TOILET (Naoko Ogigami, Japan). 109 minutes. Saturday (November 13), 7:15 pm, Innis Town Hall. See Indie & Rep Film.
TORONTO REEL ASIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (at Innis Town Hall and other locations), to Wednesday (November 17). reelasian.com. Rating: NN
Naoko Ogigami’s Toilet is a stiff, mannered tale of three half-Japanese siblings (Alex House, Tatiana Maslany and David Rendall) coping with their mother’s death and the uncomfortable presence of their silent Japanese grandmother (Masako Motai).
[rssbreak]
There’s certainly curiosity value here – and not just because it was shot in Toronto (posing once again as Anywhere, USA) and performed entirely in English. It’s a tonal curiosity, too, with Ogigami evidently trying to cross-breed Ozu’s spare, intimate dramas with Wes Anderson’s arch characterization. It’s an intriguing proposition, but in practice it’s stilted and precious.