The celebrations of the 70th Venice Film Festival had not yet subsided, with main competition screenings still in full swing, yet the 38th Toronto International Film Festival was already eagerly warming up, building toward its climax. Since last year, the schedules of Venice and Toronto had gradually overlapped, and this situation of one festival ending just as another began continued into this year.
Judging from current trends, Venice's prospects did not look optimistic, while Toronto was steadily gaining momentum.
Before North American media could fully lament Venice's decline and decay, the opening frenzy around "Gravity" had already ushered in the festival's peak. The subsequent average quality and overall level of main competition entries fell far short of "Gravity's" heights, which was truly disappointing. Then, the heatwave in Toronto ignited the focus of attention and a frenzy of discussion.
"A new chapter in Toronto's history of long lines: people start queuing 48 hours in advance! 'Gravity' breaks records."
"With a queue of over two thousand people, the Toronto International Film Festival truly lives up to its name as the 'People's Film Festival'!"
"'Gravity' is generating buzz even before its release, and the Renly Hall craze is spreading in Toronto."
"Camping outside the movie theater for two days and two nights, just to support 'Gravity' as soon as possible: the golden age of Renly Hall has arrived."
"From a chorus of praise to a wave of popularity, the North American premiere of 'Gravity' is unstoppable!"
"Is 'Gravity' a strong contender for the Oscar for Best Picture? It kicks off the 2013 awards season with a bang."
"The orderly yet massive crowds at the scene are making history for the Toronto International Film Festival."
"Even without access to the screening room, the long queues were still unstoppable! 'Gravity' has rightfully become the biggest hit at the Toronto International Film Festival."
"North American viewers, 'Gravity' is here!"
Despite Renly's appearance at the theater queue, sincerely advising moviegoers not to stay up all night and to prioritize their health, his presence became a "perk" spread by word of mouth. Unwittingly, the queue not only did not shrink but actually increased exponentially, leaving Renly both amused and exasperated.
Ultimately, the queue at the "Gravity" screening site stretched to over two thousand people, while the premiere screening room could only accommodate one thousand. This became a unique and glorious scene in the history of the Toronto International Film Festival. Even ten years later, even when Renly returned, such a scene could not be repeated. This was mainly because 2013 was truly too special, too sensational, and by chance, such a miracle was created.
The neighboring city of Toronto was unleashing incredible energy, with the massive queues already astonishing audiences across North America and spreading globally. Whether people liked it or not, the buzz surrounding "Gravity" only grew stronger. From its perfect scores in Venice to the overwhelming support in Toronto, this film truly dominated the spotlight in September.
Renly and Alfonso spent four days in Toronto, giving interviews to more than two hundred media outlets, holding two press conferences, and a small fan meet-and-greet. From critics' amazement to audiences' love, they reignited the promotional campaign for "Gravity" ahead of its North American release.
Following its premiere in Toronto, "Gravity" once again garnered a wave of acclaim.
Compared to the fifteen perfect scores in Venice, Toronto finally saw non-perfect scores. For a commercial film, this was expected and inevitable, but the non-perfect reviews came much later than anticipated.
Of the eleven major media reviews that emerged at the Toronto International Film Festival, two were not perfect scores—one from *The Independent* and the other from The New Yorker.
The Independent, **95 points**:
"'Gravity' opens up a real space realm stripped of its sugar coating, allowing the audience to enter and explore it. The use of many advanced film technologies can easily lead to mistakes, but Alfonso Cuarón successfully avoided this and created a masterpiece."
The New Yorker, **95 points**:
"'Gravity' is not a film that wins with creativity and ideas—like Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'—but it is still a work that amplifies physical sensations to the extreme. The sensory experience releases the charm of the film. The weakness of the story is, in a sense, compensated for by Renly Hall's excellent performance."
Although not perfect scores, the praise reflected in 95 points was still impressive. The other nine ratings were all perfect scores of 100.
So far, the media average score for "Gravity" was 99.6 points, which, rounded, still stood at 100 points for now. This meant that after being tested at two film festivals, media approval remained high, further fueling anticipation.
Incidentally, both the Venice and Toronto film festivals concluded before the New York Film Festival.
Venice awarded the Golden Lion to the Italian documentary "Sacro GRA," making it only the second documentary in the history of the three major European film festivals to win the top prize—following "Fahrenheit 9/11" winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2004. Now, Venice had its first documentary to win the Golden Lion.
However… Bernardo Bertolucci, the jury president who had previously directed masterpieces like "The Last Emperor" and "The Dreamers," faced severe criticism from media and audiences.
In an interview, Bernardo steadfastly stated that he was moved to tears while watching "Sacro GRA," and that there were fewer and fewer filmmakers who sincerely made documentaries these days. It was for this reason that he and the jury decided to award the Golden Lion to this film.
Other film critics and audiences, however, showed no appreciation. They believed the documentary was made solely for the Italian jury president, and that no one outside Italy could appreciate its sincerity or emotional impact. Pre-festival concerns—that the 70th-anniversary Golden Lion would return to Italian cinema—had ultimately come true, dealing a significant blow to the festival's international reputation.
As was well known, film festival awards were not determined by media ratings but by the jury. However, even setting aside ratings and excluding "Gravity," which failed to make it into the main competition, there were still many more commendable works among the films screened at Venice this year.
It was disappointing that the jury, led by Bernardo Bertolucci, failed to make a fair choice.
The 70th Venice Golden Lion Award was later called by many the most "watered-down" in film history, which might have been an exaggeration, but it was certain that this Golden Lion received the least recognition and approval in the 21st century. This was undoubtedly a further blow to Venice, which was already in trouble.
Beset by internal problems and facing numerous challenges, the Venice Film Festival, about to enter its 71st year, now faced a serious crisis.
Against this backdrop, lamentations about "Gravity" missing the main competition grew increasingly frequent. However, the festival's new president, Alberto Barbera, was actually relieved—if "Gravity" had made it into the main competition and still suffered a surprise defeat, that would have been a real public relations crisis.
For Alberto, his first year in office brought both good and bad news. If he could not develop a clear strategy, the same predicament would persist next year.
The People's Choice Awards in Toronto also produced a surprise, with "12 Years a Slave" beating "Gravity" to take the top spot.
This result could not be entirely attributed to surprise; rather than an upset, it served as a warning sign for awards season.
British director Steve McQueen, who had previously collaborated with Michael Fassbender on the critically acclaimed films "Hunger" and "Shame," now directed "12 Years a Slave," a film addressing racial issues. Following its premiere in Toronto, it garnered widespread praise, with media acclaim even surpassing that of "Gravity" at one point.
"Gravity" received nine perfect scores out of eleven reviews in Toronto, while "12 Years a Slave" received perfect scores out of all eighteen reviews there.
This situation was similar to that of "Blue Is the Warmest Color" and "Inside Llewyn Davis" at Cannes this year. "Inside Llewyn Davis" unfortunately lost the Palme d'Or, and now "Gravity" had also unfortunately missed the People's Choice Award. It was unclear whether this was related to the backlash caused by Renly's overwhelming winning streak—no one could definitively say there was a direct link.
Ultimately, "12 Years a Slave" won the People's Choice Award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, "Gravity" came in second, and "Prisoners" took third.
Since "Slumdog Millionaire" won the Toronto People's Choice Award in 2008 and made a meteoric rise to the Oscars, the festival's top award had been hailed as a new barometer for the North American awards season. In the past five years, four People's Choice Award winners had made it into the Oscar nominations for Best Picture.
Now, with the sudden emergence of "12 Years a Slave," coupled with its focus on a Black theme, Brad Pitt's endorsement, and Fox Searchlight acquiring North American distribution rights, a fierce battle for awards season was already foreseeable in the Academy's public relations arena. It was now subtly surpassing "Gravity" to become the top contender.
Of course, it wasn't that "Gravity" wasn't good enough, but "12 Years a Slave" had also made a strong entrance. Thus, the storm of awards season began to slowly brew.
"Gravity" displayed its unstoppable momentum, leaving Toronto and heading toward New York.