Cannes Goes to Canada

Among the 455 hours of film unspooled in the 10-day bash known as the Toronto International Film Festival was a new Stephen Frears picture called Dirty Pretty Things . A smart film and an even cannier title, because it defines the lure of movies: that they show people doing dirty pretty things. And the lure of Toronto is that it's a clean town with a pretty fine festival — the busiest and most influential in North America.

Last year, Toronto was not so festive. The suicide bombers of Sept. 11 severed the convocation in half: five days...