Adoration (Atom Egoyan, 2008)

[John Cope]

Finally, a new picture we can actually see from Egoyan (this pointedly excludes his last experimental piece, Citadel, which as far as I can tell was only screened to a museum audience in Toronto).

Hopefully this will be a return to form for Egoyan, or at least a return to a familiar comfort zone which might yield some fruitful results. From what I was led to understand, part of the reason for Egoyan's attempt to "go commercial" with the unfortunate Where the Truth Lies was due to the fact that Canadian national film funding was becoming very strictly regulated and those in power wanted to see some monetary reward for their investment. Since that time, I take it that the situation has changed somewhat and the stipulations have relaxed some. Maybe one of our Canadian members could shed some light on this.

[Ovader]

I was at a Telefilm meeting with other indie filmmakers last November and it is true they want to start funding more commercially viable productions otherwise there is a threat Telefilm will lose its funding.

[LeeB.Sims]

I have not seen any of his films other than The Sweet Hereafter which floored me. Its the kind of movie I sometimes feel like I dreamed. What else is recommended from Egoyan?

[Oedipax]

I have not seen any of his films other than The Sweet Hereafter which floored me. Its the kind of movie I sometimes feel like I dreamed. What else is recommended from Egoyan?

Exotica.

[John Cope]

Yeah, I second that. I still say that Exotica is his best film, though I'm very partial to everything prior to Sweet Hereafter, including his wonderful first film, Next of Kin.

As for everything else, I also harbor deeply held affection for Ararat despite its problems. I admire it though because in this case Egoyan is saved by the very didactic tendencies that sunk Felicia's Journey and Where the Truth Lies. The didacticism is up front in Ararat, allowing it to be a thorough and comprehensive essay film that pulled no apologies for itself. It isn't seen through the lens of genre but is completely about the questions of deconstruction that haunt all his features. In that sense it's a welcome throwback to the early stuff. Still, it is a bit of a mess and one longs for the clarity of a Family Viewing, say.

[tryavna]

I also harbor deeply held affection for Ararat despite its problems. ... Still, it is a bit of a mess

I'd agree with that. It's definitely worth watching for Charles Aznavour's lovely performance, though. And it comes on TV pretty frequently as well -- if you have access to IFC.

[a.khan]

"Exotica" is his best film; and I would also strongly endorse "The Adjuster."

It's showing in-competition at Cannes 2008.

A cursory google search reveals basic plot (below), but, I guess, more info will be forthcoming once it has screened at the fest.

...the film is a teen drama that "will examine how kids redefine themselves through the Internet," by focusing on "a high school student who claims to be a figure from recent history."

[John Cope]

I'm very excited to see this one in the line-up. Egoyan's last few (publicly screened) films have had various levels of problems but I'm hoping this one is a return to form as it's described plot seems to suggest a re-engagement with themes he has handled so well in the past (technological mediation and the resulting identity issues).

Also, his Cannes short last year was by far the best of the bunch and was one of the best things he's done period. That, too, suggests his creative faculties have been re-energized. I'd love to see him take the Palm though I strongly suspect that's a long shot.

[domino harvey]

Sounds interesting, I'm really amazed there aren't more films concerning the internet's impact on real life made by professional filmmakers.

[Barmy]

Yes, only Assayas has been able to give us a realistic depiction of what the internet is all about.

[Michael Kerpan]

Sounds interesting, I'm really amazed there aren't more films concerning the internet's impact on real life made by professional filmmakers.

Jun Ichikawa's "Ashita no watashi no tsukurikata" touches on this -- and is a wonderful film that no one in the West seems terribly interested in.

[colinr0380]

Yes, only Assayas has been able to give us a realistic depiction of what the internet is all about.

I thought All About Lily Chou-Chou was also a great 'internet' film.

It might be an obscure reference but I thought the ninth episode of the first season of the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series was one of the few productions that I have seen that really understood the Internet: it was basically a
re-cap episode that took the form of an internet forum discussion, re-literalising the concept of the forum as various theories were discussed in a chat room - among the nice touches were the way that the main debators had the text they spoke being 'posted' in the air in front of them and the way the commercial break came in the form of the moderator saying he needed to clear some space by dumping all the previous chat from the cache!

[Antoine Doinel]

The film has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.

[John Cope]

An exhaustive collection of links (the recent podcast is great).

So, did anyone get the chance to see this at the LFF? It's one of my most anticipated pictures this year.

[franco]

I remember yoshimori liking this at Cannes. Someone who acted in Birdsong advised me against seeing Adoration so I ended up missing it at our festival.

[John Cope]

Someone who acted in Birdsong advised me against seeing Adoration so I ended up missing it at our festival.

LOL. I assume you're talking about Peranson? I'm trying to remember whether he's ever liked any Egoyan (Sweet Hereafter maybe?).

[franco]

I'll ask Mark the next time I see him. Personally, I like Egoyan, despite my thought that he has been making the same film since the beginning (except for Where the Truth Lies - which he has pretty much disowned according to the people who listened to him during the Adoration Q&A sessions).

[Antoine Doinel]

Here's the trailer.

[yoshimori]

Not surprisingly, the movie is more creepy and stylized than the trailer suggests.

[exte]

I was about to say, tons of fun in that trailer there.

[John Cope]

Only Egoyan could make channel changing an intellectual/aesthetic event--ok, and Godard obviously. Whoever cut this video together was having their own surrealist fun; my favorite part: when the prairie dog oh-so-gradually dissolves/morphs into Egoyan and company.

BTW, has anyone else had the opportunity to see Adoration yet?

[Barmy]

Yes, I've seen it. It is better than Felicia and Truth (both terrible movies), and somewhat of a return to form in that he is back to the technology/video thing and a less traditional narrative structure. However I would still rank it toward the bottom of his oeuvre. All of his features from Next of Kin through Exotica are masterpieces or near-masterpieces. Then he went all stodgy with The Sweet Hereafter and hasn't fully recovered (and probably never will), although he's done some OK work since, including Ararat.

Anyway, Adoration doesn't really seem to have much to say about the internet. I'm not even sure what its message is. Still I found some of the scenes, particularly those with Arsinée Khanjian, to be fairly gripping.