Programmer's Note

Few recent events in Canadian cinema have been greeted with as much enthusiasm as Sarah Polley’s directorial debut Away from Her, which had its world premiere at the Festival in 2006. It was remarkable that an artist whose film career had thus far been dedicated to acting could draw such an eloquent (and Academy Award^®–nominated) feature script from a beloved yet hardly camera-ready short story (by Canadian author Alice Munro); could craft a film so layered with subtlety, gentle humour and compassion; could speak with such wisdom about the terrors and comforts of aging; and could do so before she had reached the age of thirty.

So it is with special pride that we host the world premiere of Polley’s second film as director, Take This Waltz — whose title comes from the work of yet another Canadian icon, poet and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.

Twenty-eight-year-old Margot (two-time Academy Award^®–nominee Michelle Williams) is happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), their mutual attraction is obvious and immediate. To make matters worse (or perhaps better), Daniel lives right across the street. The two begin spending time together and try to restrain themselves from doing things they might regret, but the sweltering Toronto summer has a way of making certain desires more urgent.

There are no easy answers here, no heroes or villains. The emotional texture of the performances — perhaps most surpris­ingly from Rogen (also starring in 50/50 at the Festival), whose depth of feeling proves as potent as his gift for comedy — only heightens the film’s complex dance of love. Questioning the value and sustainability of long-term relationships, this funny, moving story, taken from Polley’s original screen­play, is grounded in a struggle that’s familiar to so many of us, but when imbued with such specificity and rawness, never gets old. Away from Her marked the arrival of a major new directorial talent; Take This Waltz proves she’s here to stay.