CINEMA CAN •A D A

Chasing Rainbows

nce upon a time in Canada, everybody lived either on isolated, windswept farms, or in drab, cramped apartments. Canadians were grizzled, stoical people, caught inO an endless struggle. They sat around kitchen tables on frigid winter nights, worrying about the dark douds hanging over them, planning escapes to something better, or wondering about their collective identity. All that has changed. Today, in Canadian movie-and-TV-land, we are coke-dealing hipsters, gourmet intellectuals, jet-setters, gangsters, and practitioners of sex as amuse­ ment. We live in highrises, mansions, huge lofts decorated with motorcycles and offering surrealistic vews of the St. Lawrence Ri ver. We almost never sit around kitchen tables drinking squat-bottled beer like a bunch of losers. Fiddlers, cou :1 try music, and all other such folklore are on another goddamn planet. Our past has also changed. These days, it is no Michael Riley at the end of The Rainbow longer always somewhere in the countryside during the reign of Queen Victoria. Now the in one of the show 's more preposterous, and yet Fortunately, most of the performances in the development that must be titillating and past is also the Big Town, when the 20 th century perversely amusing episodes. show are solid. Paul Gross, reminiscent of Jack scandalizing to the country's last remaining was just beginning to roar. During the years Christopher Blaine is the more complex Nicholson when he bares his teeth or cocks his monarchists. following the 1918 Armistice, we - just like the character - the Scott Fitzgeraldian neurotic head, and Nlichael Riley, who makes Chris's Also entertaining is the show's candy-coated rest of the western world - had bootleggers and posed against the Hemingwayesque Jake. vulnerable personality tangible, have staked vision of the '20s, a vision that could be called gamblers, flappers and vamps, dance halls and Whereas Kincaid is robust, cocky, and always down their roles and climbed into them. Julie A. Retro-Video like the mise-en-scene of a Janet bordellos. Above all, we had a young and ready for action, Blaine - an upperclass Stewart credibly projects alluring foxiness and Jackson clip. Silky, velvety colors and textures restless generation, disillusioned by the 'War to "Sherbrooke Street boy "- is sensitive, intelligent bemusement in the scenes where she glaze our eyes in the interiors of Westrnount End All Wars'. Yes, we had ollr Lost Generation, self-questioning, and reticent (among other doesn't have to express the character's more mansions and east-end whorehouses. The complete with its cynical repartee, non-stop problems, he can't make the earth move for the soapy emotions. exteriors, even the dread streets of Pointe St. boozing, and all-night parties where beautiful woman he loves). Christopher'S postwar Among the large supporting cast, Peter Charles, are just as pretty. To some extent, this girls shimmied, and black men blew hot activities include a forlorn attempt to save his Boretski as Eckieberg, a ruthless and embittered is a costume designer's (Suzanne Mess) and a set trumpets. Adrunk might have joked at the time, father's bank, a plunge into Jake 's underworld Jewish don, is both scary and sympathetic - designer's (Armando Sprignuoli) show. In "In Canada, the fun also rises . " milieu, and eventually, alcoholism. especially during his operatic "Do you think I'm exterior establishing shots, costumes and sets In Chasing Rahlbows, an $11 million, 14-hour The woman Christopher loves is former a schmuck?" aria. Sophie Leger, who played a blend into perfectly artificial little tableaux that CBC mini-series, the place to be during the debutante, presently Jazz Age Vamp, Paula teenage whore in Mireille Dansereau 's Le 50llrd are as pleasing as the illustration on your favorite extravagance of the Jazz Age is Montreal­ Ashley (Julie A. Stewart). Paula, who is one dans la ville, is again disconcerting as the angelic Kleenex box - and just as disposable. although to save money, the show was shot in jigger of Hemingway's Lady Brett (The 5zm Also and wasted Gaby, a 15-year-old Jake saves from However, when Blandford and Bowie want to Toronto. Produced by Mark Blandford and Rises) and another of Fitzgerald's Daisy prostitution. And Wayne Robson, (Sammy, give us more than rainbows - when they are out written by Douglas Bowie (collaborators on the Buchanan (The Great Gatshy) - with some Jake's father-figure) , continues to demonstrate a to portray the very particular horrors of World 1983 mini-series, Empire, Inc. ), Rainbows tells the Canadian content thrown in - comes close to considerable ability to reveal the soulful War I, (captured so powerfully in classic films parallel and intertwined stories of Jake Kincaid marrying Christopher and has a fling with Jake. humanity of scrunched-up men. like G. W. Pabst's Westfront , 1918 and Stanley (Paul Gross) and Christopher Blaine (Michael A playwright who makes it to Broadway, she is Chasing Rainbows is at its best when it breezes Kubrick's Paths of Glory), or the pain of Riley) , who begin a rocky, love-hate relationship given to making such comments as 'Tm not the along, free of sentimentality and portentious­ disillusioned love, or The Way Society Was in the mud and blood of the First World War. girl you left behind, Chris ... I'm such a shallow, ness. There's an entertaining kick to the gusto Changing at That Time, Rainbow's candy often Jake, whose mother seems to have been a selfish bitch . " with which the show portrays the slaphappy melts down into glop. "fifty-cent whore " in the working-class district Like Cotton Clllb, Francis Coppola's musically amorality, the craftiness, or the wanton The show hits glop bottom when Jake says of Pointe St. Charles, is more inspired than phantasmagoric evocation of the '20s, excessiveness in many of its characters. There's things like "We can pull ourselves out of the intimidated by his humble origins. After he Blandford's and Bowie's Chasing Rainbows a wonderful moment when Paula's snob of a mud if we try. I have got to believe it!" or when returns from the war, Jake's lusty efforts to cross-cuts back and forth between echoing, or mother explains why Regency is a bad choice for he spends time with the grieving parents of a transcend the "Pointe " lead him to gambling, contrasting, events in the lives of its two male silverware. "People will think I raised you in a frightened, sensitive boy the army shot for smuggling, and transforming a third-rate protagonists. Usually, this structure works barn. Regency is plate, dear. "Even the Prince of desertion. Suddenly, we are back on that brothel into a first-class nightclub, where the smoothly, although in some sequences (for Wales' retainer and advance man is a apparently inescapable, wind-swept Canadian . Prince of Wales himself (Andrew Lewarne) example, the night Chris almost marries Paula greedhead and something of a sleazeball. In farm. In a series of clumsy, absurd shots, Jake, plays roulette all night and picks up a jazz baby while Jake gets beaten up by hoods), it wobbles. fact, the Prince himself is not entirely kosher, a harnessed to a team of horses, plows the good

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earth with obscene enthusiasm, looking like a Suzanne Guy 's dormitory-like room. The sequence ends with a woman who provides the ' outside' perspective. happy ox. The dead boy's father watches shot of the anonymous young woman as she sits She states her ideas about why women commit joyfully; the two men grin at each other under Les Bleus on the edge of her bed and despondently lights crimes and end up in prison. She says that in the pristine blue sky. We expect to hear a a cigare tte . every case there is a man behind it ; she doesn't voice-off commissar exhorting a crowd to meet This is a clever way of getting us 'inside' so know why, but it seems that a man is always the the quotas called for in the present five-year plan. au coeur that we get a feel for what becoming a prisoner reason. What the women say prove this to be Chasing Rainbows has attracted a great deal of means, i. e. depersonalizaoon, removal of mostly true, whether he was a pimp, a pusher, a attention, not only because it is one of the most privacy, etc . But then this woman disappears, deserting husband, a boyfriend who turned rat expensive, time-consuming television shows es Bleus all coeur is Suzanne Guy's latest and when the film closes with a woman leaving fink, or whatever. It is a provocative statement, ever made in Canada, but also because it is - as feature-length documentary. Tangua y, it is another woman, a real prisoner, and a pivotal one, in unwithngly alluding to the all the.entertainment media have trumpeted­ Ostensibly it attempts an explanation of who leaves. Ica n't but feel that Les Bleu sall coellr idea that these women are victims. In the end, the first TV series in the world shot with HDTV women and crime through interviews would ultimately have been more convincing, that is what Guy wants us to understand, and to (High Definition Television) producoon with several inma tes of Tanguay, a and more honest, had it stayed on the ficool!al feel sympathy for them. It is a strong themaoc equipment. (A recent American feature, JI/lia prisonL for women on the northern outskirts of narraove track. opener, however, the rest of the questions the and Julin was made with HDTV and transferred Montreal. To complete the picture, Guy also From this opening sequence we move to the women respond to, or the things they talk about t03Smm.) interviews one woman who is struggling to Even video haters, who have watched HDTV makeit "on the outside," two children of two of tape played back on big high-definioon the women, a guard, and some of the monitors, rave about the brilliance and nurse I social workers employed at the prison. resolution of the image. Naturally, the home The film left me with a lot of questions - not audience that followed Chasing Rainbows wasn't about women and how they arrive at a criminal seeing the show in HDTV, because a few years lifestyle - but about the inherent honesty of the OUEBEC • ALBERTA will pass before home equipment is available, film. I was left wondering if Guy also wan ted to ALBERTA • OUEBEC and longer until networks like the CBC get at a larger issue, and if the film was trying to broadcast with the new technology . say something about the prison that patriarchal 1988 The home audience saw a video production 50cie~' represents fo r women, how the shot movie-style with 55 million-worth of Sony male-determined definitions we li ve within equipment. The series (photographed by John become internalized so that women, in effect, Galt, sometimes directed by William Fruet, who become prisoners within those very definitions. D'un montant de 5000 $ chacun, Ie Prix Alberta-Quebec made the legendary Wedding in White , is more This is a tall order, and if Les Biros au coeur (cinema) et Ie Prix Quebec-Alberta (television) sont attribues fluid and cinematic than ordinary commercial intended to fill it, it does not succeed. But I can tous les ans a des personnes ou a des societes qui se sont video work. The camera moves and shifts into find no other explanation for some of the distinguees par leur esprit createur dans Ie domaine du cinema relatively interesting angles; the lighhng isn't elements Guy has incorporated into the film , ou de la television 115 ont ete crees en 1985 par un accord signe par Ie Ministre de la Culture et du Multiculturalisme de department store garish. At the same time, and how she seems to try and translate the l'Alberta et Ie Ministre des Affaires culturelles du Quebec. however, you often feel traces of the over-imme­ prisoner image into other situations. diacy, the rawness characterisoc of video­ Dramatized vignettes are intercut with the Unjury independant forme de quatre membres, selectionnera especially when real grass looks as if it's been interviews and other scenes of various activities les la ureats.Le Prix Quebec-Alberta (te levision) sera remis lors du Festival de television de Banff, en juin prochain Quant au painted with day-glo paint. that comprise prison life. These vignettes seem Prix Alberta-Quebec (cinema), il sera attribue dans Ie cadre du Chasing Rainbows is no masterpiece about the to be included more to evoke certain emooons Festival des films du monde de Montreal, au mois d'aoOt Jazz Age -like the long version of Sergio Leone's than to illustrate any specific point made in the lyrical, brutal, haunting Once Upon a Time in women's narratives. America - but it was a smart idea to look back at One particular sequence consists of a series of ~~:_.. - ...... - Toutes les personnes et les societes engagees dans la that period while experimenting with a shots of a young girl, dressed in white, dreamily , production d'oeuvres cinematographiques ou televisuelles money-saving high technology that will be very walking alone on a bridge in a country-like sont admissibles Cependant les oeuvres presentees doivent important in the future. setting. The camera remains in a medium long etre destinees au x marches des sa lles commerciales et de la shot then pulls away to an extreme long shot as television , et ne peuvent etre d'ordre pedagogique, Maurice Alioff • the girl reaches the rail and peers through it. promotionnel ou industriel From this angle we see that the bridge crosses a body of turbulent water and a series of rapids. CHASING RAINBOWS exec. p. Mark Blandford sc. These are traditional symbolic images that \:~iIii"''''''''' La date limite d'inscription est fixee au 30 avril 1988. Les Douglas Bowie p. Louise Turcotte-Gerlache co-p .ld. o. p. connote specific ideas, in filmic and Ii terary , personnes interessees asoumettre des candidatures peuvent John Galtprod. des . David Moeco-p. HDTV SystemsCharles terms. Female innocence is visually framed obtenir un formulaire d'inscription, ainsi que tous les details Pantuso d. Mark Blandford, William Fruet, Susan Martin, necessaires, en s'adressant Bruce Pittman m. d. / camp. Neil Chotem casling Dorothy behind the bars that at the same time protect a: Gardner, Gaire Hewitt art d. Roy Kellar, Peter Baran cost. from the turbulence below (life ?), and imprison Marie-Noel Pichelin ou Suzanne Mess set dec. Armando Sgrigunuoli props master her. Why is this sequence here, and what Katie Daniel SOCiete genera Ie Alberta culture Ron Ror make-up Daisy Bijac !wir Anita Miles assoe. p. I post­ subliminal connections does Guy want us to prod. Brooks Field sup. ed. Tony Lower l.p. Paul Goss, des industries culturelles and Multiculturalism Michael Riley, Julie A Stewart, Booth Savage, Lewis make? (a nciennement Film and Literary Arts Gordon, Louise Lapare, Sophie Leger, Andrew Lewame, In addition, although a documentary, the film Societe genera le Tel . (403 ) 427-2554 Hal Eisen, Peter Boretski, Lisa Bunting, Wayne Robson, opens with a dramaozed sequence. A young du cinema du Quebec) Thomas Peacock, Jill Frappier, Tony Van Bridge, Maida woman rides alone in the back of a police van to Tel. (514) 844 -1954 Rogerson, Alison, MacLeod, Kim Cayer, Malika Mendez, Tangua y, where we follow her through the 12th Floor, CN Tower Christopher Earle, Mark Geverley, Barry Stevens, David 335, boul de Maisonneuve Est Matheson, Joseph Shaw, Gillie Fenwick, Gene DiNovi, various induction procedures: registraoon, 10004 - 104 Avenue Montreal (Quebec) H2X 1K1 Lesleh Donaldson, Patricia Hamilton, Diane Gordon, Dan stripping and showering while guards examine Edmonton (Alberta)T5J OK5 MacDonald. Produced by th e Canadian Broadcasting her clothing, and then the walk down a long Corporation in association with Northernlight and Picture Corporation. HDTV TIInning time 14 hours . hallway to the 'cell', which in this case is a small,

CINEMA CANADA APRIL 1988 PAGE 17 CINEMA CAN • A D A

When you've got a film to promote, nothing helps to spark interest more than genuine glossy photos from Galbraith. • Cinema Displays • Pre-Release Promotions • Press Releases Canada Wide Service Low in price and easy to order. Genuine glossy colour Joining hearts in jail or b/w photos can be produced in any quantity from your print; negative oftransparency. Ask for your FREE price list and Customized onlybrush against this issue. Had this idea been display it for the camera. Promotion Kit today! more deeply explored, illuminating the All of these questions I have about Les Bleus all GALBRAITH REPRODUCTIONS perceptions these women have of men, of Coellr lead me to the basic question that must be 420 Bathurst St. , Toronto, Ont. M5T 2S6 themselves relating to men, and finally of asked about every documentary film comprised (416) 923-1106 themselves in society (that is male-defined I do­ of interviews. That question is: if you put lights minated), a much stronger statement would on someone, and a camera before him I her have come out of Les Bleus au coeur. recording his I her voice and actions, just how On the other hand, when the film comes to honest will that person be? I think the fact that I dealing with the sexuality, and the lesbianism,of couldn't stop asking myself this question while TV WORTH READING the women in Tanguay, it reverts to something watching Les Bleus au coeur is, in itself, a bordering on sensationalism. The topic is comment on the film 's failure to persuade, and avoided in the first half to two-thirds of the film its lack of believability. - we don 't see women holding hands, brushing When I noted in the final credits that the crew THE PERFECT MACHINE against one another, any kind of intimate contact was mostly male, however, I felt that I had at TV IN THE NUCLEAR AGE whatever. Then a woman tells us that her love least a partial explanation for my discomfort for another of the women began as a good Joyce Nelson with the film . As far as I'm concerned, first of all friendship, but then they fell in love. We see her if you put a camera in front of women in a next in the arts studio, making something with restrictive, depersonalizing society, one that is their two names enclosed in a heart. From there barred from male company, and second of all, we jump right to a scene where they are necking have a man behilld that camera, what you get will and caressing one another on a dance floor. The obviously be less than honest and true. $12.95 pb., $29.95 d. camera follows them intently and moves to a Combining that thought with the visual tone closeup as her hand slides around the other's ass and texture of the film, and the seemingly and up into her crotch. Without any warning, incongruous dramatic vignettes, it seems and without any emotional context, these scenes understandable why I mistrust what Les Bleus au provide shock value only, especially as one coeur is telling me. There is an intrinsic discord 'Nelson has looked hard and long at the woman has continuously spoken of her between the way the film looks and what it has most complex and frightening aspects of the boyfriend on the outside, and whom we have to say. contemporary world, and her analysis is seen visiting her at Tanguay. Tanguay comes off looking like a dormitory. courageous and frequently brilliant.. .. I can Aside from its cliched character, another Many scenes left me with the impression of a think of few books published recently that sequence I mistrusted, and ultimately did not warm, harmonious glow. When I remember are more worth reading than this one." beliel'e was where the prisoners have a baseball women in decorated bedrooms with filmy Books in Canada game . No matter what context, inside prison or curtains at the windows, or exercising in warmly out, if you put a lot of aggressive women on a lit, wide hallways, I completely lose the sense of 'Nelson's book is particularly valuable in playing field , you're bound to see much confinement and restriction, of guards and that it crosses our fading national border different behaviour than was exhibited here. locked doors. with the ease of television itself. " The camaraderie, the giggles and good-natured Several interviews are conducted in front of Globe and Mail banter all seem to me a performance for the windows made of squares of opaque glass which camera. It is too unlikely, particularly in viewof refract the natural light and soften the image. the fact of the inherent tensions of prison life, One woman is even interviewed against a wall in and, as one woman admits, when tensions rise, the chapel, with a bunch of fresh Wacs on her left they fight . But we never see any of that tension 229 College Street, Suite 211 , Toronto, Ontario Canada MST lR4 and a statue of the Virgin and Child on her right. in Les Bleus au coeur, whether Guy chose not to This woman has responded to a life of violence show it, or because the inmates chose not to with violent acts, but in Les Bleus au coeur we see

PAOIU CINEMA CANADA APRIL 1 ... CINEMA CAN •A D A

her in this religious context, bathed in the softest, warmest light imaginable. Would Guy Vojta Jasny's have us perceive her as a martyr? It would seem so. The Great Land Reminders are inserted about where these women are in the form of shots from outside the of Small gates and fences. These can be jarring, but eventuallybecome ineffective, because of where they come in, and simply because of overuse. he spell is cast. Agro und-level tracking And here again, Guy pushes interpretation shot catches a glimpse of the invisible upon us, continuously framing things within the and makes it suddenlyvi sible. Fritz the wire fence so we have the effect of bars, and at elf is nestled in the leaves. He opens a one point even inclu.des a shot of a robin landing pouch. Freed from the confines of the on the top of the fence and then fl ying away. Tbag, sparkles of gold soar in the air, lighting At one level Guy has effectively created a Fritz's face . The director, Czechoslovakia's picture of a particular kind of female society, one Vojta Jasny, leads us into the realm of the that functions, in a sense, outside of normal unknown. What better agent for this exploration society. Yet that society has all the trappings of than children ? Jenny and David, two New 'normality'; we see the women at the Yorkers, come to Quebec's Eastern Townships hairdressers, in an arts studio, taking a to visit their grandparents. Full of the stories yoga I relaxation class, playing ball, at a dance, their grandfather tells them, the children and so on. But this normalcy is onlyappearan ce: discover an unsuspected world. Together with the society is a forced, and enforced, one, Fritz, they attempt to recuperate the pouch of defined by the bars, concrete walls, guards, gold powder which inadvertently falls into the locked doors and wire fences that are prison. It is hands of Flanigan, a bar owner. Born from the when these images are projected toward a "Tales for All" series, The Great Land of Small is broader perspective that the film loses its Rock Demers' fifth effort following films like meaning. Bachand Broccoli and The Pea nut Butter Solution. What these women have to say is interesting, The film leaves everydaylife situations behind to often disturbing, and at times, even terrifying. capture the world of elves, white horses, and But in her concern, perhaps to make the subject breathtaking rainbows. more palatable, or to make a 'different' kind of Demers unites two different traditions of prison film, Guy softens the impact of their storytelling. He combines the skills of director statements to the point of invalidating Vojta Jasnyand cinematographer Michel Brault. them. And I think myco nfusion about the intent A pioneer in Quebecois cinema, Brault, known Small fantasy figure in Great Land of Les Bleusau coeur results from its own inherent for Les Raquetteurs (1958) and Les Ordres (1976) , confusion. In an attempt to make several lends to TheG reat Land of Sma ll his long history of Jasny-Brault duo creates. Colour and texture follow Fritz into this world of flying butterflies statements, it makes none very strongly. There creative endeavours. Coming from direct blend into the images. They outline the schism and skillful jugglers. At the end of a corridor is no room in documentary film for subtle cinema, Brault makes the poetic sensibility of between our reality and TheGr eat Land of Small 's formed by the enthusiastic crowd, the Queen inference of the kind it employs, particularly in Jasny materialize into a tale which escapes the domain. The bridge where both worlds meet ad vances solemnly. Acolourful procession of one that is attempting to deal with such obvious. takes the shape of the rainbow. Dedicated to acrobats accompanies Her Majesty who looks a indistinct issues. It is unfortunate, but I think The magic inherent in the images springs from those who kept their eyes open, The Great Land of lot like the children's mother. With ease, the that in her attempt to subvert or destroy the constant attention directed to "the small". Small finds its significance in the initial meeting Queen even executes a trapeze number. But preconceptions of women in prison, and to pose High up, perched on a branch, an owl observes between the children and the elf. Jenny and every nice dream has an end. The little group more profound questions about women as the woods. Acaribou witnesses Flanigan's David enter enthusiastically the green, white, leaves Fritz's land in the company of the keeper victims, and as prisoners, of society, Guy illegal hunting. Not moving, it knows it will be and pink prism of the rainbow. The elf is seated Cerber and the half-dog half-human Munch. ultimately misrepresents prison life, and in the killed. But will it? Merlin the horse appears, between two trees within the diffused yellow TheGr eat Land of Small escapes Disney's end, gives us nothing much at all. dreamlike, its white robe glowing like silver. hue. David and Fritz's eyes meet instantly. But simplistic division between good and evil. Jasny The grandfather's cat watches Jenny and David Jenny cannot see. Only when she repeats to portrays Flanigan as aregular kind of bar owner Jamie Gaetz • arrive. Fairy tales command such images. herself that she believes in invisible creatures is who becomes greedy as soon as he takes With a preference for the camera placed close she able to discern the elf. Oscillating from possession of Fritz's gold powder. The film to the ground, Jasny communicates the invisible childhood to adolescence, Jenny slowly loses the reaches its peak at the moment Flanigan is dimension foreign to our grown-up eyes. It is innocence of youth. Only faith in the powers of closest to dominating the world . At night, the LES BLEUS AU COEUR d.Suzanne Guy idea/resea rch the cat's point-of-view which leads us into the imagination restores her ability to view beyond bar owner climbs The Black Mountain. Once he Michele Robert, Louise Roy mils. Martin Fournier d. o.p . Re­ cozy living room. Crawling underneath the the visible. reaches the top he opens the magical pouch. nald Bellemarre cam . Mathieur Decary sd . Michel Charron, dining room table the camera slowlyintrudes on From the autumn countryside with its Streams of light swirl around his body as if a ¥von Benoit ed. Andre Corriveau gaff. Jean-Marc Hebert asst. gaff. Jean Berthiaume, Rene Guillard, Roch Plante key the trio. Jenny and David listen - ears wide open gradation of ochre and amber tones, Jasny malevolent spirit is discharged, Mephisto-like, grip Jean-Maurice de Emsted cant. Martine Gagne p. a. Alain - as the grandfather reveals the secrets of projects us into the land of II the small ". The Flanigan invites the evil forces upon himself. In Labrosse p. dir. Dominique Parent postprod. Daniel Ariel', invisible creatures. futuristic structure of Montreal's Olympic a flash, a blue electrifying current outlines his Anne-Marie Leduc mix. Michel Descombes lab. Bellevue Jasny and Brault capture the forest at dusk. Stadium successfully composes the realm of the . figure against the dark sky. Meanwhile, Sarah Path!! titles Film Docteur graphics Robert Gaboury del . p. Da­ invisible. The population is made of the very tall niele Bussy ex. p. Aimee Danis adj. to p. Fran~ois Reid appea­ This quality of light - rarely seen in films - makes tries to reach out to her father, but in vain. The ring Carole, Brigitte, Linda, Oaudie, Madeleine, Brigitte, Jo­ Flanigan and his men appear as undefinable and the very small alike . They sway in their rotund fishlike shape of Slimo - the gold see, Nicole, Chantal participation Elsa Lessonnini, Emilie shapes lost in the darkening forest. The blue robes tinted by the whole spectrum of the powder-maker - appears like a menace in rear Paul, Pierre Huet, Gerry Boulet, Breen Leboeuf p.c. Les Pro­ rainbow 's colours. Amazed at what they see, ductions du Verseau Inc. with Societe Radio-Canada, Tele­ tinge together with the mystical synthesizer projection. Too close to the scene, Sarah, struck film Canada, SGCQ running time81 min . music adds to the bewitching feel that the Jenny and David, tailed by their dog Willy, by the light, rolls down the mountain. In shock,

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Flanigan finally comes to his senses. He runs to Maze Mossanen IS his daughter and seeks forgiveness. Despite the qualities inherent in the images, The Great Land of Small is flawed. As the film Dance for unfolds, the motivation behind the dangers of the gold powder remain unfocused. The Modern Times metaphorical implication of the gold powder as instrument of power are self-evident. Still, flashes of light and rattling objects are just not ast year Moze Mossanen directed The enough to convince the audience of Flanigan's Dal1cemakers, a series of six half-hours for abuse. The young actors Karen Elkin (Jenny) Ltelevision and, at the same time, had a and Michael Blouin (David) lack the freshness second unit shooting everything that was going and spontaneity of Mahee Paiement in Bach and on. And this feature, Dance for Modem Times, Broccoli and the group of children in The Dog Who was made from this" everything". Stopped the War. Toshowthem crying when their The opening of Dallcefor Modern Times friends leave is a hazardous venture which combines crew, clapper board, background detracts from the film. Th eGreat Land of Small is voices, and the images of dancers, giving an the first film of the series shot with Dolby Stereo. immediate feeling of how the two arts- modern But what good does this advanced sound dance and film - will intertwine. Moze technology do if the French-dubbed version Mossanen's voice from time to time punctuates • constantly attracts attention to its stiff dialogue ? this personal exploration of four leading dance Still, the spirit of the film outweighs its groups. Five dancers in front of an orange - weaknesses. The desire to capture the inner life background; the camera pulls back from the ...... of the characters makes The Greal Lalld of Small a stage where they stand, and the square of light ~===-~•, -,• film in which both children and adults find seems to resemble a TV screen. Four modern - meaning. Rock Demers, the soul behind the dance groups are presented. Choreographers ----- "Tales for All" series, manages to blend speak of their creations, rehearsals are observed, international ingredients together creating a and fair-sized excerpts from a major work of dynamic melting pot. Vojta Jasny and Michel each company are seen on-screen. Brault make it possible for us to believe that on Christopher House, choreographer for the one stroll in the woods we might actually Toronto Dance Theatre, talks of his concern with ACADEMY OF CANADIAN stumble over Fritz. structure and craftsmanship, and is at the edge CINEMA AND TELEVISION Marika Csano • of the stage (here again the TV screen motif) as ACADEMIE CANADIENNE DU the five dancers seen in the opening shots of the CINEMA ET DE LA TELEVISION THE GREAT LAND OF SMALL / C'EST PAS film form an in trica te moving frieze to spare PARCE QU'ON EST PETIT QU'ON PEUT PAS piano accompaniment. The Danny Grossman Dance Company is ACADEMY OF CANADIAN CINEMA AND TELEVISION ETRE GRAND p. Rock Demers d. Vojta Jasny sci prod SliP. David Sigmund sc. consult Vojta Jasny, Rock Demers next. Grossman's solo - shivering and shaking, Genie Awards d. o. p. Michel Brault line p. Lorraine du Hamel assoe. p. Pier· rolling and acrobatic, his mobile face and hair re David 1st . a. d. Jim Kaufmanartd. Violette Daneaued. He· extensions of the body movement - is to Gemini Awards lene Girard m. Guy Trepanier, Normand Dube asst. p. Loui­ se Belanger prod. d. Suzanne Roy regie Renee Leclerc 2nd. Bach-ish music. He discusses his choreography Prix Gemeaux a.d. Blair Roth 3rd a.d. Tin Analytis prod. co·ord Danielle for "Endangered Species " and observes, "I am Boucher ace. Marie·Claude Hebert asst acc. Suzanne Poirier Breakfast Club quite good at social commentary," going on to p.a. Pierre Paquette, Jean-Guy Chevrette, Denise Langis recall family influences, the makeup, and the trainee Sandy McGiffert tlltor Fran~oi se Tessier cant. Marie Professional Development Workshops Theberge casting Lucie Robitaille architect Martin Mainguy set "horrible images. " Alengthy portion of National Apprenticeship Training Program dec. Real Ouellette props Daniel Hu ysmans animal trainer "Endangered Species" conjures up the Jean Cardinal, Cine Zoo spjx Louis Craig asst. Antonia Vido­ aftermath of, perhaps, a nuclear war with Director Observers Program sa, Real Baril, Pierre Rivard animation and spjx (o ptical) Les Productions Pascal Blais In e. spfx o. Bernard lajOie, Pascal worn-out survivors pushed around by a military Membership Screenings Blais spfx d. Peter Bromley head animo Joseph Gilland assts figure. Oppression and misery are heightened Jean Desrosiers, Luc Chamberland cost. des . Michele Hamel ScriptService by expressionistic music. head dresser Hughette Gagne asst. Murielle Blouin dresser James Kudelka, choreographer of "In Who's Who Industry Directory John Stone milke-lip Diane Simard, Line Desmarais head hnir­ dresser Constant Natale ca m. Sylvain Brault 1st asst. cam. Paradisum," a 22-minute work for Les Grands Publications Christian Racine 2nd asst cam. Pierre Pelletier stills Jean De­ Ballets Canadiens, gained inspiration from artist mers gn'p Yves Charbonneau elec . Marcel Breton gaffer Em­ Kathe Kollwitz - also cited by Danny Grossman manuel Lepine carp . Piere Charpentier gen. op. Jean·Paul The only national organization honouring cinema and Auclair sd. Serge Beauchemin sd. concept Claude Langlois in relati9n to "Endangered Species". Kudelka's television professionals across the country. boom Thierry Hoffman Asst. Pa tricia Tassinari stllnts. Jerome piece chronicles five stages of dying, and he Tiberghien sp . se. co·ord Gilles St. Croix Slimo creator Karen remarks that it "seems to have a lot of Christian Langshaw pllb.rel. Kevin Tierney, David Novek Assoe. I. p. images in it. "Designed to sometimes have three Why not join? Karen Elkin, Michael Bloum, Michael J. Anderson, Rodrigue Tremblay, Ken Roberts, Lorraine Desmarais, Gilles Pelletier, men in the leads (whole company wear long Fran~o i se Graton, Andre Melancon, Michelle Elaine Turm el flowing skirts), the roles are, however, To ronto MontreaJ Vancou ver HaJilaJl Michael J. Anderson, Lorraine Desmarais, Jack Langedijk: interchangeable. As the troupe dances and 653 Yonge Street ]000, avenue De lOTlm ier 207 West Hastings Street 5211 Blowers Street Gilles Ste-CrOIX, Nicolas Doclin, Eddie Roy, Michael Gagne, Toronto, Ontario Mol) lZ9 0.1ontreaL P .Q . H2K 3WS SUite 1102 Sulle 32 whirls to insistent music, David Crone is seen Telephone (416 ) 067 - 0315 Telephone (514 ) 5 0 8 -750 7 Vancouver. S .C Halifax. Nova ScotIa Bayou, [nconnu, le Chat du producteur, un curieux cheval V6 81H7 83} 2J2 Telephone (604 ) 684 - 4528 Telephone (902) 425 - 0124 blanc, Une Chevre, Hoot, Ungrand, Rond, etrange et rusti· weaving in and out of their movements shooting que poissson ballon qui joue son propre role, Ken Roberts with his Steadicam and, on screen, appears to running time 93 min. blend into the dance.

PAGE 30 CINEMA CANADA APRIL 1988 CINEMA CAN A D A •

Oliver Hockenhull' s fulfilling expectations created by the standard notion of the documentary film . He also employs animation, shadow dance performan­ Determinations ce, broadcast news footage and other television imagery, along with dramatic sequences, to establish an impression of the human condition in crisis. Although the film repeatedly insists its li ver Hockenhull is a young filmmaker essential doctrine: "all violence is abhorrent," connected with Clineworks (British the message is actually undercut at times by Columbia 's independent film co-op). several presumably ironic anecdotes in which He has just finished his first • the solution to various problems always comes feature-length film, in which he deals down to more violence. An insomniac kills withO the problem of conveying a somewhat himself; a young prostitute, sexually molested apocalyptic political message. as a child, avenges herself by stabbing her Determinations is described in its publicity . abuser "in his privates" ; if an armoured-car material as a "radical filmwork on the Vancouver guard causes trouble, kick him in the head or Direct-Action anarchist group and on the shoot him . Irony is a fine device, so long as it is question of justice in Canada." While it's not apparent or has an obvious intentionality. necessary to know this to get the film 's message, One of the film's strongest moments is a it probably helps organize the almost 80 minutes television rap poem, read by Vancouver of image, statement and nihilist sentiment that performance poet, Judy Radul, over a series of comes at the viewer as rapid-fire as promised. quick-cut, accelerated TV images. This is one of Hockenhull proposes his film is an essay, but a few instances in which the visual, verbal and as such it is deficient. Rather than developing an contextual elements mesh remarkably well argument, the emphasis is on suggestion and a (which brings to mind the poet Louis Zukofsky's litany of statistics; Determilwti011Sis perhaps test or poetry - "the range of pleasure it affords more of a rant than an essay. The film centres on as sight, sound and intellection "). the concerns, actions, arrests and sentencing of In another memorable scene, a young man the "Squamish 5" in 1982-83, and on the delivers an anti-military monologue while a car resulting coverage of these events in the popular drives wildly and pointlessly around him. This media. But it also condemns the world-wide sequence is the pinnacle of humour in the film, build-up of, and massive expenditure on, and a rare moment. military armaments (particularily in the U. S. Overall, DetermilwtiollS would benefit from a o Vertigo dance modem and the Soviet Union). more developed sense of humour. The tone O'Vertigo Danse's choreographer, Cinette appreciation of modem dance). But Moze Hockenhull produces a sense of uneasiness seldom strays from its single-minded bleakness. Laurin, rehearses an athletic couple, wearing Mossanen has been very cunning in showing, and bleakness by the use of assorted visual, Possibly, the filmmaker feels his aim is too running shoes, in a work in progress. "Full not only the wheels going round from the point textural and textual strategies. He often uses serious (or takes himself too seriously), but the House," says Laurin, is about the '50s when of view of choreography, but has also involved traditional methods of documentary presenta­ balance is off. everything was flashy and people were very the viewer in the" choreography" of filming. tion (for example, voice-over and overlaying The gloomy emotional atmosphere is further naive. One of her dancers remarks that, "She is This intriguing device appeals to two audiences film) but seems consious of this, and resists compounded by what Hockenhull calls seeking a line between kitsch and art. " "Full - dance and film - and in addition involves the House" is staged in a swimming pool set (rather "general public" by giving them an interesting like a Davi'd Hockney California painting) . and painless introduction to both media. Three beauties in red bathing suits frolic in about Dance for Modem Times serves its subject well, six inches of water. Couples ' dive' into the wa ter with good camerawork, ravishing colour, and and skim the length of the pool. The bright editing that flows from one dance company to primary colours are reminders of old 20th the next. The only complaint of this reviewer is Century-Fox musicals. that director Moze Mossanen's voice-over FinallyOavid Earle, of the Toronto Dance contribution - giving the shooting date and Theatre, talks about the company and the introducing each company segment - seems a bit "necessity for linking ourselves up with the stilted and stiff in contrast to the visual ebb and most urgent impulses to dance ... dancing from flow of the dancers. But no doubt budget one's emotional centre." Earle rehearses his considerations dictated this economy? It does piece set to Mozart's Requiem, "Sacra not detract from the film as a whole, which is an Conversazione." Agrieving crowd views three excellent contribution to knowledge of the hanging figures and the emotion, intricate current modem dance scene. patterns and beautiful movement fuse together, Pat Thompson • aided considerably by the noble choral work. Here again, there is an overlap as the film crew, p.ld.lsc. Moze Mossanen . assl .d. Rick Thompson. cam . choreographer and company discuss their Norman Allin csc. sd. Bobby Jones . orig. mils. Glenn involvement during a rest period. Morley, La wrence Shragge. Withe th e participation of Telefilm Canada/Ontario Film Development Corporation! As in most dance films, the glimpses of TVOntariolCanadian Broadcasting Corporation. rullllillg repertoire are fleeting, but enough to whet the lime: 76 mins . col . J6mmNHS/3/4 " disl. : Creative Exposure, appetite (or not, depending upon a liking and 2236 Queen St. E., Toronto M4E 1G2 (416) 690-0775 Doug Chomyn In Determinations

AJIIIIL 1 ... CINEMA CANADA PAGE 11 A1mi-R~ PAT THOMPSON•

"Brechtian dramatic sequences." In these, Two animated films from the National Film Board, actors perform highly-stylized scenes in which which are nominated in the Best Short Film category the dialogue - discussions of morality, possible of the Academy of the Academy of Canadian Film and actions and their consequences - provides most Telroision (Genie) Awards. In addition, George and of the drama. Rosemary gives the NFB its 53rd Academy Award The film is certainly not about production (Oscar) nomination. values (as Hockenhull admits), although it is not completely devoid of effective film technique. GEORGE AND ROSEMARY Unfortunately, there is too much of the raw, hand-held camera approach, and the sound is ellow birds twitter on the clothesline, and often poor - hard to hear (or hear clearly) what's it is slowly pulled across the screen to being said. Yannounce the film's title inscribed on the But many of the production problems can be pegged-out laundry .. The soft-voiced narrator forgiven as this is a very low-budget film (made tells us that George plays checkers with his cat, for less than $25,000 Hockenhull says). He also puts ships into jars and, when the weather is says the film is aimed more toward an nice, sits on his front porch. The last mentioned intellectual audience than to those just hobby allows him to watch the house opposite­ interested in entertainment. "I'm not glorifying "He had a passion for the lady across the the actions of these individuals (the Squamish 5) street ... " so much as trying to point out some basic blind As the widow Rosemary comes out, puts her spots in the Canadian psyche, for example, goldfish in their bowl on the porch, and waves to about arms manufacture," he says. "I tend to George, he indulges in a little bit of fantasy .. . a believe there is no real political movement since fast passionate tango, followed by sips of the death of history on August 9, 1945. " champagne. That night, gazing from his Determinations strives for an articufate bedroom window, in his mind 's eye, George is confusion in its effect. Hockenhull achieves this in the operatic mode, singing his heart out and state at times throughout the film, but can't climbing up to the widow's window for a stolen sustain it. Perhaps his mere presentation of embrace. images and ideas is not enough; he never really Finally one morning, the would-be suitor connects all of the film's various constituents. decides that this is the day. Clad in his best suit Still, I admire his boldness and his concerns. and bow tie, with garden flowers in hand, George gathers his courage - but then sees a Calvin Wharton. carload of Rosemary 's family descend upon her. When George finally does knock on Rosemary 's door, he is in for a wonderful surprise - to the tune of "Yellow Bird".. . ! DETERMINATIONS d. Oliver Hockenhull ass . d. Doug Chomyn m. Dennis Burke other m. D. O. A. , The This delightfully whimsical "film about two Subhumans musical perf. Carmen Reittich, Scott McLeod, golder-agers, " is the first in a series of animated And Cec Linder is just right in his reading of the mechanical contrives to trip him up; it is all too Pat Chird, Gerry Hannah with the asst . of AI Razutis, Hadwi­ films called 65 Plus, initiated by producer Eunice first-rate narration. Keep the fingers crossed. much. Staggering into a bar for a Harvey jich, Erik Sven-Erikson, Rim Wilson, Patricia Gruben, cre-

PAGIU CIHIIMA CANADA APRIL 1988