An incredibly strong Venice led to full days at TIFF, wherein ticket buyers could catch up on acclaimed films that had just premiered in the beautiful Italian city. I had a full day of Venice catch-up, and it only solidified how strong the film lover’s event was this year. It included these three excellent dramas.
One of the most buzzed films from Venice is the Volpi Cup winner for Best Actor in star Peter Sarsgaard, who does some of his career-best work in “Memory” as a man with severe early onset dementia. When Sarsgaard’s Saul sees Jessica Chastain’s Sylvia at a high school reunion, he literally follows her home like a lost puppy. She naturally seems startled, but she keeps walking, locks her door, and goes to bed, only to discover that Saul is still outside her door the next morning, shivering from the cold and uncertain of where he is or why he’s there. It turns out that Saul has a severe mental health condition that impacts his memory and day-to-day behavior. Despite the unsettling nature of the encounter, she brings him in and cares for him, even though she’s initially convinced that he was a part of something horrible when she was young. You see, while Saul doesn’t remember much of anything, Sylvia remembers too much.
