In Contention

Tag: Dead Ringers

  • Space oddity

    MoonIt’s hardly the only intriguing thing about “Moon” — the oddball sci-fi effort that Kris greatly admired earlier this week — that director Duncan Jones is in fact the rather more infamously named Zowie Bowie. Still, you must admit that an intimate space epic directed by the son of Ziggy Stardust has a certain symbolic cache to it; clearly, if the reviews are to be believed, visionary eccentricity (not to mention otherworldly interests) runs in the family.

    I must admit I wasn’t aware of this fact until I read this profile of Jones and his leading man, Sam Rockwell, in the New York Observer. It’s a fun piece, in which the two kindred spirits essentially try to outperform each other in the quirky loner stakes — loneliness being, they agree, the core theme of the film. It also offers some insight into the process behind Rockwell’s reportedly extraordinary dual performance:

    “It became part of this ingredients list of how do I make a film that Sam wants to be in? I know, I’ll make him play all the roles … and write the theme music, too,” Mr. Duncan joked.  It was indeed a challenge for Mr. Rockwell, who had to shoot each scene multiple times, either with a body double or using a Motion Control camera that can replicate body movements identically. Mr. Rockwell would act out the scene, go to hair and makeup to differentiate between the two characters, and then come back to set and do it all over again. It became what the two men described as a kind of dance, having to stick to precise moments to make the scene work—action scenes when the two Sams fight or play Ping-Pong were particularly difficult.

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  • On the Candian cinema

    With the recent announcement of Paul Gross’s “Passchendaele” as the opening night film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (and honor traditionally handed to a Canadian endeavor), I thought I’d dedicate some space to the best of Canadian cinema.  But first, a history of sorts.

    Growing up in Ontario, Canada, I fell in love with cinema at a very young age. I loved watching those old Universal monster movies on Friday nights, or the Sunday afternoon Big Show of the Week, which was usually yet another showing of “Man of a Thousand Faces” or “Red River.” Essentially, I grew up on American films, and I believe American cinema is the most exciting on the globe.

    I say this as a Canadian who loves our national cinema, as a critic who has access to Canadian films that are often never released, and as a huge supporter of the Canadian film industry. As long as the government controls what is happening with the money that makes these films, we will never have as strong an industry as we could, and it will be forever difficult to get a film made in this country.

    Ask Sarah Polley, a national treasure and world-reknowned actress who struggled to get funds to make “Away from Her,” one of the best reviewed films of last year. The reason films get made at all is through government grants and funding. It is a dangerous catch 22.

    The first Canadian that mad an impact on me was “Goin’ Down the Road,” a wonderful picture made in 1970 by director Don Shebib (who attended film school with Francis Coppola). His picture was about Canadians, for Canadians made by Canadians and dealt with plights recognized by Canadians. But of course one did not have to be Canadian to enjoy it. In fact, the film played for more than a year in New York City in 1970 when films lasted longer than two months in theaters. More than the great documentaries from the National Film Board, this film seemed to announce to the world that Canada had a filmmaking community waiting to be unleashed.

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