I’ve just discovered how little I know about Canada’s most academically celebrated filmmaker Atom Egoyan, (since Cronenberg has seemed to have gone main stream and Guy Maddin’s more a cult icon), as I recently watched his latest effort, Adoration (2008). This is the first Egoyan film I’ve seen since The Sweet Hereafter (1996), which I was probably too young to appreciate at the time. Egoyan’s new film does seem to have his trademark non-linear narrative going for it, and I can see how in a film festival setting Adoration could possibly try one’s patience as it sets itself up and then retreads over its own narrative half way through.
The plot revolves around Sami, who takes an assignment in French class a bit overboard (and at the provocation of his teacher, Sabine), which basically has him inventing a story about his deceased parents being involved in a potential act of terrorism. The story spreads and needless to say, affects Sabine, Sami, and Sami’s guardian, his mother’s brother, Tom (played by the laudable Scott Speedman). Adoration seems to have taken criticism for it’s elliptical narrative (but if you know anything about Egoyan, you’ll know to expect this) and in particular, for it’s first half, which is basically a long buildup that leads to quite an engaging second half. What the film seems to be mainly about, however, is the crafting of identity, the construction of blame and grief, father hatred, and bigotry. Most of all, the film is about adoration, the act of paying honor, an homage. An aptly titled film that leaves one sifting through the layers of implied meaning, while watching Adoration, I was quite intrigued by Arsinee Khanjian, an actress who is both talented and striking. As my boyfriend would say, she’s a little strong in the face and evidence of an uni-brow is distracting in some close-ups. Nevertheless, she is a formidable screen presence that demands attention. This relates to how I’ve been rather ignorant of Egoyan’s work as Khanjian happens to be his spouse and they’ve worked on several films together. The weaker points of the film were some of the supporting characters, especially Rachel Blanchard as Sami's flashback mama. As the pieces of Adoration come together, the outcome is as fractured as the journey---except for the fact that we learn everyone always has their own motives, and we all create different versions for ourselves of our reality and existence. It’s interesting--the whole basis of fiction can be applied to what we generally consider to be the truth. All in all, quite an intellectual film without being pretentious, but also, one worth seeing multiple times and definitely worthy of discussion.
The plot revolves around Sami, who takes an assignment in French class a bit overboard (and at the provocation of his teacher, Sabine), which basically has him inventing a story about his deceased parents being involved in a potential act of terrorism. The story spreads and needless to say, affects Sabine, Sami, and Sami’s guardian, his mother’s brother, Tom (played by the laudable Scott Speedman). Adoration seems to have taken criticism for it’s elliptical narrative (but if you know anything about Egoyan, you’ll know to expect this) and in particular, for it’s first half, which is basically a long buildup that leads to quite an engaging second half. What the film seems to be mainly about, however, is the crafting of identity, the construction of blame and grief, father hatred, and bigotry. Most of all, the film is about adoration, the act of paying honor, an homage. An aptly titled film that leaves one sifting through the layers of implied meaning, while watching Adoration, I was quite intrigued by Arsinee Khanjian, an actress who is both talented and striking. As my boyfriend would say, she’s a little strong in the face and evidence of an uni-brow is distracting in some close-ups. Nevertheless, she is a formidable screen presence that demands attention. This relates to how I’ve been rather ignorant of Egoyan’s work as Khanjian happens to be his spouse and they’ve worked on several films together. The weaker points of the film were some of the supporting characters, especially Rachel Blanchard as Sami's flashback mama. As the pieces of Adoration come together, the outcome is as fractured as the journey---except for the fact that we learn everyone always has their own motives, and we all create different versions for ourselves of our reality and existence. It’s interesting--the whole basis of fiction can be applied to what we generally consider to be the truth. All in all, quite an intellectual film without being pretentious, but also, one worth seeing multiple times and definitely worthy of discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment