Cinema Canada (May 1980)

AAORT FILM REVIEWS like states only prompt the viewer to think that she should stop feeling sorry for herself. Maureen Brown was chosen Best Actress at the 1979 Canadian Student Film Festival for this role, but the character does little more than mope, and the acting is unsubtle. George Belsky, as the father, deserves more attention. Though he is only called upon to look longingly at Elizabeth, and wonder why she doesn’t appreciate what he does for her, he does a good job of portraying a confused and nostalgic immigrant. His daughter becomes more and more culturally alien to him. Many ethnic Canadians would identify with this problem. The technical qualities of the film are quite good. Last year it won an award from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. The colour is remarkably distinct for a student film. There are few gratuitous camera movements, and little reliance on flashy cinematographic tricks. For Elizabeth is directed with considerable talent, but it suffers from a script whose sentiments are ten years out of date. Director Richard Zywotkiewicz might be well advised to choose a script other than his own for his next project. He’d probably do a good job with it. Gerry Flahive The Sorcerer’s Eye p.c. Lightscape Films (1979) p./d./ph. G. Phillip Jackson sd. FX from Soundmix Ltd. sd. mix. Patrick Spence-Thomas ed. Philip Jackson, Kenneth Gordon (asst.) lab. Northern col. 16mm running time 4 min. distrib. Light scape Films. The Sorcerer’s Eye is a four-minute, mood poem, filmed by Philip Jackson, in and around the isolated ruins of two medieval fortresses high in the Yosges Mountains in north-eastern France. The piece, produced with a Bolex and two primary lenses, is an effective and evocative exercise in simplicity. A huge stone circle, embedded in the hillside on its edge, is the focal point — an icon through which the viewer enters into Jackson’s sense of myth and the mystic. Jacskon deliberately works with the many portals and passageways of the abandoned ruins, inviting our imaginations to go beyond the bleak grey stone. A staggered editing pace, low-angle views of lonely towers, and a cold mountain sunrise all serve to call forth the Sorcerer’s timeless world. The basic soundtrack is the wind, whistling and moaning through the ghostly archways. It is quietly augmented by Elizabeth’s father (George Belsky) — culturally confused, alienated, and longing for the past. 40/May 1980 electronics, and, as we are transported, by the echoes of a Celtic harp. The film seeks to establish and explore a specific mood — no more and no less. And this it does. A poem: it’s good to see that some people still believe in them for. their own sake. John Brooke (SSR Caleta ee Ee 2s Ss teil TS OS ee ERRATUM Apologies to Atlantic City, USA for our error in issue no. 63, p. 5. In listing the credits for the film, the following were omitted : assist. d. in prep. John Desormeaux cont. France Lachapelle d.o.p. Richard Ciupka csc assist. cam. Andy Chumura, Larry Lynn cam. apprentices Paul Morin (Can.) Michel Guay (USA). ADVERTISING Airspeed Brokers 21 Alpha Cine 12 Arthur Winkler 30 Barbizon Light 31 Bellevue Pathé 13 D. Benner 14° Council of Canadian Filmmakers 35 Derek Smith 16 Editing House 6 Editors Cut Ltd. 18 Film Arts 25 Film Opticals 23 The Lucky Star Cover Medallion 4 Motion Picture Guarantors 8 Panavision 2 Proparms 22 Quebec Film Industry Handbook 14 Sonolab 39 Spot Labs Ltd. 28