THE NATURE OF NICHOLAS (FULL STOP FILMS, 2002)

By Rick Jackson

The Nature of Nicholas is one of the most original Canadian films ever made. Written and directed by Jeff Erbach it is a surreal fable. When it is over, you will be left with a profound statement about the human condition.

For any boy growing up, puberty brings its own sense of dread and innermost feelings and as it is expressed here it becomes less the Hollywood butt of jokes and ridicule for laughs, but a serious character study about sexual orientation. The physical decay of Bobby is a metaphor for intense feelings of shame.

What starts off as a coming‑of‑age story about Nicholas, the story changes direction when it introduces a supernatural element. As the film opens, the school year is ending as he and his friend Bobby discuss going to party at Jenna's house. When another girl, Kimberly pretends she has kissed and made love to Nicholas during a game of spin the bottle, it is all for show so there won't be any embarrassment for either one of them. It also stirs up feelings of a sexual nature which he has trouble expressing.

Jeff Sutton gives a strong performance as Nicholas, a shy boy of twelve who is not good at parties, not interested in girls, and has replaced his absent father as the man of the house. He likes to go around the house with his shirt off, showing off his masculinity. However, underneath this facade is a troubled boy who is without a father figure, and retreats into his own world of dissecting animals and reading. Confronted with Bobby's physical change, Nicholas says, "This is a little strange."

Cast as Bobby, Nicholas' best friend, is David Turnbull. When Nicholas kisses him, it opens a series of feelings Bobby cannot understand. He likes girls yet he becomes confused by his own sexuality. In a bizarre twist, he becomes two people. There is the normal Bobby, and the physically decaying carbon copy of him. His condition represents the shame he feels toward Nicholas and in spite of their friendship they try to work things out. When Bobby sorts out his sexuality, it is interesting how Nicholas goes through the same kind of metamorphosis.

In supporting roles, Ardith Boxall plays Nicholas's mother. She is trying to raise him all alone and encourages him to enjoy himself.

As the absent father who appears as an apparition, which may or may not be a figment of Nicholas's imagination, Tom McCamus is a mysterious character. There are scenes between the father and Nicholas that hint at incest but it is not developed any further in the plot. In a scene straight out the science fiction classic, The Stepford Wives (1975), he is able to control his wife.

When Mother brings home a new beau named Roy, Nicholas opens up a little. During his first visit, Nicholas finds himself talking to his father. It is disturbing and eye‑opening.

Shot on location in and around Winnipeg, The Nature of Nicholas makes clever use of the countryside as a metaphor of beauty. Life can be beautiful if you let it. When it is eroded by feelings of inadequacy and shame, it can manifest itself physically as another part of one's self that has been literally broken like a limb off a tree.

The Nature of Nicholas shows the struggling years of puberty in a way you may never see again on the big screen. It is a definitely a film you won't easily forget.

February 22, 2003