| DVD Roundup February 2004
 Offbeat Canadian Films on DVD
Canada is physically large -- we have enough land to
swallow up a number of other countries -- but our population is less than that of
California. That makes us small. Our country is rich in natural resources, but we
don’t make much money from them. Other countries buy them to produce goods that
people can actually see and use, making Canada the intermediary between God’s
creation and man’s doing. Although we do produce some things in Canada, such as cars,
those cars are still called "American." And then there’s our film industry,
which isn’t even an "industry" in the Hollywood sense of the word. Canada
produces fewer films in a year than Hollywood does in a week, and most of ours rarely make
it to theaters, let alone to DVD. When was the last time you saw a Canadian movie?
But that doesn’t mean our little film industry is not
without its successes. The small and struggling Canadian film industry can’t produce
Hollywood-sized blockbusters, but it can and does produce compelling and original films
that deserve a worldwide audience and should be seen by more people. Here are three little
gems, each different from the others, but each distinctly Canadian in some way, that you
can now find on DVD. (I suspect most Canadians haven’t seen them either.)
 Men with Brooms (***)
is a slapstick farce that celebrates everything that’s Canadian. Written by, directed
by, and starring Paul Gross, this 2002 release is about four friends who, since childhood,
have had dreams that have not come close to fruition. Now middle-aged men, they decide to
regroup to win a coveted national curling title, The Golden Broom.
From curling to lumberjack shirts to snowplows to The
Tragically Hip to beavers crossing the road, this film’s strength is how it pokes fun
at everything that is identified with Canada. As a Canadian, I laughed throughout. Paul
Gross has really hit the mark with this one. Granted, if you’re not a Canadian born
and raised, a lot of what’s funny here will likely fly over your head. But even those
who have only visited Canada will be able to identify with much of what goes on, and you
should get some, if not most, of the inside jokes. And if you’re planning a trip to
Canada, Men with Brooms will serve as a good primer -- Gross nails the
idiosyncrasies of our big little country.
The 1998 theatrical release Last Night (***1/2) is
the poster child of the Canadian film industry: big on concept, short on cash. Like most
Canadian productions, Last Night was made on a shoestring. I’m sure that
Hollywood execs would be embarrassed to put out something that looks like this -- the
production values are shoddy even by the standards of late-night TV. Still, Last Night
has a good story, and that alone helps it put to shame mega-million-dollar blockbusters
that are all special effects and not an ounce of common sense.
 What would you do if you learned the world would end tonight? Would you spend it
with family? Would you get drunk? Would you try to find love? Would you try to right some
wrongs? Or would you go to a Bachman-Turner Overdrive concert and wait for it to all be
over?
Written by, directed by, and starring Don McKellar, Last
Night does not explain why or how the world will end -- we just accept that it will.
The movie eschews almost all special effects to instead focus on people and their lives,
exploring exactly what they might do in their final hours. When I saw Last Night in
the theaters a few years back, I easily overlooked its garage-sale production values and
sat gripped until the end. Only a handful of films a year accomplish that. [Tidbit for
audiophiles: yes, those are B&W speakers in the background in the final scene.]
Finally, there’s Lost and Delirious (****),
released to theaters in 2001 and by far my favorite film of the three recommended here.
This, Quebec director Léa Pool’s first English-language film, has an all-Canadian
cast, with the addition of American actress Piper Perabo.
Set in a girls’ boarding school and seen through the
eyes of Mary "Mouse" Bradford (Mischa Barton), Lost and Delirious centers
around three roommates, two of whom are lovers. A titillating, lesbian B-movie like the
ones common at drive-ins in the 1970s? Not at all. Lost and Delirious is about
first love and lost love. I guarantee you’ll never forget it.
 Piper Perabo plays Pauline, a rebellious loner whose mother gave her up for
adoption when she was born. Pauline is in love with Victoria (Jessica Paré), an
attractive girl from a rich family in which appearances mean everything. At first, no one
but Mary knows that Pauline and Victoria are lovers. But Mary respects their choice, and
over time the pair’s evening antics become background noise in their shared dorm
room. That all changes when Victoria’s sister and friends learn about the affair.
Rumors fly, and Victoria, fearing repercussions from her family, abandons Pauline.
Pauline, who has lost the only person who ever loved her, is shattered and spirals into
breakdown.
The direction, storytelling, and cinematography are all
first-rate -- there are few of those telltale signs that this is film was "Made in
Canada" -- but what puts Lost and Delirious over the edge is Perabo’s
performance as Pauline. If this film had received the distribution it deserved and the
audience it warrants, I’m sure she would have been nominated for some acting awards.
Forget such films as Coyote Ugly -- Perabo actually can act. She so inhabits the
role of Pauline that she pulls off a difficult performance few young actresses could
manage. At one point, Pauline challenges Victoria’s new boyfriend to a duel. I
suspect that, in the hands of many actresses, such a moment would be laughable and teeter
toward melodrama. Perabo turns the unbelievable into something wholly believable, and
makes Lost and Delirious riveting to the end.
If you see just one of these three films, make it Lost
and Delirious. However, I recommend that you try all three. Each is interesting and
delightful in its own way -- big little films from a big little country.
...Doug Schneider
das@hometheatersound.com
[Doug Schneider, publisher of the SoundStage! Network family of websites, is a resident of
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.] |
