• • and rid himself of his own unwanted Instead, Peter remains as Bedros, achiev­ Atom Egoyan's identity. ing his dream of family bliss at the cost Allan Eastman's For Peter, the project is his first ven­ of destroying himself. As he lies in bed ture out of the home and the ultimate surrounded by his new family, dread Danger Bay Next Of Kin test of his "pretending" skills. The mixes with satisfaction: Peter realizes Deryans immediately accept him as he is among strangers, strangers who their son. It doesn't matter that he love Bedros, not Peter. As his sister doesn't look Armenian: all their lives places his photographs into the family they have fantasized a role their son album during the final credits, the gro­ A scene from Danger Bay, the new half­ Seldom do you find a low-budget film­ would have played in the family, so tesqueness of his fate is underlined : the hour drama series coproduced by To­ never mind a first feature - as technic­ when one arrives they don' t ask ques­ roving camera has represented the spil'it ronto independent Paul Saltzman, CBC­ ally accomplished as Next of Kin, pro­ tions. Playing it straight, Egoyan works of the real Bedros, while Peter's frozen TV, and the Disney Channel: deep in duced, written, directed and edited by this family's lavish affections toward image suggests his soul's imprison­ the British Columbia interior the Bad 24-year-old Toronto independent film­ their improbable son Peter - for whom ment. The last laugh; chillingly, is on Guy aims his rifle at the Good Guy, maker Atom Egoyan. The narrative is the epithet "Whitebread" surely applies him. valiant veterinarian Dr. G,'ant "Doc" engaging and crisply paced, the dialogue - for much deadpan humour. Part of the story's charm is that Peter's Roberts (Donnelly Rhodes). The good sure and authentic,. the performances Soon Peter faces a choice between his ruse is never revealed, but this limits the doctor escapes, though, in a helicopter solid, the locations, sets, and small hollow WASP existence and the rich film's overall scope. The ambiguous piloted by the capable and lovely Joyce details appropriate. Then there is the emotional life of this strange ethnic ending sidesteps Peter's identity pro­ Carter (Deborah Wakeham ), who un­ camera - a camera which not only family. It sounds like a cliche, and blem, and many issues set up by the film hinges the villain with a blast from her moves, but moves swiftly, fluidly, as­ would be a terrible cliche were it not for hardly get touched - questions of cul­ craft's propellers. The Bad Guy aims at suredly. It adds up to quite an achieve­ Egoyan's persistent undercutting of the ture, class differences, the gap between his fleeing partners but they get away, ment for a $37,000 film made on Canada narrative. A nightmare lurks at the "real" and "pretend." Given the film's too. Disgusted, he flings his rifle to the Council and Ontario Arts Council grants edges of Peter's adolescent dream of high level of accomplishment, one ground without firing a single shot. (it looks like it should have cost $100,000l. choosing his own family, giving Next of wishes Egoyan had pushed his material It's odd. Guns on TV are as familiar as Egoyan must share the credit with cine­ Kin a quirky, unsettling feel: wholesome further; one senses many of these issues the medium itself, but a TV gun that matographer Peter Mettler (director of family drama played out in the 1:wilight remain unresolved for him, to be ex­ doesn't go off is rare - which says the the praised 1982 experimental feature Zone. In one scene, Peter curls up on the plored in later works. Perhaps it's that makers of Danger Bay are up to some­ Sciserre) and a dedicated crew of kitchen table so the mother can cuddle the film's intellectual premise demands thing different. young Toronto film professionals. him as she did the infant Bedros; it's Peter be something of a cipher, but Pat­ Danger Bay builds its stories around A cultural comedy with disturbing funny but disturbing - especially since rick Tierney's performance makes him real-life environmental concerns, not undertones, Next of Kin premiered at it's the same table upon which they a more sympathetic character, so you cops-and-robbers fantasies. Each epi­ the Festivals of Festivals and was Cana­ consumed Peter's homecoming meal. want to know more than the film is sode tries to teach the audience some da's sole entry in October at the Mann­ Add to this the film's roving, probing prepared to tell you about his life, his unusual facts, like the origin of the heim Film Festival in West Germany. camera style, said by the director to relation to his parents (who are only expression "Mad as a hatter." The show Egoyan's background is in theatre (he represent the spirit of the missing son. broadly sketched caricatures), his emo­ scrupulously avoids excessive violence, has written 10 plays, including one to be Through this device, the film subcons­ tions. Nevertheless, its ironic texture, sexism, racism, and exploitation, creat­ produced in New York this fall, External ciously contrasts its visual style with the visual style and feel for genuine cine­ ing its own benign unreality where guns Affairs) and, to a lesser extent, film family's deadening need to fix Peter/ matic exploration make Next of Kin a are aimed but never fired. Using the criticism (while at University of Toronto, Bedros in its own image of a son - an promising debut and should establish medium's established conventions, it he wrote some of the most lucid and image which remains largely infantile Egoyan as a young Canadian director seeks to give disenchanted TV viewers a intelligent reviews ever to appear in the (they have even preserved Bedros' teddy worth watching - and supporting - in show which is not only good but good student press), so, not surprisingly, his bear). the coming years. for them. films reveal formal considerations. In the ensuing contest of wills, the Bruce Malloch • The question remains: can a show His previous film, Open House, a half­ family easily overwhelms the hapless like Danger Bay improve television hour drama which aired on CBC-TV, Peter. He finally loses control of his merely by changing the content ? Much was like Next of Kin a deliberately self­ escapade when the Deryans throw NEXT OF KIN d./sc./ ed. Atom Egoyan 'of the show's format is as conventional conscious study of a family in crisis, but d.o. p. Peter Mettler sd. rec. Clark McCarron art d. Bedros a surprise birthday party. With Ross Nichol p. man. Camelia Frieberg, Jere my as any TV half-hour. The same plotlines Egoyan's distance from the material the family's relatives gathered to pass Podeswa a.d. Mark R. Battley gaffer Bill Brown structured around three commercial was too pronounced: you felt you were judgment, Peter is presented for appro­ conI. Susan Haller grip 'mre Geiszt best boy breaks - a sameness ameliorated some­ witnessing an exploration in film form val then led to the cake, where his sister Frank Foster boom Paul McGlashan ward. Delanie what by the uncommon flair of Doug rather than a movie with characters, Prasek assl. cam. Doug Koch sp. efx. ed. Michele beckons him to look closer, closer, until Moses mus. ed. Gordon Kidd assl. ed. Bruce McKay's location cinematography. story and action. In this respect, Egoyan a pair of hands pop out to grab his face. McDonald titled Metamedia stills Tim O'Brien, Same combination of terrific job and has made great progress with his first They are George's hands - it's only Kaloust Babian p. asst... Hagop Apkarian, David wonderful family for Doc Roberts, whose feature: Next ofKin is a warmer, livelier, another of the practical jokes the Der­ Churchill, Jim Coburn. Paul Harris, Vivian Palin, kids (Christopher Crabb and Ocean more engaging film. • Pierre Yeremian class. guitar Atom Egoyan sd. yans enjoy playing- but it signifies how efx. David Rokeby. Traditional folk music by The Hellman) are as cute and likeable as any Egoyan begins Next of Kin in the completely and hopelessly Peter has Song and Dance Ensemble of Armenia. Produced TV siblings. Same loyal supporting cast middle of its story, structuring the first plunged into alien territory. with the assistance of The Canada Council and - along with Carter, there's a bright, 20 minutes so that the narrative both Working the narrative against expect­ Ontario Arts Council p.c. Ego Film Arts, Toronto efficient and pretty researcher (Michelle colour I6mm running time 72 minutes, I.p. catches up and works backward, creat­ ation, Egoyan never gives the audience Patrick Tierney, Be rge Fazlian, Arsinee Khanjian, Chan) to explain the scientific stuff and ing a haunting, effective exposition. It the big discovery scene it anticipates. Sirvart Fazlian. an adorable seal pup, Danger. Same establ1shes the surreal aspect of its synth-pop score pulsing as relentlessly story. Peter (Patrick Tierney), a 23-year­ • Patrick Tierney and 'family' in Next of Kin: wholesome drama in the Twilight Zone as any action thriller's, as if it alone were old, upper-class, White Anglo-Saxon charged with putting the danger in Protestant, lives at home with his quar­ Danger Bay. relling parents. He is unhappy, disaf­ Then there are the show's progressive fected, aimless, spending his days "pre­ elements. Doc's an environmental pro­ tending" (i.e., daydreaming), which in­ tector and crusader against injustice to furiates his staunchly conservative man or beast.