Cinema Canada (Oct 1979)

An arch Genevieve Bujold listens to Burgess Meredith on their Final Assignment inception: like a reportedly ill-prepared and talky script, coupled with a shooting schedule involving several distant locations that would blow the budget through the roof and imperil the film’s certification as a Canadian feature (since most of the costs of the original shooting plan would have been incurred — and paid for — abroad). These problems, hampering the production’s smooth sailing, eventually culminated in the ill-mannered dismissal of director Silvio Narizzano, a week into the shooting. The producers became embroiled with the Directors Guild of Canada over the affair, eventually resolving it with a cash settlement to Narizzano. Amid all this brouhaha, Paul Almond was parachuted in, presumably behind enemy lines, with forty-eight hour’s notice. Rising to the occasion with characteristic style, Almond has, by all accounts, turned a patchwork flick into something approaching cinema. “If it weren’t for him,” one crew member was heard to say, “this production would be flat on its ass. He’s really the only one holding it together.” On this particular morning, Almond alternated between conducting rehearsals, setting up the afternoon’s work, calling his agent, directing shots, and rewriting the script from start to finish. The day’s work — with the oak panelled interiors of Montreal’s neoclassical city hall doubling as a Kremlin annex — involved a scene in which a Russian press attaché lectures foreign journalists — Genevieve Bujold, Michael York and Richard Gabourie -on the virtues of abiding by Soviet rules of press decorum. Renowned D.O.P. John Coquillon bemusedly watched over a crew of grips and assistants as they tried to keep up with a constantly-revised shooting schedule. For many Final Assignment is their baptism of fire; with the present proliferation of productions, Montreal’s pool of experienced technicians has been seriously depleted and many positions have been filled by first-timers. While not a bad thing in itself, it does make for a certain amount of confusion on the set. Nevertheless, things were readied on time, with the principals being called for rehearsals. Michael York, one of the more congenial and self-contained persons on the set, paced about snapping his fingers and going over his lines. Genevieve Bujold, in marked contrast, displayed an inordinate interest in her fingernails and a propensity for taking refuge behind the nearest closed door. These mannerisms aside, the rehearsals went smoothly and the scene was ready for the camera. But, sensing that the cast of extras had stiffened in their seats, Almond suddenly called a time-out and instructed his charges to walk around the room and relax. This exercise evidently paid off with the next scene being shot in three takes. The general impression from the day’s shoot was that the production has been able to keep its head above the water in spite of the constant script changes. Explained one of the crew, “The script’s been changed so much, who knows what we're doing today.” This is substantiated by the fact that on one occasion the crew scouted a location for a Soviet detention center scene at ten o.clock one morning and, by two o’clock in the afternoon were already shooting the scene. In all fairness, such an incident also reflects the crew’s efficiency and ability to work quickly. Nevertheless, most of the work is still ahead. One can only hope that Almond and his crew will pull it off. So far, the prognosis is encouraging. Meanwhile... “Tm ready for the staircase shot.” “That's great, but we’re only doing that this afternoon.” “Hey, I’ve got today’s script.” “It’s okay, we rewrote it while you were gone.” “They didn’t have ten boxes of croissants.” “So where’s Brezhnev?” “T thought he took a taxi.” “Think again.” René Balcer dice 8: Clark Limited Roy Ramsdale is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. P.C. Wu as Vice President in charge of marketing for Canada and the U.S.A. Mr. Wu brings many years of experience to this position. 30 Dorchester Ave. Toronto (416) 255-8594 Cinema Canada/5