October 3, 2004

Canadian movies?

I can't speaking with any authority about Canadian movies largely due to the reasons outlined by Dan Brown in his ramble, When it comes to movies, let's hide our national identity. As he puts it:

We may not like to admit it, but the term "Canadian movie" comes with all kinds of negative baggage. In the mind of the average ticket buyer standing in line at your local multiplex, a Canadian movie is (a) weird and depressing, and (b) cheaply made. This reputation is well earned; it came about because in the past our movies have been low-budget productions that, for the most part, were weird and depressing.
The one exception, for me, might be films from Quebec, such as Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions Barbares).

Speaking strictly for myself, I don't want to know if a film is a good Canadian movie. I just want to know if it's a good movie. If it's from Canada - fine, surprise me when I see it. But being from Canada isn't a selling point, not where I'm concerned. Being an interesting film is.

And if the truth be told, past experience has left me with the knee-jerk response that if it is Canadian it looks cheap and is hopelessly depressing. That this isn't accurate isn't relevant. It's a knee-jerk response.

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