A scene from "Tsotsi," which won the 2005 People's Choice Award and went on to be nominated for the Oscar for best foreign film.
The People's Choice Award is presented to the highest-rated film as voted by the Toronto International Film Festival audience – and it is (almost) always an early indication of where Oscar votes will land. Here is a look at The Globe's reviews of People's Choice Award winners from previous years.
2004: HOTEL RWANDA
3 stars
Writer-director Terry George ( In the Name of the Father, Some Mother's Son) redirects his anger from colonialism in his native Northern Ireland to a condemnation of the Western powers' complicity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide in this inspirational story of hotelier Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), who saved more than 1,200 lives out of the 800,000 to one million who died at the hands of ruthless Hutu militia. Cheadle delivers an eloquent performance as the resourceful hero, though George's version of the massacre is strangely sanitized, and his penchant for emotional button-pushing and cliffhanger suspense borders on the exploitative. (Liam Lacey)
2005: TSOTSI
3 stars
This time, the 'hood is the black townships of Soweto and the boy in it is as brutal as his surroundings, a gun-toting kid whose face registers no emotion except cold, implacable anger. Fuelled by that anger, Tsotsi (it translates as thug) opens with three scenes of violence each more vicious than the last. What follows, however, is an evolving tale of redemption, sometimes highly implausible yet always deeply affecting. The result is the kind of feel-bad/feel-good movie that brazenly manipulates our emotions and leaves us grateful for it – no wonder Oscar just picked it as the year's best foreign-language picture. (Rick Groen)
2006: BELLA
2 stars
If you have an appetite for well-made treacle, then Alejandro Monteverde's Bella should go down a treat. Otherwise, here's the dilemma you're faced with: From the quiet performances to the sensitive direction, everything about this movie is convincing except the very story that drives it. The whole plot is no more than a weak excuse wrapped around an ostensibly strong message, the ultra-gooey kind that insists on the healing power of love and the essential comforts of the family bond. It's like a secular version of those Christian flicks, but the execution is better – the high-toned ideals at least benefit from their low-key delivery. (R.G.)
2007: EASTERN PROMISES
3 stars
David Cronenberg takes his keen nose for violence to London, where the Russian mob is running amok – slit throats, drugged prostitutes, heroin imported from Kabul, not to mention the taciturn Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a man of few words but many scary talents. Sure, it's just a crime thriller, yet a genre flick by Cronenberg is always a different sort of beast and, courtesy of his strong casting and measured pacing, this one roars. Yes, it also has that already-celebrated fight scene, the punch-up in a bathhouse where towels are shed along with the blood. What it doesn't have is the thematic resonance of A History of Violence. Eastern Promises definitely delivers, but not on that scale. (R.G.)
2008: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
4 stars
In Mumbai, an 18-year-old boy, Jamal (Dev Patel), who works as an uneducated tea server for a telephone marketing company, has become the last man standing on an Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. His improbable success has captured the imagination of the entire country but also arouses official suspicion that he is cheating. The night before the final question, the show's producer/host has the police arrest him, string him up and begin to torture him into telling the truth. Director Danny Boyle's best film since Trainspotting is essentially updated Dickens – orphans thrown into the cruel world, brother against brother, a long-delayed romance and a rags-to-riches journey – but it's also as lively as a whirling kaleidoscope. (L.L.)
2009: PRECIOUS (BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE)
3 stars
A portrait of an obese, illiterate, sexually abused teenager and her fight for self-realization, the experience of Precious is like having a piano dropped on you: High impact, but messy. Director Lee Daniels will try anything except subtlety to sell the pathos and inspiration of Precious's story, but the movie succeeds on a foundation of three strong performances: Gabourey Sidibe as the title character; the scintillating Mo'Nique as her abusive, deluded mother; and a dressed-down Mariah Carey as a tough-love social worker. (L.L.)
2010: THE KING'S SPEECH
3 stars
It begins in paralyzed silence and ends in vocal triumph. In between, we're treated to a more-or-less true story that turns Pygmalion on its head – this time, it's the commoner who teaches a royal how to overcome his stammer and speak the King's English. The film – winner of four Oscars, including best picture and best actor – springs vibrantly to life in the many isolated scenes between Colin Firth's George VI and Geoffrey Rush's speech therapist. Instantly, what might have been just another British period piece soars into an actors' dazzling clinic. (R.G.)