Two Hands to Mouth

Eight blindfolded guests assemble at a secret pop-up restaurant. Chef Michael Bradori is back, sober and ready to reclaim his former glory. Food, wine, greed and lust fuel the appetites in the room. Things take a shocking turn when the dining room is transformed into a minefield of political and personal danger where the characters come under threats of guns and violence. ==Cast==

at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival ==Themes and influences==

Two Hands to Mouth is a violent film, but it is "also about where violence comes from". Michael DeCarlo asserts that the violence in the film, both physical and emotional, is informed by character: "I tried to create an emotional and physical world that explores intimate and tender moments as well as violence and cruelty." The story is also politically-driven. The previous years' economic chaos informed the script: "At the same time, this is a narrative and dramatic film, not a political soap box." In terms of aesthetics, DeCarlo kept in mind the words "lurid" and "elegant" in mind in preparation for Two Hands to Mouth: for visual inspiration, he and cinematographer Steve Cosens drew on the paintings of Francis Bacon, DeCarlo also citing Sidney Lumet, Luis Buñuel, Sam Peckinpah and Quentin Tarantino as cinematic inspirations: "I was aware of the cinematic tradition of violence". ==Production==

Background and financing Brigette Kingsley had been President of Black Walk Productions since 2008, and became head of Decade Distribution in 2011. Two Hands to Mouth was her first Telefilm Canada-supported feature film. The funding was from production through to post. Writing and casting The dialogue in Two Hands to Mouth is highly stylized; "wall-to-wall talking", and yet, "the characters rarely sound like they're speaking in the same voice, genuinely coming across as "many voices and personalities [who] co-exist and interact with each other". Music Dave Hodge composed an original score for Two Hands to Mouth, pleased enough with the results that he hoped to create a new musical project based on a few of the pieces. In early 2013, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, he ran into Leah Siegel and asked if she was interested in collaborating on the project, and after a few months of writing, recording, and mixing, Hodge and Siegel decided to form the band Leisure Cruise, resulting in the release of their self-titled debut album in May 2014, an album which incorporated two tracks from Two Hands to Mouth. ==Release and reception==

Two Hands to Mouth was released on 1 October 2012. Critical response Adam Nayman describes the film's singular setting as "a sort of bare existential space", a "Sartrean" dinner party, and "easily one of the most distinctive-looking Canadian first features in recent memory", with "strong, dynamic compositions and boldly colour-coded lighting to bolster the underlying (and at times overwhelming) sense of claustrophobia and mania." Nominations • Madrid International Film Festival • Best Editing • Best Actor (Art Hindle) (2013) ==References==