WEIRD SEX AND SNOWSHOES (MPIX, 2005)

By Rick Jackson

Based on Vancouver film critic Katherine Monk's book of the same name, Weird Sex and Snowshoes is an interesting look back at the nature and character of Canadian Cinema. Throughout this 60-minute documentary, there is a generous supply of clips from our classic films, with comments from some of the directors who made them.

You will recognize Oscar winners The Barbarian Invasions, the documentary short Neighbours (1952) and such cult favourites as Goin' Down The Road (1970) and Atanara juat - The Fast Runner (2002). For moviegoers who haven't seen our first Canadian feature, there are clips from Back To God's Country (1919).

Since this is so short, it is difficult to cover this bird's eye view of our films. In trying to come up with an answer to "What is a Canadian film?," it gets lost in the lack of knowledge of them. There is no real explanation, save the film clips and interviews.

By showing them we do get a better idea of the kinds of Canadian movies we have made over the last 100 years. The director's individual points of view are hardly anything new, whether it be the two identities, English and French, and the films that are made in both languages.

What gets lost is the entire French film industry which, like their music, is full-fledged. The overall perspective we have of Canadian Cinema, at least the international view, stems from the French films such as Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) and the more recent, Barbarian Invasions, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Atom Egoyan describes Ararat, his Genie Award winning film, as a story about language, religion and history, and how open we should be to hearing stories about our past and accepting someone else's experience as part of our own. Another one of his films, The Sweet Hereafter (1997) touched on personal survival and the preservation of identity.

There are also the films about the harsh life of our pioneers and native Aboriginals in the aforementioned The Fast Runner, The Snow Walker and Black Robe.

Zacharias Kunuk, the director of The Fast Runner, describes his film as the most authentic about Canada's North because it is not fake like the fictional reality captured by Hollywood, whether it be on the big or small screen.

Anne Wheeler's early filsm are historical in nature such as Bye Bye Blues, another Genie Award winner, which looked at life on the Prairies.

As the film moves from one director to another, mention is made of the National Film
Board founded by John Grierson in 1939 which captured the essence of our country in vignettes, including the Hinterland Who's Who series on the woodchuk and other animals who live in Canada.

The director of The Red Violin talks about the instrument as a main character since it deals with the birth of the instrument and the death of an unborn child, the child prodigy with all of the problems of growing up, and the flamboyant sexuality and conflicts of romance with musicians, where the woman in the film gets jealous of the violin and shoots it.

There are also those films which have a narrative thread built from pieces and scenes such as The Thirty-Two Films of Glenn Gould, which the director says showed the problems inherent in making a biographical film. Colm Feore gives an outstanding performance as Gould in a film about the nature of celebrity and the title character's own inner torment of it.

Director Robert LePage describes his films as items examined under a microscope, the camera focussing on a particular thing. He doesn't go into too much more detail.

Patricia Rozema of I Heard The Mermaids Singing fame says her films are about inner landscapes, what they imagine and how it influences our actions and behaviour. She also noticed an appreciation of the absurd or surreal in our films in general.

This is most evident in Guy Maddin's universe where life uninhibited exists in our dreams which he believes is a true reflection of what you actually feel. A case in point is the offbeat and wonderful Saddest Music In The World.

Denis Villeneuve describes Maelstrom as having been derived from the inspiration of daily events that can be perceived as part of our subconscious which, in turn, becomes a whole new reality.

In the case of such films as Kissed, in which the heroine has sex with a corpse, it is this sense of the bizzare that some directors like Don McKellar suggest our unique view of sexual discomfort and anxiety that Hollywood has avoided. He says ours is healthier, and our perception of the controversial is to make a point of getting over our fears. A point well taken. What is missing in Monk's documentary are the scenes to backup McKellar's claim.

Along with sex are the boundaries of love, such as Lea Pool's Straight For The Heart which examines the complex nature of sex in relationships whether they be with heterosexuals, homosexuals or lesbians. It's the desire for sex which she wanted to ascertain in her own mind.

Chaos And Desire is another film which director Manon Brian describes as unpredictable and uncontrollable. The sex scenes on the beach parallel what he wanted to say about the movement of the act itself and of the earth in a scene which featured the rumbling of an earthquake.

Many filmmakers find it difficult to define the character of Canadian film. It is addressed more as an in-joke but clearly by looking at our films individually will you only be able to get the proper perspective.

In her focus on Canadian film, Monk lets the film clips and interviews speak for themselves. It is more like this is her own home movie with her personal observances, with interviews added in, than a film of any historical value. However, the interviews will serve as a starting point for the neophyte or veteran Canadian movie fan as an introduction to our cinema.

To look further, you must still do your own research and see as many Canadian films you can, if you are to come to any accurate assesment of any kind or want to discuss them at any length.

March 5, 2005

Copyright 2005 Rick Jackson