CINEMA CAN A D A

Andre Melancon's Fierro (The Summer of the Colt)

umber eight out of the starting gate in the Tales for All series, Fierro looks to have legs equal to its forerunners, and demonstrates the same warmth and Nsophistication that have made winners of previous entries from the (producer Rock ) Demers stable. Director Andre Melancon (The Dog Who Slopped The War, Bach and Botline) is back in the saddle and, along with co-scripters Genevieve Lefebvre and Rodolfo Otero, has fashioned a satisfying film; one that occasionally meanders down the backstretch, but eventuallyrounds the clubhouse turn and crosses the finish line in good form. Fierro's pairing of kids and horses is a can't-miss formula, especially if the kids and Santiago Gonzalez a s Mart in, in (but not on) Fierro. horses in question mil act, which, fortunately, is the case here . (They all, horse included, ilash from the fact that she's female, Laura cuts her her aunt that she now has her period, and the Important too is the the film's ending. The winning smiles). Daniel, Felipe and Laura (juan hair and joins the boys in their competitive straightforward treatment of other " delicate " characters may reconcile their immediate de Benedictis, Mariano Bertolini, and Alexandra riding games. Unfortunately, her actions subjects - Daniel comes upon Martin's mother conflicts, but there is never any suggestion that London-Thompson) are three city kids who provoke greater disapproval from Federico. breastfeeding her newborn - shows a refreshing the future will be entirelybrigh t, or that they will spend their summer holidays riding horses Meanwhile, Daniel and Martin are ha ving their intent to severe the artificial distinctions all live happily ever after. One senses that there around the ranch owned by their grandfather, friendship tested by their love for a horse. When between children's and adult cinema (which is, are many more life lessons ahead for all Federico, played by Hector Alterio (La Hisloria Federico offers Daniel his choice of the wild of course, one of the laudable hallmarks of the involved. Official). This Canada-Argentina co-production horses on the ranch to break and train, he Tales for All series. ) Frank Rackow • was the impetus for the treaty signed between chooses Fierro, a lovely golden stallion. But Just when all this adult, psycho-drama stuff the two countries last year. Fierro is already the secret favourite of Martin, threatens to overwhelm (one wonders what kids The story is essentially an amalgam of classic who for some time before Daniel's arri val has under 10 are going to make of this?), Melancon FIERRO (THE SUMMER OFTHE COLT) p. coming-of-age themes - the intrusion of both been working with the animal himself. picks up the pace with wonderful, winning Rock Demers, Lita Stanhcd. Andre Melan,onse. Gene\;eve Lefeb"e, Andre Melan,on se. co/llol'ig. ideo Rodolfo Otero . sexuality and of political awakening into the What ensues is reminiscent of South African scenes of graceful horses and riders on the d.o.l'. Thomas Vamos orl d. Esmeralda A1monacid lillc p. reverie of childhood. As the film opens, th e wri ter Andre Brink's A Chain of Voices, a classic Argentine pall/pas . Daniel and Martin compete Daniel Louis, jose Strier "'16. Osvaldo Montes ed. Andre three youngsters arrive in the foreman's truck anti-apartheid work in which the friendship over an ingenious obstacle course on horseback, Corriveau 1'. IIIgl'. Dolly Pussi lsi. o.d. Carl Delaroehe-Ver­ for their happy, annual reunion with Grand­ between hvo boys, a white farmer's son and the as well as in a fast, colourful, rugby-like game, net, Victor Dinenzon o. d. Ana Maria Bas COll i. black son of slaves, is torn apart as they take up also played on horseback. This is another Lacha pelle loe. sd . Yvon Benoit sd. des . Claude Langlois father Federico, Great-Aunt Ana (China posl. p. Sill'. LorraineduHameI2Ildo.d. Cristina Civalecosl. Zorrilla), and - for 13-year-old Daniel especially their adult destinies (all but irrelevant in important element in Melm;on's films: the dcs. Lucrecia Matilde de Ricart ossl. cosl. dco. Maria Molina - with Martin (Santiago Gonzalez), the childhood). Here, the friendship behveen the portrayal of kids as having specific and realistic casl. (Can) Danyele Patenaude (Argentina) Ana Maria Bas foreman's son and his friend . This, however, is two boys crumbles as Martin, the foreman's son, (not magical), talents and responsibilities, like 05sl. 10 p. Louise Belanger p. Odillill. Bernard Lamy, Stella Fontan mill. 01'. Daniel Vincelette 151. ossi. COlli. Michel caring for animals and watching over smaller to be the last idyllic summer before the stormy silen tly accepts Daniel's right to arrogantly Girard mill. 115515. jose Manuel Cajaraville, Luis Casteleti onset of adolescence. Of course, the bad assert his ownership of Fierro. [n one children. bid. ossl . mill. Guillermo Alvarez Mesas opp. COlli . Grigori .weather shows up a little sooner than expec ted particularly effective scene, the point is driven Relief from the heaviness also comes from the Craer 1'00111 Perlecto de San Jose props Oresto Sacchi, Jorge (or there wouldn't be much of a film). home by a simple gesture; Daniel silences his younger brofher, Felipe. Just nine years old­ Oscar de la Renta slills 1'''010 Jean Demers props ossts. Sophie Elhier, Irene Banchik mnkrul' Ines Morrone "air Rodolfo Fourteen-year-old Laura has attained physical friend by handing him the reins of a horse in a but carrying on a regular correspondence Spinetta ossl. "oil' Nelida Aued gofft'l' Carlos Enrique maturity in the past year, and her growing way that strongly implies the master/servant throughout the summer with his girlfriend in Centeno c/ees. Juan Carlos Centeno, Javier Sergio Centeno, resemblance to her grandmother - whodeserted relationship . Buenos Aires - Felipe is the embodiment of the Ruben E. Menendez, Gustavo Hungaro, Nicolas Adalberlo grandfather Federico many years back - shakes This is where you realize - in spi te of the adage" !i'om the mouths of babes .... " His Gatto kl1/ g"pPhilippe Palu grips Miguel Juan ZarkO\;ch, Edesio Rogelio, Imbert sp. h. Tom CundonILos Centuriones the old man and causes him to reject his formerly standard kids and horses formula - that you're humour and common sense eventually cause S. A. ossl. cd . Teresa de Luca, Anne jose Boudreau mix. beloved granddaughter. Unable to understand not in Disneyland anymore. In addition to the the others to see the foolishness of their ways, as Michel Descombes nssl. lIIix. Luc Boudrias 111115. dir. Jimmy this rejection, Laura resorts to a variety of class-conscious element of Martin and Daniel' s he becomes the catalyst for their eventual Tanaka orc/1. Gilles Ouellet guilor solo Roque Carbajo sOllg _ attention-get ting tactics while searching within rivalry, the conflict between Laura and Federico reconciliation. His is alsoan important character ,. Siempre en Ti" sung by Mercedes Sosa, sd. ft. Viateur Paiement, Jerome Decarie, Monique Vezina IlOrsl' Imilll'l's herself for some fault. In the process of trying to comes very close to suggesting incestuous in the sense that, though he may not have the Felipe Gallegos , Lucio Gallegos, Hugo Lemus, Carlos Mena, regain Federico's acceptance she runs head-on feelings on the grandfather's part. Perhaps physical skills of his older siblings, his Mario Perez Ficrro'slmillCl' Pedro Vargas p. sec. Ines Vera p. into her grandfather's sexist double standards director Melan~on ' s experieJ1ce working on a personality and affability mark him as an coord. Genevieve Lefebvre p. 0551'. Miriam Bendjuia, Silvina and the other major plot line. film about incest (Le Lyse Casse, 1987) served as important member of the family - a reassuring Polecollo, Aldo Guillermo Arreguinl'p. 1'. Nancy Defilipi d. 1'1'0111011011 KevlIl Tierney. An official Canada-Argentina Sensing that her problems with Grandpa stem inspiration. As well, Laura's announcement to notion for younger siblings of any age. CoproduLhon. Les,Productions la Fete.

CINEMA CANADA PAGE !l8 SEPTEMBER 1989

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Larry Weinstein's when the direcior's attempt to catch everyone in liked to take long night-walks, and to please his the orchestra, for instance, seems clumsy and mother bybuying her clothes and trinkets when Alain Chartrand's distracting. An example of this is de Larrocha's he could afford them. During WWI, he was Ravel performance of the Presto, from Concerto for Piano rejected by the army and made his contribution Des Amis and Orchestra, Charles Dutoit's torso floats by driving cars and trucks, ore than a decade after Bo Derek's somewhere over her left shoulder, and Ravel's work only began to earn him Pour La Vie passion for "The Bolero " hit the big Weinstein tries too hard to match the staccato of international acclaim in 1927, when he took a screen, and at a time when Charles the piece with choppy editing from one section whirlwind tour of North America. The United Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony of the orchestra to another. States, the land where jazz was born, welcomed es Amis Pour La Vie's thought-provok­ Orchestra have made numerous The film's most exciting moments are those him withop en arms. This is particufarl y poigant ing script, was directed, acted and Maward-winning recordings of Ravel's oeuvre, it's which include dance or opera: the softly-lit, given tha t only five years later, alter a car photographed by a group of skilled difficult to imagine that his music was ever athletic couple dancing to Daphllisa nd Chloe, and accident, Ravel was to lose his ability to compose and artful individuals, but the film is considered controversial. But the French were La Va lse, superbly choreographed by and and spent the next five years waiting lor " music 'heavily clothed in the lead trousers of unprepared for his use of the jazz idiom in featuring nine pairs of elegantly-clad dancers, or death," as one friend puts it. Weinstein cDommercial television, serious music and when he first staged L'Enfant But my fa vorite scenes were those from the chooses to end the film with the haunting Adagio Written by Diane Cailhier and directed by et less ortileges, which included a fox-trot between opera, L'Enfalit et les sortileges, where a Assa i, again from Concerto for PimlOand Orchestra, Alain Chartrand, Des Amis.. , is a story of six a teapot and a teacup, Parisian audiences booed. grandfather clock, a teacup, and a teapot come to as if in respect lor those sad, useless years before elderlyfriends who decide to live in acommunal Aportrait of any man through his music is a life to the exquisite horror of a little boy who's his death, fashion so as to ward off the loneliness, tall order, especially when the man is as been rude to his mother. Staged specifically for Larry Weinstein won a well-deserved bitterness, and indignity that old-age threatens. enigmatic as Ravel appears to have been. The the film, these visual passages provided a Alberta-Quebec Prize for Television lor this They quicklybecome imbued in loving nostalgia film is a collage of interviews with friends, well-needed break from the purely "musical" documentary. As enigmatic as Ravel's private lor their friendships, and just as quickly, they excerpts from letters, and performances by some focus of much of Ravel. sell was, Weinstein has paid a great tribute to become the target 01 an anonymous letter writer of the most brilliant musicians in the world, For the film cannot, and does not, pretend to this innovative; provocative composer with an who aims to break their pleasant arrangement including Alicia de Larrocha, Collard Dumay, be so much a film about Ravel as a film about his elegant, beautiful film. apart. the Odeon Trio, and Victoria de Los Angeles, music. As one friend gives the interviewer a tour Naomi Guttman - After they receive a lew letters, unrest sets in not to mention the Orford Quartet and the of the composer's house, she says that he was as the six friends search in their minds lor Montreal Symphony Orchestra. not one to show his feelings. And another friend RAVEL p. Niv Fichman , Larry Weinstein, Julia Seren), d. identity of the person who is sending these Any documentary that revolves around music muses that "It's quite possible that artists or Larry Weins tein ,d. ElI'a Jall'orska, Bruce Lange, Anthony enigmatic messages. As the story unfolds, we poses a problem for its makers simply because musicians ha ve the ability to express themselves Sloan d.D. p. Leonard Gilday, c. s.c. sd. John Martin illi. learn that Fran~oise , the widow who owns the music is the most abstract art form and, without in art because they can't express themselves in Charles Dutoit, the Montreal S)'mphony Orchestra, Alicia house where they all live, is, in lact, not a de LartOcha, Victoria de los Angeles, Jean ·Phillipe Collard, accompanying images, not filmic. Larry life. " Augustin Duma)" Toronto Da nce Thea tre, Odette Beaupre. widow, Her husband, Charles, suffered a stroke Weinstein avoids the most obvious pitfalls by What we do discover about Ravel is this: he ARhom bus Media production in association with the CBC and being partiallyparalyzed and unable to talk, frequently training the camera on the musicians never married, and friends claim that he was not the SRC Bravo Cable Network, Danmarks Radio, he has been living for the past several years in a Nederlandse Omroep Stich ting, Norsk Rikskringkas ti ng, at work. It is interesting to watch their known to have had anyromantic attachments to OyYle isradio, Sl'eriges Television, Telel'ision Espanola and hospital, wanting his friends to believe he was concentration and sense of humour, their women or men. He loved children and liked to TVOn tariow ith the par ticipation of Telefilm Canada and the dead for lear of their pity. Charles is now involvement with the music, but there are times go out with friends to watch them dance, He OFCD. 105 minutes , (of. 16mm . confronted with the fear 01 losing his ,vile to the new living arrangement with those whom he The Toronto Dance Theatre in Ravel. feared, and thus the letters, All this intrigue remains a secret that Fran~oise tries to keep, but Alex, one of the six, reveals the secret by following her to the hospital one day. Alexconfronts Fran~oise , and, through their discussion, that which was the impetUs lor the communal arrangement shines through as the solution to this painful situation. Support and love, which Charles needs and yet has rejected, are the answers, The end of the film has Alex bringing Charles home to live amidst communal affection. Des Am is ., is an admirable film because, in a dramatic context, it discusses very real problems that are faced by our elderly. This subject, in the television and film world of smooth, up­ blemished, and uneducated heroes and heroines, is refreshing, What the film proposes in terms of lifestyle.- communal old-age rather than institutional old-age - is interesting, though it is a product of the author's imagina­ tion, Cailhier introduced the film at the Rendez-vqus du Cinema Quebecois by admitting that she knew of no such living arrangement amongst the aged, but believed it to be a plausible lifestyle, especially for those communally oriented former long-hairs from the '60s. By offering this suggestion, the filmmakers

SEPTEMBIR 1.8. CINEMA CAN •A D A

opposed to - he's brash, candid about his insistence that each be photographed from the sexuality, and more than just a little revealing in other's perspective throughout the film are Sall/t his discussions of other residents, In short, the Victor's primary means of discourse and the men are classic examples of the personality most progresive of all of the production's ways contrast necessary to the unfolding of a narrative of voicing its concerns for social reform. When cinema which is concerned with the progressive Victor is re primanded for touching one of the moral enlightenment of its central character, male employees of the residence, Godin's Predictably, it is Victor who convinces Philip deli very as Victor is cooly restrained, But it is that life is too short toallolvoneself to be dictated also highly communicative, suggesting that his to by confining, oppressive notions of pride and, touching of the worker was instinctual and that follo wing their initial, strained introduction, the he could not ever be made to feel ashamed for two men soon become dependent on each something that gave him" Ie seils de la realite. " other's company, While it is true that the film does not question Filmma ker Anne-Claire Poirier, the issues of race, class, etc. , issues that are "conscience" of Quebecois cmema, has pertinent to any discussion of the gay aged, it is Des Am;s' four friends for life. solidified her position as one of the Quebec difficult to be critical of the film, Poirier and the industry's chief talents in this film, her first, excellent cast she has assembled have bring us a forum for the viewers to discuss GinetteGuillard (oill. Marie Beau lieu calli. a551. ReniDaigle since the disappointing La QI/amlltaille six years confronted without apology what it means to be lifestyles of the elderly, IIllil. IIIgr Bemard Vincent gaffer Yves Charbonneau kc11 grip ago, gay and aged in a society that does not especially Michel Periard illd, a.d, Nicole Bemier add, calli, Sylrain With a mature, sensitive hand not afforded value either group, This counts for a great deaL The actors bring a very charming and real Brault, Rene Daigle sci dec Pierre Perreault props Charles aspect to the drama, and Michel Brault's Bemier art del'l. d, Blanche-Danielle Boileau boolll Claude many directors, Poirier has creafted a significant Unlike many films of the " social realist" photography enhances the changes in mood Lahave (05 1, Luc Beland dresser Luc Le Flaguais de(, Marcel work of popular Canadian cinema, Responsible tradition that tend to be overly sentimental at throughout the film, These elements, combined Breton grips Jean-Maurice De Ernsted, Guy Ferland carp. for selecting the short story from which the film moments when poillts are being made, Sallft Fran,ois Gascon makellp Kathryn Casault l"ir Andre wi th the music of Django Reinhardt and Felix Morneau assl. "'d, Aube Foglia adlllill. Ian Boyd 1' , arcl has been adapted, Poirier has been keenly Victor transcends this tendency simply by Leclerc, sweep us into a rich autumnal story, Helene Aubin I' a. Ca therine Faucher, Syl vain Arseneault, involved with the production since its inception, playing by the rules that govern this genre, That Yet, while the film maintains this sensuality and Anne-Marie Gill ,"c. Nicole Fauteux lac scoilis Guy This is clearly evident in her polished use of is, it remains faithful to its subject, and does not has intelligent intentions, it is plagued by a Bouchard, Mona Medall'ar casl. DanyelJ"t>atenaude slills form, Several of the many outstanding formal at any point trivialize or demean the lives of its Bertand Camere. 1',,/1, Christianne Ducasse 1,1" Franloi se struggle that weighs its artistic merits down, Faucher, Paul Hebert, Roger joubert, Jean Mathieu, Anais elements to be found in this film include a characters, Lead trousers, The commercial television Goulet Robitaille , Gi sele 5

SEPTEMBER 19.9 CINEMA CAN •A D A

Gerald Saul's and Brian Stockton's Wheat Soup

t always seemed to me that a province like Saskatchewan would never be a place where unique cinema could be made. Not that the prairies are visually (or themati­ Ically) uninteresting: the arid and barren geography with its golden fields of wheat, and grain pools by the railway, would leave even Terrence Malick drooling. But somehow, abysmal cinematic efforts, produced mainly by easterners - films like the NFB's outdated TIre Drylallders, or Allan King's saccharine Who Has Seel1 The Willd? - popularized the stereotype that Saskatchewan was forever existing in a '30s-style depression, populated by Kurelek figures straight from a W. O. Mitchell novel. Achange was long overdue, and it came in the form of Wheat 501lP, a little-known film by Gerald Saul and Brian Stockton, and the first feature-length effort out of Regina's Saskatche­ wan Film Pool. Wheat SOIiP is a pseudo-experi­ mental drama, laced with existential philosoph y, post-apocalyp tic science fiction , and a dry, Shaf Hussain and Brian Stockton in Wheat Soup. minimalist sense of humour: a sort of cross between The Sevellth Seal and Wailillg for Godol, as bizarre assortment of dregs and wanderers, who wi th their appliances, and she replies "Well, especially memorable as the shy disc jockey in directed by jim jarmusch or Luis Buiiuel. While add to the confusion of his quest. Only his they made a lot of toast. " As she later points out, Will Dixon's Heart/il1e , Stockton strikes me as in turns entertaining and perplexing, Wheal SOIiP offscreen chats with a sea ted female goddess things are much better now, since the world is sort of a low-key Dustin Hoffman. offers a new and strikingly original vision of the occasionally shed any light on some of the more flatter, less complex, and a little more banal. But the film's major triumph, for which it vas t prairie fl atlands. difficult issues . Sam eventually teams up with a Wh eal So lip projects its prairie, post-modernist cannot be ignored, is its visual imagery. In stark Described as a "Freeform Depressionist nebulous whea t poacher named Ralph and later view partly through the film 's provincially black and white, Stockton and Saul, along with Drama in Six Parts, " Wheat SOIiP begins with an sojourns with a colony of lowI. Q. far mers (who localized text. No English-Canadian feature cinematographer Spyros Egarhos, have opening sequence entitled "The Agoraphobic. " harvest a substance called gristle ). since Fallsilis Bidgood has provided more regional concocted a \~ew of the prairies which is both An isolated, bored artist (played byGerald Sa ul ) Later, after temporarily returning to the farm in-jokes. In Wheat SOIlP, religion has become dream-like and hallucinatory. The vast horizons tries to live his life by switching TV channels and to bury his ex-farming assistant, Har, (killed by mainly pantheistic, centering completely of cloud and sky, the long stretches of wheat churning out expressionist paintings in a wheat poachers), Sam makes a vow to continue around wheat (The Wheat Farmers Almanac has fields, and even the final sunshot sequence have self-contained basement environment. the tradition of cultivating the precious grain replaced the Bible). In fact, wheat is considered none of the picture-postcard qualities found in Whenever he tries to leave the front door of his beyond the wasteland . The film ends on the only thing worth living for. This grain archetypal CBC or NFB products. These prairies rural household, he is gripped by a strange perhaps the longest sunset shot ever filmed, as fixation, in its own self-mocking way, suggests are a strange, sublime, alien world -dry, sterile, paranoid sensation of standing all alone in an Ralph and Sam look over the edge of the Earth, that in the aftermath of an apocalypse, the mysterious and, in their own way, appealing. Arctic was teland . After finall y managing to contemplating various thematically related, but drylands will be the best place in the world to When T. E. Lawrence is asked in Lawrellce of break out of his basement shelter, conquering rather incongruous subjects (eg., What happens live. Propaganda, Saskatchewan-style 1 Arabia why he likes the desert, he merelyreplies his phobia, he is whonked from above by a when your feet get all tingly, and won't hurt The sparseness and banality of the theme "It's so clean. "Such a description seems proper plummeting anvil (perhaps an escapee from a even if you hit them with a big rock 1). reflects itself not only in the script, but also in the for so desolate, yet so serene a world as that Roadrul1l1er rerun 1). The next segment ("The As wafer-thin as the plot is, the film somehow movie's nonexistent production values, created in Wheat Soup . Great Flattening Begins") consists of a long manages to successfully relate its own occasionally overlong scenes, and shoestring Patrick Lowe • camera pan down a metropolitan street to the particular, regional philosophy that flat is, in budget (around $14,000). Inevitably, some WHEAT SOUP p. Saskatchewan Film Pool d.lsc.! fact, quite beautiful. In the course of his journey, viewers will view Wlleal SOIiP as too peculiar, tune of a hammer banging an anvil, foreshadow­ Gerald Saul, Brian Stockton d. o. p. Spyros Egarhos 111115. Rod ing the approaching apocalypse. Sam crosses paths with Delaney, a zealot, who aimless, or confusing. Despite the film's unity of Croften 1!1k sOllg: III1 IS. Scott Hudey, lyrics Mike Bennyndd. We then jump to 100 years after the" great along wi th his topless assistant, drags an anvil, theme, it seems debatable whether the "'liS. Scott Simmie, Spyro Egarhos sd. ICC. Angelos believing it was once used to compress the filmmakers really knew what they were doing in Hatzitolios, Marc Lafoy crt'il' Don Cornelius, Chuck flattening " (either a nuclear war or numerous Gilhooly, June Madeley , Steve Meikle, Paul Stockton freefalling anvils) to be introduced to "The Last planet. (" The glory, the glory! The flatness the first place. This is a rarity, a film that makes firea rllls (0115. Gran1 Campbell 211d. IlI1il d. Szymon Wheat Farmer," a young, tanned Kamikaze named fore ver I Two dimensions is all you need 1 All you its point, without reallygoi ng anywhere. On the Choynowski gmpllic d[~ . Cec Semchuk ndd: ed. Chuck Sam (p layed by Shaf Hussain), bored with got out here I") Other scenes show Sam having plus side, there is a wonderful sense of deadpan, Gilhooly specinl ilmllks 10: Eldon Zimmer, Neal Berken, chaotic, terrifying visions of himself in a hilarious humour ; some clever references to old Grant Zalinko, Joe Siller, Raymond Sebastian, Bill Mills, defending the precious grain from nerdy wheat Larry Bauma", Chuck Jones, Marie Stockton, Wayne poachers and harvesting a crop for outsiders he modem, three-dimensional city, overwhelmed films and cartoons (Ralph and Sam are th e Stockton, Dave Sim, Michelle Dempster, Veronica never meets. Sam decides to throw in his hoe by massive skyscrapers and urban architecture. names of the wolf and sheepdog in Chuck jones' Macdonald I. p. Shaf Hussain, Sandi Happy, Gord Wilson, and leave the farm to see what the world outside Technology of the past generation has little cartoons); and occasional sparks from alargel y Leonard Cyrman, Mike Benny, Bob Campbell, Scott Teece, use in this brave new world. In one scene, Sam amateur cast. The one standout is Brian Bnan Stockton, Gerald Saul, Martin Kondzielewski. is really like. In the course of his journey, he nssis1nllct' Saskatchewan Film Pool, National Film Board, discovers lots of dirt roads, cockroaches, and a asks the goddess what the fa rmers used to do Stockton as the dry, deadpan Ralph. Also Saskatchewan Arts Board.

CINIMA CANADA PAGI34 SIPTIMBIR 1 ••, CINEMA CAN • A D A

light of day on the theatrical circuit. The Braill is and she wails "We ha ve to find him' " "Whatdo Motion Pic. Equipment Rentalsl.p. Tom Bremahan, Cyndy Preston, David Gale, George Buza, Christine Kossack, Bret headed directly for the bottom of the bin in the you mean we have to 7", asks the best friend. "I Pearson, Bemice Quiggan , Susannah Hoffman, justine sleaziest section of your local video-cassette don't know ", is her idiotic response . It seems Campbell . Presented by Brightstar Films. outlet reserved especiall y for this sort of sad that the makers of The Bra ill also apparently pre-pubescent schlocklhorror flick. don't know what theyare doing. Ican only hope The Braill, which borrows liberally from David they got paid well fo r their efforts and that the Cronenberg's Videodrollle and Iliva sioll O/Tlle ta lent was ted here will get on with the better Body Silatchers, without a whit of justice done to films they all are capable of making. 5 either of these far superior films, concerns the Paul Townend • George Erschbamer' doings of an evil, alien psychiatrist (Da vid Gale) THE BRAIN exec. p. Don Haig p. Tony Kramreither d. Snake Eater who controls the minds of th ose who wa tch his Edward Hunt se. Barry Pearson ed. David Nicholsond. 0. p. TV show by means of a living brain. The brain, GiUes Corbeil creallire alJd makellp fx. Mark Williams m1l 5. which at first looks like an oversized piece of Paul lazaco . p.lp. mgr. Ken Gord assoc. p. Phillip M. Good K. It plays like thi s. Vietnam vet p. erecllVE! Victor "jake " Dalochp.exec. (SG E!Gary turd wi th a tail, is hooked-up to all sorts of Druckerassl. 10 p. Teresa A. Wain arl d. Byron Patchett "Soldier " is back home after electrodes and TV monitors from which it rela ys slllilis coord. Gary Brown sp. fr Danny White, Craig Williams serving in the crack search-and­ commands to its master. casl. Lucinda Sill, CDC 151a.d . Robert Petol'icz 2nd a.d. destroy squad the "Snake No t content with merely controlling human Randi Richmond 151. ass/.ed. Robin RusseU 2nd assl. cd. Rae Eaters." Back in civvies there's Crombie, Cyndy Fret sd. ed. Ka rl Konruy loc. mgr. jeremy I minds with hallucinations, the brain un­ Gauthier, Tony Morrone, Mark Mowadgaffa I.P . Locherer notO much ca ll on the streets of "big cit)' U. S. A. " explainedly develops a carnivorous appetite for besl boy Alan Pill eleclricim,s Yuri Yakubiw, Dean Emerickkcy for ea ting snakes or searching & destroying, so the mad doctor's female assistant. "That's food grip Bill Heintz 2nd grip john Boan-MitcheUbc sl ooy grip our boy lines up undercover work as a narc Richard Emerson grips Bruce Chadllock, Mark Mavrinacsd. for thought! ", exclaims the wide-eyed Tee. jin Hong, Rae Crombie boom Doug Dixon cosl. des. Eva stinging dope dealer. Benefits include a sex\, psychiatrist as the unfortunate assistant Gord ,,.rd. jocelyn Senior ,,.,d. assl. Sara Schilt sci drcsser black pusher with a scar from neck to na vel who disappears inside the squirming lump of turd. Nick White 151. assl . cam . john joffin 2nd as sl. cam. jane likes to play strip poker without the poker. Da\os cam. assls. David Plank, josh Melamed, Ben Sharp, A tribute to corporate raiders? After a satisfying burp the creature develops the Anyway the boy plays by his own ru les and Gisele Turpin, Mark Willis hoy props Danny White props assl. Only the braintrust behind this funniest set of fangs and bulging eyes Craig Williams Dinl. ed. David Nicholson 51'. froas sls. Ray when the junkies come by he na ils their feet to knows for sure imaginable. Greer, Cathy Mullamphy, Gabe FaUus, Rae Crombie, Kevin the floor to make sure they don't split. His Into this ludicrous state of affairs comes our Danzey, Thomas M. Bellisario bmill op. Chris superiors at the P. D. don't like his ap proach and all-American hero (the suburbs of Toronto and Thiesen hausen, Phillip M. Good video COilS . Bruce Parlette turf him from th e force. Edward Hunt's p. coord. Sandi Henri, Sandra Dezie13rd. a.d. CariosCaneca Mississauga are thinly disguised to be a.d.lminccChristine Dore o/fice p.a. Tom Willey conI. Karen Meanwhile, down some desolate backwoods The Brain somewhere in New York, although the art Paterson sci dl~. Roderick Mayne assl. arl d. Michael ba yo u, Soldier's famil y are vacationing on their director forgot or couldn't afford to lose the Bo rth~ock 2nd . a.d. Andrea Stokes arl depl. ImincrTamara houseboa t whe n set upon by a group of snarling, Toronto transit stops and other assorted bits of Boan-MitcheU consl. foreman Andrew Colpitts hd. carpmla he Brain reunites the team of Edward jim Panry carp. Chris Radley Walters, Da\od Hoekstra paililer sadistic hillbillies who've been festering in the Hunt, director, and Barry Pearson, Canadiana), played by Tom Breznahan with a Hanry Patchett p. a. Thomas M. Bellisaro craft Anne Ozarks since Delil'crmlCc. Mom & Dad sink into writer. In 1977 the two produced a perpetual smirk. Of course he is cute and Fotheringham hair/makeupOd elya Iwir/makellp assl. Donna the black cess pool in a burning blaze of glor\' virtually unknown tax-shelter film, contemptuous of authori ty. He resists the Kera vica drivcrcapl. Noella Nesdoly dri,,,s Mark Currie, while lithe, nubile Sis goes off to be a sex slave, psychiatrist's atte mpts at brai nwashing and Andrew Sparkes, Andrew Ward, Andrew Vincent co mpo Plaglle, starring Daniel Pilon, Kate Reid allimalion Lanry Chase slills phOIOSophie Hogan trims casl. locked up in a fetid shack. Soldier finds out that subsequently he is chased all over the lab and Tand Celine Lomez, that was eventually released jW Casting folry arl~1 Reid j. Atherton folry assl. Maureen his folks are dead from a sheriff after he's laid out on the Texas drive-in circuit in 1979. town by the mad doctor's remaining assistant, a Wetteland neg culler Catherine Rankin piliI'D lransfers Alndon acou ple of particular'" nas t\' bikers at a roadside Hunt had previously wri tten, produced and certain overweight, lunatic-looking Nurse Grp . Prods. re-ree. mix Mike Hoogenboomo>sl. mix Peter pit stop ca lled "The Cage " where he landed after Varna, played unintentionally for laughs by Kellyadrsd. ree. Rae Crombie Inserls crew : p. mgr. Rae directed Starship Ilivasion with Robert Vaughn in Crombie gaffer Phillip M. Good kry gril' Mike Brown grip his chopper went ou t of control after he veered 1976, and Pearson had written the screenplay for George Buza. Every once-in-a-wh ile the rapidly Harold Delisle p. assl. Mike Toke slllnlS Gary Brown, Ed to avoid hi tting a child chasing a ball . The man Peter Pearson's Paperback Hero in 1972. You growing brain will appear out of nowhere to Hellier, Steve Pemie, Cind y Gold hawk equipmenl Cd n has a heart of gold . would have thought that these two gentlemen of menace our hero and wrea k havoc on the good modest but promising ta lent would have learnt a folks of Meadowvale. thing or two abou t filmmaking over the years Our macho high school hero is helped bv his and perhaps gone on to do better things. virginal girlfriend, the pretty but incompetent However, time seems to be working in reverse Cyndy Preston, until she too comes under the with the theatrical release of The Braill. Amore brain's power. Once again he is chased all over inept, ama teurish piece of celluloid excrement the place by Nurse Varna. Again he escapes and cannot not be imagined even in the darkest days sneaks back into the TVstud io, intent on of tax-shelter filmmaking. destroying the brain . By now the organ has The fil m was produced by Tony Kramreither, become the size of a Mack truck, eating the man responsible for such Canadian ev~rybody in its path, including, thank cinematic gems as MOlldo NlIde (1978) , goodness, Nurse Varna. However, our hero, HlInlllllgoll5 (1981) and Thrillkill (1983). wi th his ex-virginal girlfriend at his side, comes However, recently Kramreither has been face-to-face with the IVorst case of bad breath moving away from his more lurid films and this side of King Kong. With an unbelievable getting behind quality projects like Leon Marr's sleight-of-hand, he blows up the saliva-drooling Dallcing III The Dark and the underrated COllcrete monster and happily all the good people of Allgeis. The Brain represents a major step Meadowvale are released from its spell. Canada, backwards to the bad old days. In fact, all oops, I mean America, is once again saved from involved in this laughable piece of junk, alien domina tion. including special effects co-ordinator Mark In the middle of one of the endless boring Williams (The Fly, Alie/ls), should be thoroughly chases, our hero's best friend and girlfriend, embarrassed that this film has actua lly seen the who are looking for him in the TV studio, stop,

SEPTIMaE. 1989 CINEMA CANADA PAGE 35 PAT THOMPSON

Anyway he smells something fish y (not Afew short filmsand videos in two of the programs, competition in such exotic sports as mouthpul­ version of the one depicted in the come-on surprising considering all the depraved things Childhood's End : Working on the Family and ling (complicated to describe precisely .. . ). catalogue. But, in this electronic age, it results in the locals do with fi sh) and with an AK-47 Family Secrets, ill the ol'erfiolVillg (orlli/copia at the Qaggiq is in a direct line from Flaherty and, the family name and address being added to assault rifle and his bike retrofitted to cruise the Images '89 Festiml of IlldepelldCllt Film &Video ill assuming its authenticity, is a rivetting glance endless mailing lists, and so the glossy, waves, he heads off to seek ve ngeance .. . Torollto , May 3-7/89. over the shoulder into the past. Director seductive material rolls in to tempt and to upset Sllake Eater - a new action/adventure shot in Zacharias Kunuk was unable to attend the the family balance. New Brunswick and co-produced by Cinepix QAGGIQ screening, but sparse information gleaned Though lighthearted in style, with cut-out ads and Carota Films. Allow me to ask a rhetorical his impressive work is the one against indicated that he has made about eight films, worked into a number of collages, the questi on? Why does anyone bother to write or which all others viewed at the Festival and Qaggiq will be shown on the Inuit underlying message is a dark condemnation of produce such nonsense? Why does anyone were judged! Zacharias Kunuk wrote a Broadcasting Channel this year. Would that a the divisive nature of advertising. (does anyone) go to see such schlock? I know, I script, and then members of the Igloolik wider audience could see more of of his work. Avideo by Ardele Lister. (1986) B. C. 8 mins. Distributor : know - it's escapist entertainment written to community improvised the docudrama Video Out (604) 688-4336 appeal directly to the adolescent midbrain . The Tunder his direction. This story of home life in the Avideo by Zacharias Kunuk. (1989) N. W.T . 58 mins infantile jokes, references to mas turbation, beer Arctic in the 1930s centres on a young man who FARM FANTASY BORN TO BE SOLD: Martha Rosier bottles in the groin, gimmicks with condoms, wa nts to marry a local girl. Herfather won't give Elizabeth shows us her family at work on their Reads the Strange Case of Baby SM etc. appeal to the adolescent sense of humour. his consent, his wife favours the match, but to no potato farm in southern Ontario - but with a The video artist relates the details of the famo us All the knives, guns, blood, gore, fights, avail . hIIist. This short video charmingly portrays surrogate mother case in the U. S. and, in the shootouts, imaginative wa ys of killing people, The community prepares for the annual famil y members animated and larger than life, process, manages to analyse, dissect, and have a etc. appeal to the sense of action and adventure. Qaggiq ga mes, and builds a large igloo to house working steadily, and loomingover the horizons certain amount of highlyentertaining fun with a Gets the adrenalin flowing. And the barely"clad , the gathering. People come by dog team for the of their acreage as the seasons follow each other. serious issue that turned into somewhat of a semi-clad , and un-clad female bodies, wet singing, the telling of stories, and the games. Apleasant little piece with a specially composed circus. T-shirts, and bestial sexual attitudes of the The young man hopes to win over the girl's and agreeable C&W soundtrack. With the aid of written material and TV clips, uncouth hillbillies- well Idon 't know what lurid father by displaying his courage and strength. Av ideo by Elizabeth Van der Zaag. (1989) B. C. 4 mins. plus added pseudo-dramatizations, Rosier fantasies they' re supposed to appeal to. Right from the large-screen video opening Distributor : Video Out zeroes in on family rights and class attitudes and And they make them in the U. S. and if we shots, one's interest is caught and then held cleverly turns them on their collective ears. A want to show we're every bit as good (orbad)as throughout the unfolding of the story . The sheer MATEUS - FIFTY YEARS mite too long, but gruesomely amusing the Americans then ... And they have them on "foreignness " of it all is overwhelming - the ACOALMINER nevertheless. the back racks of the video section of the unending open spaces of ice and snow; the The filmmaker's grandfather, Mateus convenience store where they re nt for a couple unfamiliar language (accompanied by adequate Pieszchala, ca me to Canada in the 1920s from Avideo by Martha RosIer. (1988) U.5: A. 28 mins. Distributor : Vrrape (416 ) 863-9897 of bucks and make money for someone but, but, English sub-titles) ; the Inuit seen not as we looking for a better life. Through his ch ildren's memories and his painfully sparse but. .. seriously, why bother? Is it too idealistic know them today, but as they were in the '30s PRETENDING WE WERE INDIANS to believe that one can make other hip stuff with authentic clothing and large and beautiful disclosures, Mateus's hard life and battle against poverty, hardship, and discrimination emerges. As mall video speculation by a wallcing woman which will appeal to teenagers without the dog teams. The slight storyline is fleshed out by as to a perceived, but not confirmed, family veneer of violence? That turning this material the daily round of living in a male-oriented, An interesting record of an immigrant family's secret. Aw hiff of native ancestors, hushed up out into the community just reinforces sexist harsh environment. struggle during the Depression years, long ago; pieces of a puzzle worked upon during 7 contrasting vividly with today. The children are stereotypes and exploits the female body That Avis itor brings a new pipe for his friend - the the walk; scraps of information sifted through all the moneya nd time and effort and talent that father of the girl who's desired by the young outgoing, comfortably settled and fluent in her mind - what really happened? go into making allY feature film could be man - and there's much talk about its merits as it English, while Mateus appears lost and employed in better ways? is passed around. When the sun shines, the uncertain and, at times, unintelligible in his A1 6mm film by Katherine Assals. (1988) Quebec. 3 mins. The only thing, in fact, that can be said for children play outside and good humour adopted tongue. One is acutely aware of the Silake Eater is that it avoids the very worst abounds with everyone saying that it's a fine day large gulf between children and father in this MOLD GROWS ON BABY excesses of the genre. There is some humour, - when the temperature must be way below family. The viewer is in the driver's seat looking through the plot, while not actually credible, at least zero. the windshield as the car moves along in a frosty hangs together. The climactic shootout is sparse The staging of the games event starts with the A16mm film by Rock Whitney. (1987) B.C. 25 mins. suburban winter landscape. The car radio spews Distributor : Canadian Filmmakers' Distribution West (604) out the story of a widow, and her daughter who, on anything other than rounds of ammo and the ' building of the large igloo, and here the camera 684·3014 film dribbles to a conclusion wi th an after-the­ is right inside the edifice with flakes of ice as a teenager 20 years earlier, gave birth to an fact filmic aside in a warehouse involving an raining down on the lens as the work ZOE'S CAR illegitimate child. The baby died - perhaps arsonist-cum-bug exterminator and a condom progresses. When the igloo is filled with people, The avalanche of advertising gets a drubbing in murdered? The unresolved family mystery is full of lighter fluid . Try and figure that one out. the storytelling and singing and drumming this somewhat entertaining send-up. Zoe's rehashed, with recrimination and speculation The cinematogI'aphy is passa ble and the art starts, and is soon followed by the young bucks parents enjoy looking at ads and dreaming about tossed behlleen the mother and daughter. The direction creates a certain appropriate displaying their skills and staying power. a life far from their own humdrum existence. landscape slips and slides past the window, but ambience. Lead Lorenzo Lamas of Falcoll Crest Wriggling out of their large jackets, stripped to Giving into her pleas, they order a farm set for , all the unhappy talk fails to provide an answer to fame manages to cultivate some character and the waist, the youths indulge in good-natured Zoe, which turns out to be a teeny-tiny tackey the unsolved secret: who killed the unwanted Ronnie Ha wki ns and Josie Bell ha ve a moment child? or hllo. Sllake Eater is only sligh tly less From Quaggiq, by Zacharias Kunuk: in a direct line from Flaherty's Nanook. A" radio " video! The viewer is trapped inside appetizing cuisine than its name mi ght suggest. a moving automobile and, with no visually Avoid it like a pit full of vipers. dramatic high points, is forced to concentrate on Christopher Majka. the dialogue. After a while, the movement ofthe car and the blandness of the passing scenery combine to induce a hypnotic effect, to the SHAKE EATER ex 1'. Andre Link p. john Dunning detriment of the subject matter. But this is an d. George Erschbamer wr. Michael Paseornek & intense, uneasy video which does not reach a john Dunning d. o. p. Glen MacPherso n 11111,;( john Ma ssar safe, orderly conclusion. 1, 1', Lorenzo Lamas, jos ie Bell, Robert Scott, Ronnie Hawkins, Ch eryl jeans, Larry Csonka, Ben DiGregorio, Avideo by Shalhevet Goldhar. (1988) Ontario. 50 mins. Mowava Pryor. ACinepL xlCarota Films co-production. Distributor:Vrrape(416)863-9897 .

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