Cinema Canada (May 1976)

CAPSULES by Natalie Edwards Second Wind. Dir. Don Shebib. An honorable entry in Olympic Canada year is this tale of a successful young stockbroker who risks his career and marriage when he develops a passion for racing. James Naughton looks great and runs believably while Lindsay Wagner (the Bionic Woman) and a good cast of Canadian performers support him. Refreshing to have a film where the climaxes are exciting but not violent, the motivation is not money and the tale adds something to our understanding of the thrill of a personal struggle. P: Olympic Films; D: Ambassador. 1976. Point of No Return. Dir. Ed Hunt. El cheapo exploitation film with swift action, tough stuff, cliché situations that ought to manage quite well on the bottom half of somebody’s bill, and looks made-for-TV. Eli Rill is an intellectual bad guy, Susan Petrie is pretty and Nicky Fylan is even grungier than Peter Falk. P: 312821 Ontario Ltd. D: I.F.D. 1976. Partis pour la gloire. Dir. Clément Perron. Further memories of rural Quebec from this sensitive writer (Mon Oncle Antoine) turned director (Taureau) _ involve the probelem of conscription in his village in 1942. Despite caricature and humour, critic Carmel Dumas feels sloppy direction and editing make this potential success a failure. and wishes Perron would work with Jutra again. CC: 25: 45. D & P: NFB. 1974. The Mystery of the Million-Collar Hockey Puck. Dir. Jean Lafleur and Peter Svatek. The long and explicit title covers the subject of this diamond-smuggling-ring children’s story, pretty well disposing of any mystery. The Montreal Canadiens with Jean-Louis Millette and Kurt Schiegl keep the action slap-happy off and on the ice, though according to critic Joan Irving, there’s too much hockey for the little ones, and too little for the fans. P &D: Cinepix. 1976. Dream on the Run. Dir. John Edwards. Think you could do better yourself? That's what this director thought when viewing some action films, so he took his practical experience as an ex-con who knows the score, and made one of the most fascinating home movies ever, with the help of some friends. It’s cool, it’s crazy, it’s a sleeper — and it has a very authentic feel, even to the moralistic tone. P: Circle Productions. D: F.G.W. Import Co. (Canada) 1976. 50/Cinema Canada La téte de Normande St.Onge. Dir. Gilles Carle. Like Elizabeth Moorman in Eliza’s Horoscope, Calore Laure, lovingly photographed, plays a young and beautiful searching woman whose fantasies must try to meet reality, and who lives in a boardinghouse full of the hidden craziness of life. In Carle’s film, says Montreal critic Ron Blumer, the characters are credible and the stories endlessly fascinating, yet there is an _ unsatisfied feeling at the end as the film oozes away, that almost makes you forget what a gorgeous, rich and engrossing film you've seen. CC: No. 24: 4445. P: Les Productions Carle-Lamy; D: Cinepix. 1975. Partners. Dir. Don Owen. The script of Rosedale Lady gradually evolved into this intriguing tale of a young American male's infiltration into the heart and world of a wealthy young woman, born and bred in the Canadian establishment. The theme of US takeovers is explored symbolically and realistically, and the final shot of Hollis McLaren at the airport is a memorable poetic statement of Canada’s beauty and vulnerability as well as a perceptive comment on women’s position today — and an appropriate ending to the film’s love story. Marring the film is a weak attempt to create action and adventure in a sub-plot involving narcotics. P: Clearwater Films; D: Astral. 1976. The Clown Murders. Dir. Martyn Burke. A newspaper story of a young socialite kidnapped by four friendly fellows in a foolish caper may have inspired this tale but its feeling of déja vu tso stems from the use of typically TV techniques, and an assortment of plot devices familiar to the point of ennui. There is some mystery and some shooting, and in fact some good effects too, but characterizations are shallow and the genre of _ action-horror-schlock is neither updated nor improved by this entry. 1976. P: Muddy York Motion Pictures. D: Astral. Pour le meilleur et pour le pire. Dir. Claude Jutra. Marriage observed. Over the years with sneers and tears, with Jutra as the Husband, Monique Miller an elegant etching as the Wife, and Monique Mercure fascinating (of course) as Another Woman. Fluctuating, fantastical, sometimes almost surreal, always entertaining and entirely competent and delightful. It hasn’t much heart but is has loads of style, and when Jutra finds married life deadly, his couple shoot it out, in just one of the numerous and totally unforgivable visual puns that prove we can have two languages and still not escape the punster. D: Cinepix P. Les Productions Carle Lamy. 1975. The Far Shore. Dir. Joyce Wieland, with Judy Steed. Long-awaited Canadian film spawned from the personality and mystery of artist Tom Tomson’s life and death, is subtle, sensitive and beautiful. Frank Moore and Céline Lomez build characters whose love visibly grows before our eyes, while Lawrence Benedict and Sean McCann are recognizable as a nest-building wasp and stinging hornet. Leiterman’s photography was never better and the slow graceful pace and Pringle’s weeping musical score make this lovely film a harmonic whole. 1976. P: Far Shore Inc. D: Astral. A Sweeter Song. Dir. Allan Eastman. Canada discovers sex and bad words, and makes some pleasant fun of itself, but basically the film’s flip, scattered and rather collegate approach leaves an audience wondering at whom to laugh, and when. Draggedout gags and overplayed bits gradually deteriorate what seemed like a good idea at the time. Jim Henshaw has everything but timing. Susan Petrie looks ready for the Big Time, and Peter John as a DJ and George Montgomery Kee as a Pakistani Manpower employee create memorable sequences. P & D: Burg Productions, 1976, Burg Productions, 217 Arnold Ave., Thornhill, Ont. Les Ordres. Dir. Michel Brault. Five selected victims of the “I was only following Orders” autocracy of the War Measures Act in 1970 Quebec are seen tumbled and tom from their everyday lives and arbitrarily imprisoned. One watches, moved, yet aware that Canada is now one of the few countries left where people are still shocked by such commonplace disregard of citizens’ rights. Michel Brault shared Best Director Award at Cannes 1975. CC: 17: 77; 20: 27, 64. D: New Cinema (E): Les films Mutuels (F). P: Les Productions Prisma. 1974 The Parasite Murders (Frissons). Dir. David Cronenberg. The proposition that parasites could be bred to fulfil certain specific sexual human needs results in a gory grotesque tale of yeck and urp with squirmy wormy burning leech-like penisshaped things infiltrating the smug folk of an apartment complex in Montreal. This invasion of the living bodies arouses our primal fears and acts as a purgative in a deeper sense than the usual show-andthrow-up story. May be Canada’s Exorcist. CC: No. 22: 23, 25, 44. D & P: Cinepix. 1974. The Mourning Suit. Dir. Leonard Yakir, Semi-autobiographical tale of the generational struggle between an old orthodox Jewish tailor and a young musician who live in the same abandoned warehouse factory in Winnipeg, and the importance of a suit of clothes to the growth of understanding and tolerance. This first feature by the director of the honest, revealing short Main Street Soldier, was invited to the 1975 Locarno Film Festival. CC: 21: 38-40. D: March Films. P: March Films Ltd. 1974. Sudden Fury. Dir. Brian Damude. Violence and horror once again disrupt the peace and tranquillity of the Ontario countryside as personal vengeance and available loaded firearms accentuate the evil that lies within us all. Dominic Hogan is outstanding as the husband frustrated beyong control whose opportunistic actions spur the knotted plot. CC: 22: 31-33, 48-49.. D: Ambassador Films; P: Film Can Prod. 1975. Eliza’s Horoscope. Dir. Gordon Sheppard. Seven years in the making, this mystical trip to adult consciousness for the girl Eliza is a visually stunning but simplistic voyage through astrology, eroticism, sexual exploitation, religion and clinging memories to find love and maturity. Marcel Sabourin is spicy as a perverted medic in an international cast which includes Texan born Tom Lee Jones and Elizabeth Moorman as Indian boy and searching girl. CC: 23: D & P: OZali Film 1974. The Melting Pot. Dir. Deke Miles. A low-budget, non-CFDC, locally financed work that attempts to unite the popularity of disasters and nostalgia. According to Winnipeg critic Len Klady it doesn’t work and the film should be kept at home under lock and Key CC: 25: 46. D & P: Deke Miles, Joe’s & Co. 1975. The Man Who Skied Down Everest. Japanese-Canadian co-production by F. R. Crawley scripted by Judith Crawley from Miura’s diary and narrated by Douglas Rain. The long and arduous trip to Everest and descent from 26,000 feet is spectacular on film though tedious, but the use of a telescopic lens so great that watching a flyspeckman falling on a mountainside creates an unearthly experience. CC: 22: 46. D & P: Crawley Films. 1973. AL TLRS DISTRIBUTORS: Ambassador Films, 88 Eglinton Ave., East Toronto. 485-9425 Astral Communications, 224 Davenport Rd., Toronto. 924-9721 Cinepix, 8275 Mayrand, Montreal, 866-8831 696 Yonge St., Suite 303, Toronto, 964-7373 Crawley Films Ltd. 409 King W., Toronto (416) 366-0714. F.G.W. Import Co. 1437 Kingston Rd., Toronto. Les Films Mutuels, 225, Roy St., E., Montreal, 845-5211 O’Zali Films, 1445 Bishop St., Rm. 12, Montreal, 487-5255 March Films, 1700 Taylor Ave., No. 1, Winnipeg, 489-2032 Muddy York Motion Pictures, 47 Colborne St., Suite 205, Toronto, 364-2798 Paramount Pictures, 1 Yonge St., Toronto 366-8811 New Cinema, 35 Britain St.. Toronto, 862-1674 Universal Films, 2450 Victoria Park Ave.. Willowdale, Ont., 491-3000