Sometimes courage comes from the most surprising places.
There is a tragedy at the centre of this film involving the children of a town in British Columbia, Canada, teased out little by little until the final reveal. We learn of it first through a clever plot device in which Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holmes), a lawyer, canvasses support among the parents for a group lawsuit. As Stephens tours the town, we too are taken inside people's homes, and more importantly inside the town's rumour mill. Through Stephens's eyes and ears, we gain insight into the dark and dirty secrets of the townspeople's lives.
Holmes' divorced lawyer is himself in a troubled relationship with his grownup daughter, a long-time drug addict. Present-day scenes of their painful talks by phone contrast with idyllic scenes from the past, but also one incident where he literally held his daughter's innocent young life in his hands.
Another access point to the story is young Nicole Burnell's (Sarah Polley) narration of the traditional tale of The Pied Piper of Hamlyn, expressed in the form of a poem. This poem, very poignantly, stands as a metaphor for what has happened to the town and the town's children, including Nicole, especially Nicole. Almost subliminally, at first, the poem extends the story and mutates it in unexpected directions, to more closely mirror the aftermath of the town's tragedy.
A key reason for choosing to see this film was that the title came up when I did a search on Sarah Polley, the wonderfully bloody-minded star of Go (1999). She was good, but for me the standout performance here is that of Holmes.
Another reason for choosing to see this film is that it was well spoken of by Adam Kempenaar and Matty Robinson on Filmspotting.net, but having seen it now, I can't quite decide what to make of it. It is a serious film for an intelligent, adult audience, well acted, well shot, and with several very poignant and/or disturbing story-lines running through it. But what the film is about, what the underlying message is, what all the parts add up to, I'm not quite sure, and so, I'm a bit disappointed. (Surely the film's take-home message can't be: "Spare your children from the miseries of adult life. If you have the chance, kill them now!")
The reason for my confusion could be down to the fractured narrative structure of the film. Alternatively, it might be a problem of perception, i.e. my fault. Rather than seeing the film straight through, due to force of circumstance, I saw it in two sittings, and this might have diluted the impact. But, until I see it again and maybe gain greater insight, I can't give it more than a high matinee.
Hmn, now reading on IMDB.com/title/tt0120255/ I find that Matthew Tichenor HAS made sense of the film: "The community is paralyzed by its anger and cannot let go. All but one young girl... who finds the courage to lead the way to the sweet hereafter."
- Rating: High matinee
- When seen: 7 Mar 2011
- Where seen: Home
- More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia
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Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.
Just spotted on IMDB.com that Sarah Polley was involved in some way or other on most of the songs on the film's soundtrack, singing, and writing the music or words. You see: I told you she was a great talent!
ReplyDeleteSorry, link to the film soundtrack: imdb.com/title/tt0120255/soundtrack
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