Last night, a few Spacing editors had an opportunity to screen two, I would say, very important new documentaries about Toronto: Let’s All Hate Toronto, which had its world premiere at the Hot Docs fest yesterday, and Last Call At The Gladstone Hotel, which will have its world premiere tomorrow through the same festival. While not always easy to watch, both of these (quite different yet related) films are essential viewing for people who live in and care about Toronto — or, as parts of these films make clear, what they think might be Toronto.
We started with the harder stuff first, viewing Last Call At The Gladstone Hotel. This heartwrenching doc is sure to generate heated conversation as it depicts a complex yet all too familiar story: poor people being ousted from the places they consider home at the behest of (this is where the conversation gets heated!) either market forces, social/community change, crumbling infrastructure, upper- or art-class obliviousness or all of the above.
The strength of the film, in many ways, is that it gives a wide berth for this debate about causes to happen while giving a strong first-person view of the individual impacts of much-vaunted “heritage revitalization†schemes.
We meet Marilyn, an incredibly caring and astute chambermaid at the hotel who uses her own money to provide residents with everything from “nice-smelling†vanilla scented garbage bags to yard-sale art and bedding. We meet Maryanne, a sweet, elderly longtime resident who pays $1,000 a month for a small room — which, admittedly, she feels compelled to fill with hoarded mess — and who values the simultaneous sense of safety and independence the hotel staff and residents afford.
We also meet young developer couple Michael and Anne, who want to make the hotel into “ground zero†of trendy Toronto, full of “all the right people,†and Margie and Christina, developer sisters who want to keep the residents in their longtime home during an unprecedented “slow renovation,†but who ultimately choose to turn them out.
Filmmakers Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham film from a perspective that is likely similar to that of many Spacing readers: having been entranced with the old-timey feel of the Gladstone pre-reno, they still would seem to enjoy its new, upscale, more premium-beer styled incarnation. At the same time, they provide a valuable look behind the scenes as to what the human impacts of even the most well-intentioned, socially conscious or art-styled hotel renovations produce.
I’m sure (and I’m actually hoping that) others will add in their two cents on the matter, but for me the film really demonstrated the rift between economic and social classes that I skim over every day. Some artists may have just as little money as the people who lived at the Gladstone, but what they lack for that, they usually have access to many more resources of power — political and social connections, communications, medical resources, education and know-how — that the former Gladstone staff and residents lacked. I wonder what that community of people could have done had they had more access to or understanding of those kinds of resources. Others might accuse me of romanticizing here, but what those residents and staff had was community, a community that both physically and mentally likely helped them, as communities do, from going over the brink. And the dispersal of that community is, to me, the most tragic story here, both for its unquantifiable loss as a whole and for the individual losses and difficulties which likely followed.
The next film we watched, Let’s All Hate Toronto, was much lighter and absurd in tone. Since there’s been a lot of coverage around this film already, you likely know that rather than examining TO-hate in dry, governmental style, Let’s All Hate Toronto works on a theatrical device, personifying the city into one individual (the aptly named Mr. Toronto) and following him on an ersatz quest to help the rest of Canada appreciate his hometown.
At the same time as it generates a lot of laughs, the film makes some very valid points and offers some thorough research on the myths and truths of Toronto, revealing both evidence for our city’s killjoy history (we apparently have the only monument in the world to the inventor of the Sunday School) and of our own civic delusions (the UN never declared Toronto, or any other city, as the most diverse place in the world).
More important, for viewers who have never lived anywhere else, it offers a view beyond the city, a view that, the film itself makes pains to clarify, rarely gets a chance in national media, given as all the “national†media are HQ’d in one city – Toronto.
As someone who’s lived mostly in other places in Canada, including some of the places the filmmakers visit, like Calgary and Halifax, I have to say I relished this doc no end. When I moved here a couple of years ago, I was truly taken aback that those myths about Toronto — self-centered, unaware of the rest of the country – were partly true. I also, like the filmmakers, came to understand that this was not due to any intrinsic egotism or lack of caring on the part of Torontonians, but mostly on other factors like stress, media centralization and a certain niggling insecurity. I also came to understand, of course, that a lot of Torontonians do care about others, a discovery that Mr. Toronto himself makes in a concrete way at the end of the film.
So although the sun is shining outside, there are some flicks worth lurking into a dark, cold movie theatre for this coming week. I say, pray for rain.
Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel screens Sunday April 22, 6:30pm and Saturday April 28, 4:15pm at the Bloor Cinema. Let’s All Hate Toronto screens Saturday April 28 at 6:30pm at the Bloor Cinema. For Hot Docs ticketing information, click here.
17 comments
Some artists may have just as little money as the people who lived at the Gladstone, but … they usually have access to many more resources of power – political and social connections, communications …
Political connections? Are you serious?
Yeah, I think she is. Artists who are active in their city and community often get to know elected representatives, local ratepayer groups, unoffical area representatives etc etc. Political connections don’t just mean summer trips to Harrington Lake or speeches at the Canadian Club. Political power is a diffuse and disparate thing.
I’m really interested to see Let’s All Hate Toronto. Until I moved to Halifax three years ago, I had no idea that there was so much anymosity and hate towards Toronto. I was indeed one of those ignorant who couldn’t think of a possibility as to why anyone would hate my city.
A certain part of me still maintains that it is indeed an inferiority complex.
Yep, what Shawn said is pretty much what I meant. As a case study, however extreme, one could look at 48 Abell. These people were threatened with eviction, and were able to mobilize a campaign that had coverage in most local and major media, with the mayor even vowing that their homes would not be touched.
Also, I’ll just note that when using these kinds of comparisons, it’s easy to slip into an “artists v. working poor” mindset — to reduce the world to these two groups and make one responsible for all the problems of the other. That’s not what I mean at all. Last night, one person pointed out that it’s really the city’s job to create affordable housing, not that of artists or hoteliers.
Also, compared, to, say, condo developers and bank owners, I’d say artists have a lot less political power.
Still, it’s relevant to reflect on the varying levels of political power and connection of different communities. Because they do vary quite dramatically.
CanWest runs “ ‘national’ †media and isn’t “HQed in… Toronto.â€Â
Ya but CanWest is the most uncanadian of all the media. I think they want us to be an almost-bush america (it’s still Canada, so even the neo-cons can’t go all the way…).
We get the Post at my office. Terrence Coconcoran editorials, and the “general” editorial are Sun-worthy and very entertaining. If people in any reasonable number actually read the Post I’d be upset — happily it’s a fringe voice.
Jenny: Canwest used to be called the Love Boat channel but it now produces a sizable amount of Cancon. Playback recently remarked on this…..
http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20070402/smallscreen.html
It only took 30 years to get to this point! And while the shows may not be what I would watch, at least they are not “cancon” gameshows.
In terms of the Post, I bet the Aspers are enjoying Blacks trial finding out how they were taken to the cleaners. I dont know why people read it it as it has the same 2 stories every day: “The brain drain” and “Everything is better in the US”.
“Let’s all hate Toronto” is sold out at HotDocs and I would really like to see it. Ideas?
Toronto, for better and/or worse, tends to look abroad, to the states and elsewhere, while taking for granted and pretty much ignoring the rest of Canada.
Shaunpierre: Try rush tickets. If there are empty seats 15 minutes prior to showing, they sell you one at the door.
Hey, in terms of viewing, both docs are actually co-pros with CBC Newsworld, so hopefully they’ll screen them on TV @ some point.
Also re: the Post, while the cheque-signers are in Winnipeg, the editorial offices are here. (Or, well, Don Mills, if that’s close enough for you.) And while I agree they’re conservative politically, I’ll also ‘fess up and say that I write an artist interview for them every Thursday, and appreciate that opp. Bring on the abuse!
I am pretty sure both will be seen on The Lens on CBC Newsworld.
I really wanted to watch “Let’s All Hate Toronto”, but I guess I will have to wait until they air it in CBC Newsworld. I am not sure the doc will answer the question as to why the country hates this city so much and how such hate really hurts this city and the country as a whole, but I am always up for a good laugh. One thing that I understand about their dislike is the fact that the CBC shoves Maple Leaf games down the throats of the rest of the country, I also hate it that they shove such a lame sport franchise into the city’s throat…
>>We also meet young developer couple Michael and Anne, who want to make the hotel into “ground zero†of trendy Toronto, full of “all the right people,†and Margie and Christina, developer sisters who want to keep the residents in their longtime home during an unprecedented “slow renovation,†but who ultimately choose to turn them out.>>
I thought the conclusion to the documentary made it quite clear that the hotel, from the years of neglect and decay, would not be here today if the final full renovation hadn’t been put underway. This was also reiterated by the directors during their Q+A session after the film on Sunday night.
It’s a little biased to word it as if they on a lark, changed their opinion on the slow renovations, when the film very honestly showed the abysmal condition the building was in and how it was understandable that full renovations needed to occur.
>>I dont know why people read it (the National Post) as it has the same 2 stories every day: “The brain drain†and “Everything is better in the USâ€Â.
Nice review, Leah. I saw Last Call at the Gladstone last night on TVO. It really upset me a lot. I’ve never been completely comfortable with the changes there, particularly the artist-designed reno rooms, which has always seemed a bit like rubbing salt on the wounds. However, I’ve been to so many many art events there that I am utterly complicit in the artists takeover. Also I have a lot of respect for the Zeidlers, who are doing a much different kind of work than anyone else I know, and facing the ethics of development with open eyes. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in reading more on this I just posted my own response to the movie at http://www.digitalmediatree.com/sallymckay/?40701
While giving an interesting insight to the change over that took place at the “Grand Madame”, the Gladstone Hotel, it is easy to overlook the business savy that it took to recognize and work with what was a fading and rotting sore on the Parkdale Landscape.
The Zeidler / Tippin interest in the hotel was obviously in response to the possibility of the Olympic games bid during the Lastman administration. A great decision. To work with the city in it’s bid to “revitalize” the neighborhood was obviously in line with the policies of all parties, and gave way for co-operation on a Municipal level.
Giving re-birth to any neighborhood will always be cause for economic changes, But as stated, the need for repairs was not in question. Their decision to make those repairs, and to “Do It Right” (up to code and with a flair) was the only thing that saved the building from eventual and inevitable demolition. This is hardly the fault of the new owners, and should in no way be seen as “Gentrification for Gentrification’s sake”.
With the absence of the Tippin faction, the Zeidlers, Marg an Christina, have not only given the area a showplace of which to be proud, but have paid tribute to the artistic forces that have become numerous in the area. Allowing for Artistic Design rooms, and making the various venues of the hotel available for showings, Readings, Release Events etc. has made for a glowing addition to the Parkdale community, and although the Olympics are no longer an issue, their caring dedication and their intuitive attention to the business of the Gladstone certainly releases them from any responsibility for what may have been a much harder move for the older tenants, many of whom were re-situated with the help of the Zeidler family themselves. Kudos and Congrats to all subjects and film makers, but Last Call At The Gladstone certainly warrants a sequel.