film I'd ever see, or maybe I just needed to sit down and reclaim a bit of order in my world, so I decided to get my press badge's worth and check out the climax. Yes, I admit it -- I went back to the movie. A few others, to my surprise, were still in the theatre (did they know?) and from their sniggering reaction, I could only assume that in its native dialect, "Musa" came off as something of an overripe howler (I do recall the end credits ballad being particularly awful).

[The TIFF's Reaction ]

- Robert L

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