The fact that I got to hear Atom Egoyan speak on this film, watch the film with him in the room, and participate in a Q&A about this film after it was over easily makes this one of the best movie viewing experiences I have ever had.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this film initially as I was rather indifferent on The Sweet Hereafter, however, I think this movie is really special. The relationship dynamics in this are so interesting and the entire sequence of scenes in Toronto are so well done. I love how low budget, 90s, Canadian movie this is, between its slow but efficient pacing and blunt yet impactful dialogue, it was right up my alley. I also just love the back and forth between the shots of the calendar and Armenia, it’s so key to the basic premise but they worked so well.
It was so cool to get to hear the entire behind the scenes story of this film as well. The fact that people initially thought it was a documentary because the main characters are him and his wife, the fact that Don McKellar was originally supposed to play Egoyan’s character, and the fact that multiple themes from this movie were carried over to Exotica and beyond are just a few of the really interesting pieces of trivia that not only changed how I viewed this film but gave me a better understanding of it and Egoyan’s other works.
The fact that I got to hear Atom Egoyan speak on this film, watch the film with him in the room, and participate in a Q&A about this film after it was over easily makes this one of the best movie viewing experiences I have ever had.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this film initially as I was rather indifferent on The Sweet Hereafter, however, I think this movie is really special. The relationship dynamics in this are so interesting and the entire sequence of scenes in Toronto are so well done. I love how low budget, 90s, Canadian movie this is, between its slow but efficient pacing and blunt yet impactful dialogue, it was right up my alley. I also just love the back and forth between the shots of the calendar and Armenia, it’s so key to the basic premise but they worked so well.
It was so cool to get to hear the entire behind the scenes story of this film as well. The fact that people initially thought it was a documentary because the main characters are him and his wife, the fact that Don McKellar was originally supposed to play Egoyan’s character, and the fact that multiple themes from this movie were carried over to Exotica and beyond are just a few of the really interesting pieces of trivia that not only changed how I viewed this film but gave me a better understanding of it and Egoyan’s other works.
