View from the Cheap Seats is an extension of the newsroom, which is frequently a site of heated debate on topics ranging from the extremely serious to the utterly ridiculous. In addition to the views of our three regular columnists Thom Barker, Calvin Daniels and Randy Brenzen printed here, please visit yorktonthisweek.com for additional web exclusive content by Michaela Miller and Devin Wilger.
This week: In honour of the Yorkton Film Festival, what are your top Canadian movies of all time?
Tricky question
This is one of the toughest questions we鈥檝e ever had because there are so many ways to approach it.
At the heart of the problem is what qualifies a Canadian movie?
The website the10and3.com, for example, lists Room (2015) as the best Canadian movie of all time. Honestly, I had no idea this film鈥攚hich was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar last year and won for Best Actress鈥攚as Canadian. There is certainly nothing in it that makes it distinctly so.
That is something that happens a lot, actually. Filmmakers and TV producers 鈥渄e-Canadianize鈥� their work for marketing purposes.
If Room is Canadian then so Deadpool ought to be. Filmed entirely in British Columbia, starring a Canadian actor in the title role as a character from Regina, Saskatchewan. It is obviously not a Canadian film, however, and probably wouldn鈥檛 qualify as such even if anyone could figure out the CanCon rules.
In the realm of critical acclamation, Canadian films and their director/auteurs that inevitably come to mind are Mon Oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra), The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan), L茅olo (Jean-Claude Lauzon), J茅sus de Montr茅al (Denys Arcand), and Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg).
Note the dominance of Quebec in that list, by the way.
But CanCon is tricky, especially when it comes to movies, because so much is involved in producing a film.
All of this is to say I鈥檓 really uncomfortable making a call so I am going to go with the American film (and Canadian cult classic) Canadian Bacon just as a tribute to the late, great John Candy.
Canadian Bacon is actually a very funny and very smart satirical comedy by documentarian Michael Moore. It is definitely worth watching even though it鈥檚 not Canadian.
- Thom Barker
New Moon
You can call me uncultured, unpatriotic swine. I haven鈥檛 seen many Canadian films, and I can鈥檛 say I have a favourite of those that I鈥檝e seen. I don鈥檛 actually watch a lot of movies in general, regardless of origin. However, I find Canadian television shows extremely well written. I prefer a story with longevity, where the writer can experiment with their characters, put them into more conflict and expose them to harsh realities so the audience can evolve with them. My absolute favourite Canadian series is a show focused on the East coast, centered on the life of a young girl: Emily of New Moon. A curious and exuberant young writer, Emily pushes herself into the lives and problems of those in her hometown, offering her young hands to help while absorbing the stories that unfold. Emily tends to be outspoken at the best of times, and this is something that resonates with me, especially when told by my elders to hold my tongue. It is never that Emily is being insolent, in fact most of the time Emily uses her voice to speak for others. In this way, she is misunderstood by her elders, but appreciated by everyone else. She has such a love for life, nature, spirits and people that you cannot help but to fall in love in a similar fashion.
- Michaela Miller
Imaginary lovers
Painfully young Quebecois director Xavier Dolan just won a prize at Cannes for his latest film, It鈥檚 Only The End of the World, he directed a video for Adele, and I鈥檓 going to pick a much earlier film of his. Les Amours Imaginaires, also known as the much less poetic Heartbeats in English, is the story of a man and a woman who both fall in love with a man named Nicholas whose most notable quality seems to be that both main characters find him very pretty. There are times when the viewer becomes increasingly confused by the depth of affection these two have for someone who seems to be surprisingly vapid, of course, and the characters often exhibit behavior best described as baffling.
So why do I love it? For one, it鈥檚 gorgeous, some absolutely jaw-dropping cinematography and a clear influence of Wong Kar-Wai, who has been one of my favorite directors for years. But I think the reason I love it is because it鈥檚 a fun way to look at some drama friends of mine have actually gotten involved in. I鈥檝e known people who have been trying to catch the eye of one person and embarrassed themselves in the process. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn鈥檛, but I鈥檝e been friends with people like the oblivious Nicholas in the center, as well as the different people who want to catch his eye. On the face of it, the story is kind of dumb, the kind of tale that could be easily avoided if people were maybe a bit more honest with themselves, but that is also the point. How many times have we encountered people who, for whatever reason, became a bit dumb in the face of romance? I remember after watching it I sent a text to a friend of mine, describing the film and saying this seems like a situation he and another mutual friend would find themselves in. At this point he told me that he was pretty sure that had already happened, and I think that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 my favorite Canadian movie. It reminds me of some of my friends, maybe not in the most flattering way, but that still makes me happy.
One of my colleagues did correctly guess that my choice would be 鈥渟ome obscure movie nobody has ever watched,鈥� and he鈥檚 not wrong, the other film I was considering putting at the top of the list was War Witch. Les Amours Imaginaires might be by a young filmmaker currently getting a lot of attention, but it鈥檚 not his most famous film, and some people might consider it a minor work, but it鈥檚 a fun and beautifully shot example of recognizable human behavior. That鈥檚 why it has to be my favorite Canadian film.
Devin Wilger
Going vintage
The best Canadian movie.
That is not quite as easy as I had first thought when I proposed the topic.
While we tend to think the only movies made are the dregs out of Hollywood, film has been created in this country since the late 1890s, and many are as good as film gets in various genres.
And that is the problem. Genre films can be great within their narrow field, but hardly great on a broader scope of film.
In horror there are numbers examples of notable Canadian offerings most from director David Cronenberg鈥檚 1977 Rabid, and 1981 release Scanners and 1986鈥檚 The Fly, and the exceptionally creepy Dead Ringers from 1988 starring Jeremy Irons, and Naked Lunch in 1991. As good as they are, in particular Dead Ringers drawing accolades, horrors are not elite films for me.
There are a few notably Canadian comedies too. The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew released in 1983, is nearly a Canadian cult classic for my age group.
Then my personal favourite Canadian comedy Men With Brooms 2001, where four men take time from their personal problems to reunite as a curling team and compete in a bonspiel that will restore their honour. It was directed by and starred Paul Gross.
So let鈥檚 get to the best of the best. I initially whittled it down to seven, paring away My American Cousin from Director Sandy Wilson in 1983, Black Robe聽 from 1991, The Apprenticship of Duddy Kravitz and the early 1963 release Drylanders to finally arrive at a top-three.
At number three is the 1998 release The Red Violin. 鈥淎 perfect red-colored violin inspires passion, making its way through three centuries over several owners and countries, eventually ending up at an auction where it may find a new owner,鈥� noted one description. It is from director Fran莽ois Girard and stars Carlo Cecchi, Jean-Luc Bideau, Christoph Koncz, and Jason Flemyng.
Number two goes to Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001). 鈥淭he telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior鈥檚 endurance and battle of its menace.鈥� It is from director Zacharias Kunuk, and stars Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, and Lucy Tulugarjuk. This was close to number one for its look at our country鈥檚 north.
Finally, at number one is the 1970 release Goin鈥� Down the Road, a film directed by Donald Shebib, co-written by William Fruet and Don Shebib.
鈥淚t chronicles the lives of two young men from the Maritimes to Toronto, chronicling their hopes of finding a better life. It stars Doug McGrath, Paul Bradley, Jayne Eastwood and Cayle Chernin. Despite the lack of a large production budget, the movie is generally regarded as one of the best and most influential Canadian films of all time and has received considerable critical acclaim for its writing, directing and acting,鈥� detailed Wikipedia which sums it up as well as I could have.
This is a definite benchmark film in Canada and a gem from our film industry鈥檚 past.
- Calvin Daniels
