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CINEMA CAN •A D A the twins as they examine the horoscope, t~ the from a one-shot project done on a shoestring Degrassi entrance of the school where Lucy's ex-boyfriend budget into an international success. What Jean Chabot's attempts to apologise, to joey in the hallway tryi ng emerges through It all is Schuyler and Hood's Junior High to persuade the depressed Wheels to join their sensitivity and warnlth for their characters, and a La Nuit bowling team, to the twiilS leaving school. .. This sophistication of concerns not often seen on (Term III) technique of simultaneous action and multiple television. avec Hortense "W ake up in the morning, feeling narratives is borrowed fro ms oap opera , but used Anne Weiss - kind of lonely; hey, I've got to go here to create a dynamic, almost breathless feel to here is something seductive about the to school. .. " This chirpy, almost th e action. DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH (Term III) exec p. title, something that invites us into an Linda Schuyler p.lseries cren lors Kit Hood, Linda Schuyter inane melody, juxtaposed \·\~th a Yet the beauty of Dcgm5si II/llior Highi s that the intriguing world : nigh t, with all its total effect is so seamless, it is almost invisible. sup. wr. Yan Moore exec. p. eBC Angela Bruce exee. p. charm and mystery, all the ghosts and barrage of images - of faces in WGBH Kate Taylor milS. Wendy Watson , Lewis Manne closeup, of papers falling out of lockers, of kids This created world is accepted as 'real', as a d. o. p Phil Earnshaw, CSC p. mgr. Sari Friedlandn.d. Mitra shadows it evokes. The beginning of running out of classroom doors, and moving reflection of everyday lives in an ordinary junior Sen sd. ree. En"n Copestake orl d. Judy Shinernssl. com . Tthe film draws us right into this world with a through the crowds of the hallway, " ... hey, I' ve high school. Colleen Norcross gnffer Tom Wrightbesl boy Michael Ba wcutt long subjective tra velling shot. We are driving, key grip Paul Smith grip Steve Massey COll I. Kevin May 21ld slowly, on a dark, deserted country road. The got a new friend " - forms the entrance, the The characters themselves have become part of n.d. Jonathan Freedman com. lraillee Michael Dyer sd . ref channel, into the world of Degrassi Jllilior High. a changing landscape over the years: characters nssl . Dino Schiavone, Francoise Pelleher orl dep . nssl. lstills headlights fla sh on the trees, beaming a passage Created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood and such as joey, the optimistic and sometimes Janet Webb crnft services Frank Faulk Ililor Laura Papsin p. sec through the surrounding darkness. Voices hum obnoxious dynamo in the Hawaiian shirt, Caitlin, Laura L. Vickers 1'051. p. coord. Brian P. White sd. ed.lfoley a peculiar and melancholy chant. The mood is now in its third season, Degrassi is the constantly orl . Manse James posl. p. nsst. Peter Winninger, Barbara evolving story of a menage of kids in a junior high the eager-beaver scholar, and Spike, the sullen girl Haughey, David Yonson milS. ree. Peter Goodale research rather disturbing yet fa scinating. school, of their quirks, their loves, and their fears. with a Mohawk hairdo who is now a young Loretta Castellarin pllb. Kathryn Ellis d. Kit Hood, John After such a promising start, your expectations Astrange mixture of soap opera, situation mother. Theyare not the stagnant entities of most Bertram, Eleanore Lindo se. Yan Moore, Susin Nielsen, are high, but unfortunately, they are never TV series, but evolving and changing characters. Kathryn Ellis ed. Eric Wrate, Robert de Lint;Roushel fulfilled. There were many problems on the set comedy, and drama, the stories are woven Goldstein, John Bertram I. p. Dayo Ade, Stefan Brogren, together to form a mosaic. And despite touching on highly moral issues, Michael Carry, Amanda Cook, Irene Courakos, Maureen of La NlIit ... even reports of a violent dispute Stories overlap thematically: the nature of love the solutions are not dealt out in neat packages. Deiseach, Angela Deiseach, Anais Granofsky, Neil Hope, between the director, jean Chabot and his star, and infatuation, the danger of relying on the Snake must come to an understanding that his Sara Holmes, Jacy Hunter, Cathy Keenan, Arlene Lott, Carole Laure, and the final result certainly Maureen McKay, Bill Parrott, Amanda Stepto, Keith White, horoscope to define the future, and the athletic older brother who he worships is gay, Sara Ballingall, DanahJean Brown, TammyCampbell, Andy shows evidence of the strain. There are many manipulation of events. In the episode, "Star even though he has ridiculed gays in the past. Chambers, Christopher Charlesworth, Sabrina Dias, Chrisa pleasurable elements in the film but, somehow, Crossed", Erica schemes to manufacture a date, And although he comes to accept his brother, his Erodotou, Rebecca Haines, John Ioannou, Colleen Lam, they don't hold together to form anything twin. parents cannot, and his brother must leave, Kyra Levy, Pat Mastroianni, Stacie Mistysyn, Siluck coherent. and then substitutes herself for her identical Saysanasy, Karen Sheridan, Duncan Waugh, Trevor Convinced that because it is in her horoscope she rejected by his family. When Monica, the Cummings, Annabelle Waugh, Michael Blake, Steve From the start, the subject - desire and will find love, she sets out to find a boyfriend, only anorexic, is offered help she cannot accept it, and Bedne~ak, Michelle Goodeve, Roger Montgomery, Dan passion - is not one of the easiest to treat in film to find out she has been used by the boy she yells in the final scene, "I don't need help! " The Woods, Deborah Lobban, Susin Neilsen, Nancy Sindair, because of the intense emotions it inevitably show re jects easy endings, recognising that some Tirnrn Zemanek, Dorothy Philips, Montgomery Ra ndal, conveys, emotions which can quickly fa ll into wanted. At the end, defeated by her own Elizabeth Marmur, Sue johansen, Ross Churchill, Shella scheming, Erica sits forlornly on the steps of the problems run deeper than polite discussion. Brogren, Vanessa Dylyn, Dave James, James Johnston, farce or melodrama. Unfortunately, it's hard to bowling alley, while another reunited couple run Degrassi JlIliior High is a minor miracle, evolving Dawn Tunney. APlaying With Time Inc. production. believe in the passion of Andre's and Hortense' cicwn the steps together. journey because their experience doesn't seem An award-winning show, Degrassi II/nior High to spring from the characters themselves but has become famous for its willingness to tackle rather from some kind of exaggerated plot twist. formerly taboo subjects unsentimentally, such as Andre (Lothaire Bluteau) meets Hortense teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, and anorexia, (Carole Laure ) just after deciding to leave and for its almost documentary realism. In part, Montreal in the wake of a psychological this sense of realism is drawn from the nature of breakdown. Instead of fo llowing up on his the acting, which in the tradition of neo-realism original plan - heading for Chicago - he spends draws on characterizations close to the actor's life his night with Hortense. experience. The style is untheatrical, non-de­ Chabot uses a narrative form that is closer to monstrative, giving the illusion that the young poetry than to traditional linear story-lines. The actors are simply acting out their lives. film is built around a series of unconnected But this sense of realism is somewhat blinding; events, linked by symbolicele ments that emerge in fact, Degrassi II/llior High is highly constructed. from a recurring dream which is haunting The mise-til-scene and editing have little to do with Andre. The coupie will have to confron t some of the preconceived idea of a passive camera \ these elements - most representing some aspect recording reality. There is a highly developed of nature - in order to progress along the rou te psychological use of the camera: the camera is of their journey and strengthen their relation­ constantly moving into close-up on Erica's face, ship . recording her reactions, her final disillusionment One of these elements is wa ter. Andre and with love, giving the sense of an interior life to the Hortense have to be purified in the turbulent character. The camera draws us in as viewers. rapids of the river in order to make a fr esh start It is the active use of camera which breathes life together. Later, a storm will break as if to into otherwise ordinary situations. We follow the amplify the couple's burning desire in the first tracking camera down the hallway between love scene. Chabot is certainl y not the firstto use classes, following the central character of the forces of nature as symbols for hidden moment, while other figures spill out of the frame. dimensions of passion, and as instruments that Scenes are often cut in a stacca to fashion, the bring some characters to face their emotions, but stories overlapping one into the other. Within the here something is not working. space of five minutes, we move from the home of Duncan Waugh (Arthurl and Siluck Saysanasy (VickI with Phil the dog The main problem with the film is that we CINEMA CANADA 'ULY· AUGUST 19.9 PAGE t1 .

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