Article taken from VARIETY.com
Posted: Sun., Sep. 14, 2003, 4:41pm PT

'Zatoichi' tops Toronto/ Samurai saga honored

By BRENDAN KELLY

TORONTO -- Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano's samurai saga "Zatoichi"
continued its prize-winning run, taking the People's Choice Award at the
Toronto Film Festival Sunday.

Toronto does not have an official competition, but the fest hands out a
number of awards, with the public vote prize considered the most
significant, with past awardees including Oscar winners "American
Beauty," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Life Is Beautiful," "Shine"
and "Chariots of Fire."

"Zatoichi," which was acquired by Miramax in Toronto, also won the
Silver Lion for director and the audience award at the Venice festival.
Pic tells the mythic story of a blind, roving, seemingly frail masseur,
played by Kitano, who also happens to be the deadliest swordsman in the
land. This swordsman, a Japanese pop-culture icon, has been featured in
a number of TV series and films.

The two runners-up for the People's Choice nod were both Canuck
documentaries, underlining the strong showing for Canadian film and
feature docs at Toronto this year. The first runner-up was seasoned
Toronto director Ron Mann's "Go Further," which follows thesp Woody
Harrelson and a crew of fellow activists on what Harrelson calls the
Simple Organic Living tour on the American West Coast. Mann's previous
pics include "Grass" and "Twist."

'Corporation' hailed

Second runner-up was "The Corporation," a critical look at the rise and
growing influence of corporations directed by Mark Achbar
("Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media") and Jennifer
Abbott. Doc attracted significant critical and industry heat at the
fest.

Montreal helmer Denys Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasions," which opened
the Toronto fest Sept. 4, won the City Award as best Canadian feature.
"In this film, the profound complexities of the modern world are
reflected through the lives of its beautifully wrought characters," the
jury wrote. Nod comes with a cash prize of C$30,000 ($21,900). Pic,
which will be released by Miramax in the U.S. on Nov. 21, picked up two
prizes at Cannes earlier this year, winning for screenplay (Arcand) and
actress (Marie-Josee Croze).

"I work very hard on my films. I write them myself, I spend three to
four years doing a film, so whenever you reach people and they
appreciate what you do, and they give you prizes, you feel rewarded for
all the tough work," said Arcand. "I had a feeling I would do well in
Quebec because it's an audience that knows me. But elsewhere, it's
another story. I wondered if in Toronto they would be able to relate to
it, and an award like this shows that you are able to touch them."

Discovery to Woodley

The Discovery Award, voted on by the press corps covering the Toronto
fest, was presented to Toronto filmmaker (and nephew of Canuck director
David Cronenberg) Aaron Woodley for his U.S. pic "Rhinoceros Eyes." The
dark fantastical story focuses on a prop-house employee (Michael Pitt)
with a loose grip on reality.

The City-TV award for Canadian first feature went to Toronto helmer Sudz
Sutherland's "Love, Sex and Eating the Bones," a look at contemporary
relationships distributed by ThinkFilm. Nod comes with a cash prize of
$11,000. Award for Canadian short, which comes with $7,300 in prize
money, went to Montreal helmer Constant Mentzas' "Aspiration."

The Fipresci critics prize was presented to Spanish helmer Achero Manas'
"November" "for its freshness, its original blending of fiction and
documentary techniques, its humanistic message and the high quality of
all the performances."

Weak U.S. films

Toronto fest, which wrapped Sunday, was marked by a strong slate of
foreign-language pics, many of which generated U.S. sales, and a sense
that the major studio pics failed to generate significant buzz. Most of
the acquisitions activity was focused on foreign fare as there was a
notable shortage of quality U.S. indie films available for pickup.

Aside from the Miramax "Zatoichi" deal, Sony Pictures Classics bought
Italian pic "Facing Window" and Korean buzz item "Spring, Summer, Fall,
Winter ... and Spring," Goldwyn acquired Margarethe von Trotta's
Holocaust drama "Rosenstrasse," IFC snapped up Canuck helmer Guy
Maddin's "The Saddest Music in the World," United Artists took Jim
Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" and Newmarket bought Danish pic "The
Green Butchers."


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