Announcing HIFF's Opening Night, Centerpiece and Closing Night Films

Opening Night

HIFF's Opening Night film will be: MOTHER, directed by BONG Joon-ho (known for THE HOST, HIFF 2006 & MEMORIES OF MURDER, HIFF 2003) and starring WON Bin, KIM Hye-ja.

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October 15th at 8:00PM
Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18

Following the smash success of his 2006 film THE HOST, Korean sensation Bong Joon-ho returns with a stylish thriller that is both detective story and psychological horror. Pushing past the bounds of conventional film noir, MOTHER shows Bong refining his talent for popular entertainment even as he crafts a new grammar of imagery to depict his disturbing yet always thought-provoking ideas.

Kim Hye-ja plays the mother of a grown son with a slight mental disability. Childlike and slow to think through consequences, Do-joon (Korean heartthrob Won Bin in a raw performance) has grown up under the fierce protection of his mother's formidable love. Never one to participate in the intrigues of their small town, she lives a quiet life as a traditional healer, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors while looking after her son. Ah-jung is a pretty young student who seems to be the unfortunate guardian of the town's worst secrets – reminiscent of Laura Palmer from David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS. When she is brutally murdered and Do-joon is accused of the killing, it's up to his mother to get him out of jail and prove his innocence.

Kim's performance as the mother is both magnificent and, for Korean audiences, shocking. The legendary actress has dominated Korean small screens for over thirty years, usually portraying matriarchs in Korean TV dramas. She has become her country's maternal archetype, an ideal of sacrifice and unconditional love that Bong turns to dark and brilliant effect.

And so when the story poses the question of how far a mother would go to protect her son, all options are open. But solving the murder is not necessarily the heart of MOTHER. Like his masterpiece MEMORIES OF MURDER, small town gossip and politics dictates this world. Peppered with savage humor, the circular narration of MOTHER is elegantly colored with visually engaging, carefully composed scenes. This serene beauty contrasts powerfully with the ferocious emotion of one extraordinary mother.

- Toronto International Film Festival

Centerpiece

Centerpiece this year is John Woo's RED CLIFF, an epic war film set at the end of the Han Dynasty of Ancient China. It stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Chang Chen.

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October 21st at 8:00PM
Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18

Red Cliff, also known as The Battle of Red Cliff, is a Chinese epic film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs and events during the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China.

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself.

Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.

Closing Night

Finally, the Closing Night film will be Chinese historical action film THE WARRIOR AND THE WOLF, starring Maggie Q and Joe Odagiri.

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October 24th at 7:00PM
Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18

Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's WARRIOR AND THE WOLF is a circular narrative that explores the debasement of humanity through war and destruction, but on a painterly, elegant and serene canvas. Based on a short story by Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue, the film takes place in an era of war during an unnamed Dynasty period, but one is to assume it could very well take place during the same time as RED CLIFF – before the unification of China. Thousands of soldiers are sent to remote regions at the edges of the known world, beaten down by  barrage of battles and adversaries. Many of these soldiers lose touch with civility and basic humanity. But valiant Lu Chenkang (Joe Odagiri) is different. He retains his heroism and is pure of heart and mind. Determined to stay the course and retain his humanity, Lu tends to a pet wolf cub.  

When his commander and friend, General Zhang Anliang (Tou Chung-hua), is badly injured just before the beginning of winter, Lu takes over command of the troops. Forced to find shelter in the village of the mysterious Harran tribe, he discovers a beautiful, yet reclusive young woman (Maggie Q). An outcast and a widow, she fights Lu in every way she can before surrendering to his passionate embrace, having fallen for him against her better judgement. She seems to possess the almost magical ability to take his mind to a place where memories collide with dreams and legends – a place where humans were once wolves. 

Director Tian’s (THE BLUE KITE) latest is a departure from his usual fare; less free spirited than his earlier work, and more disciplined. Joe Odagiri and Maggie Q – two of the biggest Pan-Asian stars working today – deliver daring performances that delve into some dark territory. It also doesn’t hurt that their presence provides sex appeal too.  

WARRIOR AND THE WOLF, in the end, is a visually stunning and epic tale of wild humanity; pensive and quiet scenes are in stark contrast to bloody action sequences of macabre beauty that the Chinese have definitely mastered in cinematic portrayal. The filmgoer will be transported to a world where memory, temporal time and fantasy collide.  

- Anderson Le