Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, The Light Thief, European Union Film Festival

Reviewed by Marc Glassman

The Mini-reviews

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

A long-list Oscar nominee for best feature documentary, Client 9 recounts the scandalous tale of Eliot Spitzer, the crusading New York Governor who resigned from office after being charged with consorting with high-priced prostitutes. Acclaimed director Alex Gibney, an Academy Award winner for Taxi to the Dark Side, focuses on the prostitution ring–some women make $3000 an hour—and on Spitzer, who is given ample opportunity to defend himself. Gibney doesn’t miss the irony that a politician who was prosecuting white-collar crimes was undone on a morals charge—and that Spitzer’s enemies in the U.S. financial institutions were bailed out mere months after his resignation in 2008.

The Light Thief

Admit it. How often have you seen a film from Kyrgyzstan? The Light Thief is directed by its star Aktan Arym Kubat and was a selection at Cannes and TIFF. Kubat plays Mr. Light, an electrician who steals power from the State’s wires to help out poor peasants in his tiny village. When a young tycoon comes back to his hometown, Kubat’s dream of creating cheap power through windmills has a chance to be realized. Does it happen? You’ll have to go to the Bell Lightbox cinemas or wait for a DVD to find out.

European Union Film Festival

The films are free, they’re all subtitled and you can see them at the Royal (College-Clinton) for the next eleven days. The festival is a gift to Toronto from its European Union Consulates and Cultural Institutions. Picks this weekend include Lithuania’s Oscar contender Vortex and the Polish drama All Will Be Well, whose starring actor Robert Wieckiewicz will be in attendance at the screening.

For more info: www.eutorontofilmfest.ca