Foreign films are big at the Toronto International Film Festival -- duh, it has the word "International" right there in the name -- and it's not uncommon for future art-house hits to have their North American premieres here at TIFF. I've seen two so far that have the right stuff to wow indie-minded moviegoers. What's more, they could be hits with young people, who often stick to the multiplexes and don't like subtitles.

First, let's talk about Jean-Claude Van Damme, shall we? The Belgian kick-boxing and butt-kicking champ has been making audiences cheer, often with some irony, since the 1980s, but he has rarely been taken seriously or treated with much respect. Today he is nothing more than a kitschy punch line and a regular fixture in the straight-to-DVD film industry. Yet this may change if JCVD can find its way into American theaters. After watching it, I find myself admiring and respecting the man. I even think he might be an OK actor, which is not a thought that had ever crossed my mind while watching him before. JCVD will change everything you think you know about J-C VD.

JCVD stars Van Damme as a slightly fictionalized version of himself, visiting his hometown of Brussels and getting caught in a hostage situation at a post office. Flashbacks show us the events leading up to it: his frustration over the course his career has taken (he's started losing roles to Steven Seagal!), and his sadness over losing custody of his daughter to his ex-wife. He's a shell of his former self, filled with existential angst and melancholy. And now he's in the same kind of cockamamie crisis that his characters always find themselves in.

The film stops just short of parodying Van Damme or his movies, though it's clear he has a great sense of humor about himself. The director, France's Mabrouk El Mechri, has obvious affection for the Muscles from Brussels, and he has made the film to feel like a gritty 1970s crime drama (Dog Day Afternoon, in particular) -- exactly the kind of respectable drama that has thus far eluded Van Damme so far. Van Damme gets a monologue near the end, speaking directly to the audience, which is oddly compelling and even touching. It's a bizarre idea for a movie, just crazy enough to work, and El Mechri and Van Damme pull it off superbly.

The other foreign flick that caught my attention this weekend was Il Divo, which won a jury prize at Cannes earlier this year. I can't even pretend to care about Italian politics, but Il Divo, a cool, crackling biopic of one of Rome's most scandal-plagued prime ministers, is painted several shades of awesome. The man himself, Giulio Andreotti, is almost 90 now, and in his 70s in the era when the film is set. But the director, Paolo Sorrentino, is only in his mid 30s, and the film benefits tremendously from his young, hip perspective.

The film's focus is Andreotti's alleged Mafia ties, and I use the term "alleged" with some sarcasm. One political enemy after another "committed suicide" or "had an accident" over the course of Andreotti's lengthy career; as a bold reporter tells him in the film, either he's the most corrupt politician in modern Italian history, or the unluckiest victim of circumstantial evidence. Andreotti never threatens anyone, though. He simply reminds them of his massive personal archive of facts, figures, and evidence, and most potential whistle-blowers keep quiet to save their own skins.

Sorrentino uses modern electronic music, bombastic editing, and even hyperactive subtitles to keep things poppin', but his best asset is his star, Toni Servillo. His Andreotti has hunched shoulders and a tight, stiff way of carrying himself, like his back is made of steel. His big, droopy face almost never smiles, and his owlish eyes look perpetually weary and humorless. He emerges as a cool sort of anti-hero, a bad guy you love as a character even if you hate him as a person. The film doesn't have U.S. distribution in place yet, but I trust some indie company or other will jump at the chance to put it on the art house circuit.

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Eric D. Snider is in Toronto for the festival. Check back later for more reports on what he's seeing.

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