Toronto International Film Festival: My dinner with Isabelle Huppert

Peter Rainer's Toronto International Film Festival highlights included the performances of Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in 'The Two Popes.'

Dear Reader,

Monitor film critic Peter Rainer has just wrapped up his time in Canada at the Toronto International Film Festival. You'll see his reviews in future newsletters, but he shared a few highlights this past week.

He says the 11-day festival (ending Sept. 15) that previews upcoming movies had something for everyone this year "from the ultra-dark 'Joker,' starring Joaquin Phoenix in an origin story about Batman’s nemesis," to the "radiantly humane 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,' starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers." He notes that legions of fans turned up in red cardigan sweaters, a nod to Mr. Rogers' comfy clothes, at that premiere.

Peter's highlights include "the documentary 'Varda by Agnès,' the last film of the great Agnès Varda; the master-class performances of Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as, respectively, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, in 'The Two Popes;' Adam Driver’s best work yet in the divorce drama 'Marriage Story;' and the chilling documentary 'Collective,' about high level corruption in the Romanian healthcare industry."

A personal highlight for him was a dinner with Isabelle Huppert, whom he says "is sort of the Meryl Streep of French films, though with a very different style."

"The whole time, I felt like I was a character in an Isabelle Huppert movie," he says of his time with the "Frankie" star. 

Kim Campbell, culture and learning editor

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