The Necessities of Life dead on arrival

 

     
 

h, the

joys

of
Canadian
independent
films. You
—— can often
be sure to expect slow, sentimental and
non-confrontational epics, and The
Necessities of Life is no exception. In
fact, The Necessities of Life, directed by
Benoit Pilon, was like watching a flower
bloom, only later to realize you were
actually only watching a weed open, not
a rose, and had wasted your time waiting
for something that could just never
happen. The plot sets up the viewer to
care passionately about the movie and its
story, but instead of tears and laughs, it
disappointingly delivers at best a slight
smile.

It all sounds so good on paper: Inuit
clashes with whites and the story of our
country is told through the eyes of one
man, who becomes a metaphor for the
struggle of thousands of aboriginals to
keep their lands and their traditions in an
ever-changing world.

The story follows an Eskimo man,
Tivii (Natar Ungalaagq), step by painful
step as he journeys from Baffin Island
to Quebec City to receive treatment
at a sanatorium after falling ill with
Tuberculosis. At the sanatorium he is
faced with the challenges of struggling
not only with a chronic illness, but with
new customs, a new language and new
responsibilities.

In the process of the movie, Tivii tries
new things, almost takes a nurse lover—
she rejects his offer of sex (which is too
bad, might have given some spice to the
movie) and befriends another Inuk staying
at the hospital. This small boy Kaki,
helps Tivii out of a depression caused
from guilt of not being able to hunt and
provide for his family and an inability

= ™» Ashley
-\ Whillans

 
   
 

f

—. & entertainment

 

to communicate in French. In addition

to helping Tivii back to health, the boy
becomes his confidant, translator and the
audience for his endless Inuit stories until
Tivii’s cure and the boy’s death separate
the two forever.

While I have to admit the story is
extremely interesting from a historical
standpoint and is the kind of story
important to tell, if only to have record of
Inuit stories on film, it is definitely not the
sort of film to go see just for kicks.

Here’s a medical lesson: Tuberculosis
is a nasty disease, and there are too many
gruesome scenes in the movie filled with
blood, hacking, needles and bodily fluids.
It is just too realistic in this department.
Also, the plot really “hits the seal on the
head” if you will, and sort of like the
Titanic moving towards the iceberg, is
slow, lumbering and its end can be seen
for hours (and hours and hours) before it
actually arrives.

While I do appreciate the positive
portrayal of the white nursing staff, who
were nothing but kind and wonderful to
the poor, confused and depressed Tivii,
the story and momentum flat lined right
from the get go and no matter what
great lengths the filmmakers went to, to
resuscitate the story —including adding
hallucinations, a fat drunk guy, a sexy
nurse and a rule-bending priest—this
movie was DOA —dead on arrival.

At best this movie is cute, endearing
and educational, at worst dry, sad and a
little gross—enjoyable for class credit
perhaps, but I must admit it is not the
most romantic film. Instead my advice is
to read the plot summary, visit the website
and then save your time and money by
staying at home.

Sorry Tivii, I love you and what you
stand for, but for three hours of my time
on a Friday night, it just isn’t worth the
price of admission.

 

 

‘Pind.

Vancouver scene seeing green
despite economic drought

 

By Ashley Whillans, Arts Editor

hile most industries suffer, the
entertainment industry has
always boomed in times of

recession and economic turmoil and this
year’s downfall is no exception.

Box office numbers are soaring and
the number of productions in BC picking
up—it is a great time to be in the biz.

Not only are people spending more
money seeing movies, but thanks to tax
breaks and the low dollar, people and
productions are also spending more
money on making movies in Canada.

In fact, according to the Minister of
Tourism, Culture and Arts, Bill Bennett,
spending on movie and TV production in
B.C. shot up to $1.2 billion in 2008, an
increase of more than $250 million over
the previous year.

BC Film Commission data show
that total production spending and the
numbers of projects in British Columbia
in 2008 were up almost 30 per cent over
2007, with the majority of the increase in
foreign feature film activity.

“Our province continues to be
a top location in the global film and
television industries, with our stunning
locations, skilled professional workforce
and world-class motion picture
infrastructure,” Bennett said in a news
release.

The productions not only benefit
our province’s film industry employees,
but other industries as well including
hospitality industries such as hotel and
restaurant businesses.

“Even in these challenging
economic times, the work we’ve put
into strengthening and diversifying BC’s
economy means that motion picture
production and many other industries
will continue to grow and thrive,”
Bennett said.

What this means to Vancouverites
is that we will continue to be home
to some big network shows such as
Smallville and Stargate Atlantis, and
thanks to tax breaks, American-based
projects will continue to film north of the
border, keeping our film industry and its
subsequent periphery industries strong.

2009 already has a decent line up of
shows set to begin filming such Hot Tub
Time Machine—the new John Cusack
movie, as well as the big budget sci-fi
series from Fox starring Joshua Jackson
entitled Fringe.

There have been some setbacks and
cancelled projects within Hollywood,
such as the termination of a Hollywood-
style adaptation of King Lear set to
feature Keira Knightley as Cordelia
and Anthony Hopkins as Lear. Despite
this, Vancouver, otherwise known as
Hollywood North, is going strong in the
midst of the economic bust—and can
look forward to a prosperous year ahead.

So, with dozens of new projects
slated to begin production in Vancouver
in the next few months, don’t be
surprised to run into a few celebs at the
neighbourhood bar —who knows, maybe
there’s even enough productions to steal
fifteen minutes of fame, because, well,
anything goes in the movie RURESra