When I first saw the trailer for this movie, and subsequently some scenes on the Genies, I thought it was about something completely different. So when the movie began and turned out to be about something else, I was very surprised. The Necessities of Life (Ce Qu’il Faut Pour Vivre)is a beautiful movie. Sitting in the theatre I was often overwhelmed at the beauty and simple brilliance of this story. It is a wonderful, simple story about the basics someone needs to survive in life, filled with brave and touching performances, this movie is a must-see.
The Necessities of Life is a movie about a man named Tiivii. When the movie opens he is at home on Baffin Island in 1952 with his family. We can see that the family does well, with fresh salmon and spices and fires all around. Even though these scenes are brief, we know that he is happy and they leave a lasting impression. Tiivii and his family go to see a boat that appears on the lake near their home. They are tested and x-rayed and Tiivii is unfortunately found to have Tuberculosis. He is told that he must leave his family to go for treatment. Obviously, he does not want to, but he is forced. Once he arrives in Quebec City after quite some time at sea he is thrust into a sanatorium, surrounded with people who are not like him (referred to in the movie as “Whites”), who do not speak his language, make no attempt to understand him and mock him. He quickly begins to become severely depressed, but his health worsens in an equal downturn and he is told he will have to live at the sanatorium for at least two years. After two attempts at running away and starving himself, one concerned nurse, Carole, brings a young boy called Kaki, from a village near Tiivii’s to be a friend and companion. As their relationship improves, so does his health.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I can not impress upon you what a beautiful movie this is. Natar Ungalaaq, who plays Tiivii in the film, is an excellent actor, bringing this character to life with both strength and vulnerability. It is an extremely brave performance, every bit deserving of the Genie he received in recognition. Éveline Gélinas, who plays Carole, is excellent as a caring nurse who wants to understand her patient only enough to save his life in the beginning gives a very warm and caring performance as her character begins to want to understand her patient as a person. Paul-André Brasseur, who plays Kaki, is brilliant in dancing the line between “White” and “Eskimo” and being torn between the two worlds.
The cinematography was equally beautiful, with shots of Baffin Island interspersed between shots of the sanatorium, you are consistently reminded that Tiivii doesn’t belong here, but that he will find a way to fit in long enough to get back to his family. One of the most interesting parts of the movie for me, although a little gross, was seeing the treatments for TB in 1952. They are never specifically focused on themselves, but rather seen through the eyes of Tiivii, and they were fascinating.
Near the beginning of Tiivii’s time at the sanatorium his doctor makes note that having TB is like war, you must fight or die. This simple phrase is actually the best allegory for the entire film. Tiivii goes away to a foreign place, learns to adapt, fights for his life and when it is over he will never relate to his old life the same way, regardless of how much he pines for it during the process. He carves stunningly beautiful miniature animals, statues, Inuit men and women, sleds and spears to teach Kaki about his heritage. He tells stories from his childhood. He plays games with Kaki that he would play with his daughters. At the end though, he has been touched by his experiences at the sanatorium and he will never be the same. It is, in fact, exactly like a war.
There is so much more I could say about this movie. The Necessities of Life is most certainly one of the more beautiful, enjoyable and memorable films I have seen in a long time. I am very proud that this movie is Canadian and i sincerely hope that, wherever you are, you get a chance to see it. If you live in Toronto it will be at The Carlton at Yonge and College until at least Thursday, but based on the very small turn out last night, probably not much longer. Catch it while you can. It should not be missed.
This is a very sad movie. But it’s not sad because it highlights the needless lives lost at war, or what young men were (are) subjected to in the commission of fighting one. Nor is it sad because war tears apart lives – of those who fight them and those who stay at home – nor because it shines a light on the fact that war simply breeds hate and few of the ‘cogs’ in the machine even know what they’re really fighting for. Nope, I’m pretty sure that we knew all of that already. No, this movie is very sad because it made me ashamed to be Canadian. Not because we did something during wartime that should make me ashamed. Nay, nay. This movie is sad because for some reason, that I certainly can not divine, Paul Gross thought that it would be good to make an overblown Heritage Moment to show us all that.
The plot is more than a little schizophrenic. Sargent Michael Dunne has been overseas fighting where, in a fit of completely understandable, human anger, he did some bad things (things I was very impressed that he had the honesty to include in the film, to be frank, then he let me down for the next 100 minutes). After doing those things and going AWOL, he was caught and brought home to recuperate. While he is convalescing, he seems to have fallen in love with his nurse, whose first name he doesn’t even know. Most of this happens off screen. In an attempt to keep him from being tried as a deserter, they diagnose him with PTSD (that’s post-traumatic stress disorder for those of you without medical degrees) and send him to the recruitment office. There he meets the brother of the woman Michael’s in love with who wants to go to war, despite being asthmatic, to impress the father of the woman he loves. More stuff happens, but it’s so pastoral that if I tell you what happens next, I’ll have to tell you the whole thing. Not that you’d miss much.
I was disappointed in almost everything about this movie, as I’m sure you can tell. It was stagey, the dialogue was like a bad episode of Road to Avonlea and Men with Brooms stuck together, Gross plays the one and *only* man in the entire country (and subsequent battlefield) that is the voice of reason, and it took an hour and a half to get to anything interesting. When it did eventually get to the interesting stuff, it chose to end the movie with the most (MOST!) ridiculously awful allegory. The only thing I can give it is that when Paul Gross is doing his thing, he’s so charming that I almost forget that the words coming out of his mouth are ridiculous, and that the battle scenes were very well executed. This last point leads me to believe that Gross could have made a genuinely brilliant war movie, which would have highlighted the Canadian contribution to World War I in a much less obvious, flag waving way. With all due respect, even Americans are more subtle. And Saving Private Ryan *ended* with an actual waving American flag.
I have no idea where this movie went wrong, but I know that at several points someone should have stopped and asked, ‘What are we DOING?!?!’ Paul Gross has a history of being very passionate about his projects and this one was no different. He slaved to get the funding, wrote the script, directed and produced. I just wish it had been better and I wish it hadn’t made me guffaw with laughter and blush with embarrassment. I can honestly say that this is 1 hour 55 minutes not well spent and I am baffled how it ended up in this year’s Genies, especially along side genuinely moving and brilliant movies like Amal.
I saw this movie over a year ago at Canada’s Top Ten. After the screening I ran over to the director, Ritchie Mehta, to vigorously shake his hand and tell how much I loved the movie. I have been trying to write this review since then. Unfortunately, Amal is not a movie easily summed up into a few words for a review. In fact, trying to sum up everything that this movie made me feel is something of an exercise in torture. This little story about the only honest rickshaw driver in India is truly amazing.
Amal is the story of, well, Amal. A humble rickshaw driver in India. Amal drives his rickshaw by day, goes home to his mother at night and meets many a customer in between. It’s as simple as that. One day he runs into a particularly crazy customer – an old man who demands to be taken one place, then insists he asked to be taken another. Amal handles this with the same humility that he handles everything else and takes all the blame. When Amal refuses to take a tip from the man because the customer had not been pleased with the ride, the man is taken aback, although he’s not the type of man who would show it. While Amal’s life continues pretty much unscathed, the man’s life is changed forever. The man turns out to be G.K. Jayaram, a real estate mogul. He was so touched by Amal’s honest, humble nature that he has his will changed to give his entire fortune to Amal, rather than his three already spoiled children. There is a twist though, once Jayaram passes, his family has 30 days to find Amal and offer him the money, in hopes that simply meeting him will change them. Unwillingly, the search begins by a family friend while his children attempt to do everything possible to ensure Amal is never found. The story unfolds as we watch changes in both the Amal’s life and the lives of Jayara’s three children, sending ripples into the lives of everyone involved in the story.
It’s possible that I would have had an easier time putting together this review if there not been a Q&A afterwards. This is a remarkably personal story for Metha, who wrote the script with his brother, Shaun, based on Shaun’s experiences in India. Add to that a very funny story about Bill Clinton and you have a movie that’s almost impossible to write about. The movie was shot in India on a very small budget and includes some very impressive talent. In addition to their lead, Rupinder Nagra, who had little on his resume before this movie and who is brilliant – putting in a performance that’s all under the surface, the subtlety of which shouts at you from the screen – you have acclaimed Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah (despite a very long resume of excellent work, most American’s would know him best as Captain Nemo from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and Roshan Seth (again, Americans would know him best from Temple of Doom). Vik Sahay is also in this, but his start only rose after the movie came out, when he was cast as the sassy sidekick on Chuck. Apparently casting Shah was very much a coup, but also a fluke. When they arrived in India they set out to find him, because they had the crazy idea that if they just pitched him on the movie he would want to do it, but they didn’t have any contact information for him, so they were essentially wandering the streets him hopes of bumping into him. This would be like going to LA and walking around Hollywood Blvd in hopes of meeting Anthony Hopkins. But they *did* bump into him and once they pitched him he *did* want to do the movie, thus adding fuel to the fire of independent filmmakers everywhere. Needless to say, production was excellent, and very much done on a shoestring.
Amal struck me very hard because, while simplistic and – essentially – a little gimmicky, it’s a very beautiful story that wants to make you think about your own values, your own life, your own essential nature. It’s not a perfect film to be sure, but its charm and earnest nature makes you overlook the few small missteps. Amal is a movie I think everyone should see and, in fact, almost ended up on my 10 (it still might). It’s just so very easy to get wrapped up in the everyday hustle, bustle, feelings, needs, wants, greeds and desires of life and Amal is a movie that takes you away from all that. It points out that all that stuff is really unnecessary in your life and that only you and those who matter to you is what’s really important. Ask yourself, would you give up your closest friend for a fortune? And if you would what does it say about you? If you wouldn’t, what does that say? It’s the kind of movie that rolls on you. You don’t really understand it until your second or third viewing.
I am extremely pleased that it was nominated for Best Picture this year at the Genies. In Canada today we no longer simply nominate the only five movies that were made this year and meet the criteria. There is a long list of excellent movies made by talented artists and so, being chosen for this award is indeed a great honour, and one that this movie richly deserves.
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So many of you have probably heard by now that Jason Reitman has been talking smack to every camera he can get his face in front of to say that he feels that Juno should have been nominated for the Genies. At the Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, he said:
“I still don’t understand why… It’s a Canadian director, Canadian stars, Canadian cast, Canadian crew, shot in Canada — how are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg’s film about Russians living in London shot in England with a British crew and British cast is eligible? I’m sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me; I don’t get it.”
Interestingly, it would appear that the film was never submitted by FOX Searchlight, the film’s distributor. But there’s still more to that story. Even if it HAD been submitted, it wouldn’t have been considered anyway. Sara Morton, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, said in response (because he’s been talking SO much smack about this that they’ve actually had to *respond* to it),
“For a film to be eligible for a Genie, it must be Canadian… And we don’t decide what ‘Canadian’ is. We rely on the decision of CAVCO, the Canadian Audio Visual Certification Office, which certifies Canadian films. The CRTC has another certification process. And we rely on those independent third-party processes, because those are the ones accepted in the industry.”
There really is no question that Mr. Reitman makes phenomenal films. I loved Thank You for Smoking and Juno as well, but if he really wanted it to BE a Canadian movie, then why not go the extra step and ensure Canadian funding? If he’s attempting to set out to make a statement about Canadian movies and how good they can be then is it not a much more powerful message when Thinkfilm or Serendipity Point Films co-funds the movie with FOX Searchlight? Now that would be a coup and would make people come out to celebrate the Genies. So… Mr. Reitman, what do you say? Make them bring their American cash, throw it in the pot with the funny coloured Canadian money and make a movie that will really put us on the map? How aboot it?
Source and Source
March 5, 2008
in Uncategorized
It’s no surprise that Sarah Polley’s movie Away From Her was the big winner of the evening. And to be fair, it’s not undeserving. Best Picture and Achievement in Directing went to Polley’s movie, but to be fair, if I had to choose one, I would have gone with L’age des Tenebres (Days of Darkness), Denys Arcand’s brilliant, black masterpiece that was both topical AND Canadian. And if I had to come down on something for Direction, I would have to say it should have been Bruce MacDonald for The Tracey Fragments. I think that his vision and achievement in making this movie should set the bar for filmmakers everywhere, if for no other reason, than for taking a fresh look at old subject matter and presenting a pretty old story in a way that was new, interesting and made a connection with the viewer like no film I’ve seen in a long time. After all, this is the guy who brought you Hard Core Logo. Enough said.
Gordon Pinsent and Julie Chrisite for Away From Her are well deserved. I think that I would really like for someday Ellen Page to be recognized for her unique and stellar work, but she does have time to do that. Her work in The Tracey Fragments was so much more deserving of an award than her work in Juno, but so long as I can continue to see her do her job, I’ll be happy forever.
I am well pleased with FIDO winning and being nominated, not only because its hero is a zombie, but because it hit all the right notes and I sincerely hope that the most effective use of these awards is the prompt rise in this movie’s DVD sales. Please. Go rent it. Do yourself a favor.
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