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complex iS,sue, ,He rises to the challenge by presen ~mg views from a wide range of Jacques Godbout's personalities: former FLQ activist Fran. ~o is Schirm, Quebec writer Pierre Val, En Dernier lieres, an ex -Red Brigade militant and a Montreal police officer. Throughout the 70-minute documentary, Godboutdeftly Recours juxtaposes their views to present the fIlm 's main themes. The on-camera interviews form the structure of En Dernier recours. To complement them, Godbout relies on ar. hen Quebec labour minister Pierre chivalfootage of the 1970 October crisis Laporte was kidnapped and mur­ the Denis Lortie affair, the Brigham bomb Wdered in 1970, news spread quickly aimed at PopeJohn Paul II and the Cruise across the country. Overnight, the Front missile tests in Northern Alberta, In fact, de liberation du Quebec ( FLQ) and the there are very few scenes in the fIlm shot issue of Quebec's independence were by Godbout ( the opening and closing thrust to the forefront. Newspapers scenes in which a bomb explodes on a labeled FLQ members terrorists and the barren airstrip are probably the best public branded them murderers. examples). But was it really murder and terrorism? In the interviews Vallieres and Schirm • Riding to heaven on a Harley Was the FLQ not fighting, perhaps, for a draw distinctions about terrorism. is an evangelical movement for bikers. ever, they don't swarm aggreSSively. Ac­ legitimate cause ? Quebec filmmaker Jac­ Schirm claims violence is justifiable if The characters in the movie are a sub­ companied by gospel rock on the sound­ ques Godbout grapples with these ques· used for a popular cause. "Terrorism,"he culture within a subculture. track, they float peacefully past autum­ tions in his latest documentary En Der­ says, "becomes more than just an attack Stavrides, who once made a film about nal trees, through dark tunnels, and back nier recours. In it, he explores ter­ on innocent victims. " Vallieres adds to Inuit teenagers, approaches his subject into the light. A run is both a sensual and rorism in Canadian SOCiety, analyzing this view, asserting that armed struggles like an ethnographic documentarian. He a religious experience. When the Riders events like the FLQ years, the Denis Lor­ in South Africa, Northern Ireland'or Cen· records a tribe - the Christian Riders approach us, a filter on the cameraman's tie assault on Quebec's National Assem­ tral America are not terrorism, although Motorcycle Club - as the band members lens turns the beams of their headlights bly and the actions of the 'Vancouver opposing governments and the media go about their daily business, attend into rows of spectral yellow crosses. Five'. label them as such. their rituals, and talk about their lives. The Christian Riders Motorcycle Club In choosing Canadian terrorism as a In defining terrorism, Godbout fails to Stavrides keeps a certain distance, fram­ is compelling because its members con­ subject, Godbout opens the door on a distinguish between democratic and ing his subjects (the cinematographer vince you they have gone through real was James Crowe) in cool, uncluttered turmoil and because they are a striking shots that allow us to observe and cross-breed of born-again and biker. evaluate - or simply observe out of in­ However, near the end of the film , you terest, and not even bother with judg­ might worry a little about them. A ments. The movie has no narrator, and preacher who only borrows bikes now, most of it is not cut in a way that makes and who would not be out of place on a editorial points, or turns your head with TV evangelist's show, delivers a real fire biting ironies. - and - brimstone sermon. It is the first However, the picture often induces time in the picture that we hear so much you to sympathize with the Christian disturbingly violent religious rhetoric. Riders. Not only does their thirst for sal­ And some of the Riders - dressed vation seem genuine and reasonably un­ straight, no colors - don't look like bik­ sentimental, they display eccentric indi­ ers anymore. viduality and a sense of irony. At a revival The fact that God Rides a Harley meeting, one of them grins and de­ rolls toward this scene suggests that scribes the way he sees Jesus's face. The Stavrides is implying the fllm's charac­ Lord's long hair is crowned by a motor­ ters could become something other than cycle helmet, and he's wearing shades. what they are now. But then he cuts God is motorcyclist. And naturally, he away from the revival meeting and back rides a Harley. to the highway, to the Riders on their The ex-outlaws in the film have cast bikes. He repeats a travelling close-up of off all their former ways, except for one: a female biker in a black leather jacket. they haven't stopped being bikers. Im­ [n profile, she smiles serenely, taking ages you expect to see in any motorcy­ pleasure in the sensation of being up cle movie, whether it is called The Wild there on that motorcycle which is carry­ One, The Wild Angels, Easy Rider, or ing her toward Heaven's gate. Satan's Choice (the first Canadian biker picture, which was, not surprisingly, also Maurie Alioff • a documentary), appear in God Rides a Harley. Stavrides gives us the close-ups of boots, buckles, and chains; he pans GOD RIDES A HARLEY d. Stavros C across icons stitched into jean jackets Stavrides p. Andreas Erne, Stavros C Stavrides assoc. and leather vests. The images are famil­ p. Michael Wainwright story consult. Spencer Frazer iar, even though crosses and 'Jesus is liaisonJanet McCreadie d. o. p . James Crowe film ed. Steve Stephenson sd. Peter Sawade add. m. by. Carlos Lord' have replaced skulls and 'Born To Lopes, Adian Mason m . "Are You Ready" (Charlie Allen Lose'. and John Hill ), performed and arranged by Ben McPeek The Riders are still bikers, not self­ and Jerome McPeek, synthesizer programming by Don Baird ; "QuestiOns" Uustin Hayward) performed and ar· righteous prudes who have renounced ranged by Ben McPeek and Jerome McPeek, synthesizer all their pleasures. Stavrides cuts regu­ programming by Don Baird, "Gospel Plow" (Bob larly to liquidly edited shots of the club Dylan), performed by Paul James. colour 16mm run­ ning time 81 min. An Arto·Pelli Motion Pictures Pro· enjoying the feel of their big choppers duction distributed by Creative Exposure ( 416) 690· on the roads of southern Ontario. How- 0667.

28/Cinema Canada - February 1988 • F I L M R E v I E w 5 •

non-democratic contents. To North bat became an obsession with the Ger· take this sport seriously, but it does very Americans and European, most forms of Don Sheibib's mans after it claimed the lives of 31 little to enhance the declining reputa­ political violence equate terrorism. But members of a German climbing party in tion of Shebib as a director of merit. in Latin American or African countries, 1932. The script concentrates on Her· The Climb was produced by Wendy political violence is used to gain indepen­ The Climb mann Buhl (Greenwood), a famed Wacko, an emerging, Alberta·based in­ dence from a violent oppressor. Can the mountaineer whose reckless and deter­ dependent who has become an adept FLQ 's call for an independent Quebec be mined ambition leads him into conflict deal-maker. The film was originally fi· fairly compared to the African National with the team's bureaucratic leader, Dr. nanced by CTV, the BBC and Telefilm as Congress' struggle against apartheid? Karl Herrligkoffer Oames Hurdle). a 60-minute drama. By stretching things, Godbout is clear, though, in making Whereas Herrligkoffer is climbing for Shebib, Wacko and Leiterman produced one point - terrorism, like most events the glory of the German nation, Buhl a feature, but the material and direction depend on communications and a mass on Shebib has come a long way climbs for himself and the mystical chal­ still suggest a 60-minute drama. audience. Journalists, he explains, be· since his triumphs with Goin' lenge of the mountain. come key players in its transmission. DDown the Road and Between As they proceed slowly up the Wyndham Paul Wise • Without them and a powerful media sys· Friends in the early '70s. Since that icefields, news arrives of Hillary's con­ tem, terrorism has less of an impact. time, Gain' Down the Road has consis­ quest of Everest. Disappointed and con· Godbout twists this point in one se­ tently been listed as one of the 10 great fronted with rebellious porters and Marquise Lepage's quence probing two Canadian journalists Canadian films, and She bib carries it dwindling supplies, Herrligkoffer de­ who witness a destructive Paris bomb­ around with him rather like Orson WeI· cides to retreat before making it to the ing. The two are perplexed when God­ les used to carry Citizen Kane. It has top. Buh! disobeys orders to return to Marie s'en bout asks if they thought first of their become both a blessing and a curse. A base camp and makes the final assault photo assignments or of helping the source of pride for those committed to alone, without oxygen or support. After va-t-en ville burning victims. the notion of a distinctive Canadian a full day's climb, exhausted and hal· En Dernier recours is an analytical cinema, Gain' Down the Road lingers lucinating, he makes it to the top. Unable documentary raising a number of subtle as a reminder of a great talent gone to to climb down in the dark, he has to waste. issues. In one sequence, former Parti spend the night there, keeping himself arie s'en-va-t'-en-ville sounds like In over a decade, She bib has directed Quebecois minister Bernard Landry is awake in freezing temperatures. His sur­ the title of a fable or a folktale. And only four features, the last one being asked if he felt threatened during the vival is a credit to his fierce determina· indeed it is the story of a country in­ Running Brave with Robbie Benson in M Denis Lortie assault on Quebec's Nation­ tion, and in the context of the ftlm, nocent who comes to the City. 1983. Disputes with the producers al Assembly, an incident in which seven miraculous. The ghost of one of the dead In the folktale, the youngest son or, in caused Shebib to withdraw his name people were killed. Landry answers a climbers helps him down the mountain this case, daughter leaves home and goes from that film, which had only limited blunt no. "We are all hostages of ter­ the next day! to seek her fortune. After many trials and theatrical release. Since then, he has rorism. " the arms race is an ongoing Shot by Richard Leiterman, Shebib's tribulations she wins out and obtains her been active in TV, mostly directing form ofviolence. "Godbout makes a clear brilliant cinematographer for both Gain heart's desire. In this first feature by Mar­ episodes of The Edison Twins, Night point of this to highlight American and Down the Road and Between quise Lepage, we have the story com­ Heat, and Danger Bay. Shebib's strug­ Soviet militarism. Friends, The Climb does manage to plete with wicked sibling - a brother gles with the Canadian industry and the The film 's final sequences cover a Van­ communicate some of the mystical al­ who sexually harasses our heroine - and CFDC (now Telefilm) have become as couver-based group who have bombed lure of mountaineering. The scenery a mother who is too busy with the other famous as his earlier successes. and sabotaged Canadian military-indus­ (The Climb was ftlmed on location in children to give her youngest adequate The Climb, his latest foray into fea­ trial targets. ButunIik.eotherformsofter­ Northern Pakistan and the Columbian love and protection. ture filmmaking, is an old-fashioned rorism or armed struggles depicted in the icefields in)asper National Park) is glori­ In Quebecois culture, the country piece of macho action-drama. It stars Ca­ film, the Vancouver group raises an in­ ous and there is plenty of man vs. land­ usually represents simpler and more nadian-born Bruce Greenwood from teresting distinction - their targets, scape imagery. Much of it is repetitious, wholesome values than the city. But in TV's St. Elsewhere, with a Canadian rather than people or innocent victims, but it is stunning nonetheless. this film some sort of reversal of this tra­ supporting cast that includes Kenneth are military installations and weapon However, the film is curiously lacking ditional structure is taking place. Maybe Walsh, Ken Pogue and Tom Butler. How­ sites. As Godbout illustrates, are these in any real suspense, and the acting is un­ it is because Marie only comes from the ever, there is nothing Canadian about anti-war militants really terrorists? even, at best. The oddity of having the suburbs. For, as in the folktale, the inno­ The Climb subject matter, and in many Today, military arms and production Germans speak in accented-English cent finds true love and happiness when ways it harks back to the bad old tax have become the world's largest industry while carrying a German-inscribed she leaves home. There is none of the shelter days when the deal was more im­ ($800 billion annually). Governments, plaque to their dead comrades strains miserabilism of the Quebecois films of portant than the film. It has none of the many ofthem democratically elected, ac­ the credibility of all the performances. the '70s here; everything is up-tempo. freshness and vitality of recent English­ tively promote and support wars. The Shebib's direction is conventional and In some ways, Marie s'en-va-t'-en­ language Canadian productiOns, and suf­ American Constitution, itself a much­ somewhat stilted. He relies too heavily ville is a gem. It has tight scripting, good ' fers from a thin, one-dimensional script. heralded example of justice, guarantees on the drama of the inert mountains to acting, nice visuals and nice music. For a The film is based on the true story of the right of individuals to bear arms. This compensate for the lack of dJ,'ama in the first feature, this is quite an achievement. a 1953 German expedition to conquer mass proliferation of weapons has made performances. The conflict set up be­ And yet the film disappointed me. Even Nanga Parbat, a treacherous Himalayan violence an intrinsic tool in relations be­ tween Huh! and Dr. Herrligkoffer seems though I believed in the two main peak, described in the film as "the most tween people and states. Unlike the title strained and all too predictable. The characters, the situation itself seemed beautiful mountain in the world". Al­ of Godbout's film, arms and violence Climb is a ftlm that certainly will have incredible and robbed the film as a though not as high as Everest, Nanga Par- have become more than just a last resort. tremendous support from those who whole of credibility. Maybe I'm too cyn­ Rather, as En Derniers recours effec­ • Because they are there. mountains cause frostbite and death ical, but it's hard to believe in the old tively depicts, they've rapidly become an stereotype of the whore with the heart effective first choice for those both in and of gold; would a prostitute (Sarah) really out of power. take on the responsibility of caring for a 13-year-old runaway (Marie)? Robbie Hart • Once one gets past this incredible situation one can see that the film is deal­ ing with themes that are preoccupying EN DERNIER RECOURS A Jacques Godbout film with the collaboration of Janine Krieber many women filmmakers at present. The and Werner Nold eL Jacques Godbout sd. eeL Roger relationship between an older and a Boire sd. nUx. Adrian Croll admin. Joanne Gallant. younger woman is recurrent in many of Monique Lavoi.loc. man. Michael Dandavino eLo.p these films. In High Tide, an Australian Jean·Pierre Lachapelle assisted by Serge Lafortune sd. Richard Besse sc.1 research ]anine Krieber sc. ed. film by Gillian Armstrong, a nightclub Werner Nold m. Fran~ois Dompierre tides Louise singer comes across the daughter she Overy cam.]ean·Pierre Lachapelle asst. cam. Serge abandoned 14 years before. Painfully she Lafortune MI. Richard Besse sph Louid Craig p. Eric Michel. A National Film Board of Canada Production. comes to a realization of the sterility of colour 16mm running time 70 min. 40 her present existence and decides to

February 1988 - Cinema Canada/29