Oh Canada!

When I was kid I loved a show called ‘Seeing Things’. It may be that I’m the only person who remembers this show. It was about a bumbling crime reporter whose psychic visions helped him solve a weekly mystery. It was really a very simple sweet show. I remember my mum would always chuckle and say ‘those crazy Canadians’.

This week I’ve been revisiting the films of David Cronenberg, another crazy Canadian. I’ve also been enjoying a Canadian show on Fox8 called Dead Like Me which follows the (after)lives of a group of grim reapers who meet in a diner and find out whose souls they are taking by being issued a post-it note.

I really like Canadians. I like the way things play out when they get to tell the story. They’re quiet and smart. They choose their words carefully and they like being grown ups. I get the feeling that if I was around them all the time I’d want to slap them and say ‘get a grip, a sense of humor and some decent clothes!’ but the distance between us makes for a beautiful friendship.

There are a few films I’d like to recommend to give you a taste of what I mean:



Jesus of Montreal. Direcor Denys Arcand created a masterpiece with this beautiful film. A small theatre group stage the Passion play and in the process transform their own lives. A wonderful salve for anyone questioning the difference between spirituality and religion. Although the film challenges the dogma of the Catholic Church it is also deeply religious. A great one to watch at Easter especially if you can’t be arsed going to church (like moi this year – too busy cookin’) or you want to know why people still bother in this godless world.


Any film by David Cronenberg. Look the reason it has taken me over a week to do this entry is because I have been trying to choose my favorite DC film. ACMI are showcasing him at the moment so you can actually get to see his work on the big screen (but I mean really who wanted to go and see Dead Ringers on Easter Sunday – god programmers can be dumb).

I was pretty sure my hot pick was The Fly but then I revisited Existenz and remembered how much I loved that. Naked lunch for Judy Davis, Crash for weird sex, Holly Hunter and Elias Koteas, Videodrome for James Wood. They are visceral and uncomfortable, so brace yourselves. These are not first date movies that’s for sure. Cronenberg films are full of flawed men attempting to defy their own bodies, desires and fears.
Horror for smart people.

The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Atom Egoyan is a much underrated film maker. You would do well to rent everything he’s ever made especially Exotica (1994) and Family Viewing (1987).

The Sweet Hereafter is his most mainstream and most successful film to date. Based on the Russell Banks novel of the same name it tells of the after effects of a tragic school bus accident in a small town. At the centre of the film is the wonderful Ian Holm who plays a lawyer brought in to sue for the loss of several of the children. It also stars one of my favorites Sarah Polley – who leaves all other young actresses in her dust.

In the hands of an American director this would have been a sentimental mess. But Egoyan is an elegant and even distant filmmaker, an aloofness that the Canadians seem to possess. The result is one of the most heartbreaking films I’ve ever seen.


Last Night (1998). This film is actually in my top 50 favorites of all time. I first saw it many years ago at the Melbourne Film Festival and was so surprised at my own reaction to it. I had loved director Don Mackellar’s other films particularly Roadkill (1989) which has been called the great Canadian Road Movie. I was ready to ride the quirky Canadian film train again. I was not prepared to be weepy mess when the house lights came on.
The film documents the ‘Last Night’ of earth. Clearly a catastrophe is headed our way and is due to hit the planet at midnight. Everyone knows this and everyone has made plans. Some are dancing on the street; others are trying to get lucky one last time, the rest are just sitting quietly waiting for the end.

Unlike the Americans who usually have a President to kill the aliens or an oil rigger to blow up the asteroid, the Canadians just make their peace as armageddon approaches. Weirdly enough David Cronenberg appears in this film as does Sarah Polley. I can’t tell you why I love this so much. It actually leaves me a little speechless.

Other Canadians I love

Michael J Fox (alex p keaton still rocks my socks)
Mike Myers (piss funny)
Neve Cambell (prettiest girl in all the world)
Matthew Perry (hubba hubba hubba)
John Candy (we miss you!)
Dave Foley (news radio – best sitcom)
Ryan Gosling (guilty pleasure)
Phil Hartman (r.i.p my love)
Michael Ironside (so bad he’s good)
Elias Koteas (where is this mans Oscar?)
Sarah Polley (uncompromising)
Eugene Levy (a man and a pie. Perfect comic timing)
Leslie Nielson (my comedy god)
Catherine O Hara (folk goddess in A Mighty Wind)
Donald Sutherland (Eye of the Needle still freaks me out)