Cinema Canada (Oct-Nov 1974)

constantly conned into the service of the above conflicting philosophies, notably by Henry Beckman’s mean managing editor, Ken James’ seasoned photographer, Tiiu Leek’s so-so beautiful activist and Patricia Gage’s sexhungry and lovely wife characters. The latter two manage to seduce Gillard literally as well. High point in the film is our idealistic and naive young anti-hero getting drunk and unwittingly striking a great blow against the corrupt, ‘freeenterprise’ world of Montreal newspapers by breaking through the fears of the men and women in the newsroom and organizing the first union rally. Some of the acting is stereotypical and flat, but Why Rock the Boat? is unashamedly Canadian in setting and a joy to watch throughout. A warm, human comedy that should become a popular movie, it is being distributed by Astral. Peter Pearson’s Only God Knows received such a vicious review in our ‘national newspaper. that producer Larry Dane, whose original idea gave birth to the film, may take legal action. It’s an innocuous comedy, but deserves better treatment than that. If you haven’t yet heard, it’s about a priest, a minister, and a rabbi who decide to rob the Mafia in order to finance a drop-in centre for young drug victims of the very same syndicate. Gordon Pinsent’s priest is life-size and believable, John Beck’s minister is stiff but lovable, and Paul Hecht’s rabbi is a low-key version of Elliot Gould and a pleasant surprise. Their relationship comes across as honest and human, and Peter Pearson’s direction is full of subtle touches, embellishing an otherwise ordinary script into a very pleasing movie. Pearson learned part of his craft in Europe, and it shows, especially on this film. The humour is there for those open to it, as are the rape related themes: the mob raping our young with drugs, and the clergy ‘raping’ us with religion. These are subliminal themes only, however. What makes the movie work for me is its well-constructed hilarity in parts — notably a rollicking chase sequence through fields of man-sized corn — and professionalism throughout: good acting, well-chosen locations, outstanding cinematography (Don Wilder) and successful editing. What certain critics found so objectionable, only God knows. Distribution by Canart/Queensbury. In Morley Markson’s Monkeys in the Attic, the dreams explode into actual rape and attempted suicide. Male and female, gay and straight, dreams and realities, clowns and tragic people, seekers and forsakers, death and life itself are played off by this very skillful direc tor to produce by far the best film in this group. Two couples inhabit a luxurious Toronto house and expose all their in ner conflicts during the space of a single, eventful night. The amount of control Markson managed to infuse into his script (with John Palmer), his direction of the excellent cast, Henri Fiks’ superb colour cinematography, the set design by Tony Hall and Arnaud Maggs, as well as into the beautifully tight post-production elements (both the multi-levelled soundtrack and the very creative visuals), is amazing. Jackie Burroughs’ Wanda is sensational, and the rest of the cast is equally impressive. A deeply moving and alternately phenomenally funny film, it is exhilarating throughout, and is being distributed by Ambassador films. Patrick Loubert’s 125 Rooms of Comfort also stars Jackie Burroughs, and for this reason alone I would recommend a viewing, sight unseen. Thematically, I’m told, it includes a rape, as well as transvestitism, small-town hooliganism and the demise of yet another performer, this time a rock singer who’s all washed up. If that doesn’t make it Canadian, it was shot in St. Thomas, Ontario by a cast and crew of youthful Toronto film enthusiasts, this last remark being in no way meant to question their professionalism. Quite often professionals lack enthusiasm; my admiration goes to the people who worked with producer Don Haig on this picture, for having retained this quality. More on this in our next issue. Pregnancy sometimes follows rape, and another brief glance as to what the future holds turns up a surprising number of child-related themes, whether it’s the heroine of Gordon Sheppard’s Eliza’s Horoscope, who’s determined to choose the father of her baby out of wedlock by reading the stars, or the small-boy hero of Jan Kadar’s Lies My Father Told Me, both films delayed in Scene from “125 Rooms Of Comfort” post-production but promised as forthcoming soon. Martin Kinch’s Me, Peter Bryant’s The Supreme Kid, and Murray Markowitz’ Recommendation for Mercy (on the Stephen Truscott rape murder case — whew!) will all deal with some aspects of adolescence, one suspects, if not chronologically, at least in mental attitudes. As will George Kaczender’s Micro Blues and Graham Parker’s Lady of the Meadow, neither as yet in production. The Search, The Fury Plot, and The Parasite Complex sound as if adolescence was instrumental in coining the titles, although they’re probably thematically divergent from the above group. But the upcoming Crawley Films/Japan co-production, Child in a Prison Camp, is very obviously about a Japanese kid who was interned by the Canadian government as an enemy of the state during the war, even though he was most likely born in this country. The ultimate rape. Omissions? Trevor Wallace and Gerry Arbeid produce pictures in this country, but their themes have nothing to do with Canada. Neither do their casts and crews in a lot of cases. As for the Québec films of late? Probably in a subsequent article. Until then, if there exist writers or filmmakers in Montréal who are bi-lingual and would like to review Québec films for Cinema Canada, please let us know. Wouldn’t mind reviews of recent films by Jutra, Carle, Lord, Brassard, Brault, Arcand, Perron, Lefebvre as well as those of younger directors. Subtitled prints take so long to be made, that by the time these films get to Toronto, they’re ready for the archives. —George Csaba Kolier Cinema Canada 71