Today marks National Canadian Film Day, a day for all Canadians to celebrate Canada through our nation’s rich cinematic history. The day follows a month-long campaign to raise awareness of the achievements of Canadian filmmakers and to encourage Canadians across the country to rise above their national aversion to self-aggrandizement and actually watch a great Canadian film!
National Canadian Film Day is an initiative of Reel Canada, an organization that has put on over 800 festivals of Canadian films for over 200,000 high school students and new Canadians across the country since 2005. An achievement that many of us, often do not hear about. So how do can you partake in this celebration of Canadian cinematic greatness? The Royal Cinema is screening two Canadian classics this evening.
Highway 61 – 7pm
Inspired by Bob Dylan’s classic song and the fact that Highway 61 actually starts in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Bruce McDonald and Don McKellar combined forces to create this acclaimed rock’n’roll road movie. When naive barber Pokey Jones (McKellar) meets Jackie Bangs (Buhagiar), a flamboyant roadie on the run, it does not take her long to persuade him to leave Thunder Bay for New Orleans. Jones finds himself taking not only Jackie but also a frozen corpse he found in his backyard that she claims is her brother. In hot pursuit of the fleeing couple is Mr. Skin (Pastko), a bizarre and deluded character who thinks of himself as the Devil. As the three travel south, sparks fly and romance blooms between Pokey and Jackie.
Last Night – 9:15pm
As the year 2000 grew near, paranoia around “Y2K” was rampant. Don McKellar responded to the anxiety around potential computer meltdowns with Last Night, a witty film that ended up receiving 13 Genie nominations and won Best Actress (Sandra Oh), Best Supporting Actor (Callum Keith Rennie) and the Jutra Award for Best Directorial Debut (McKellar). It also won the Prix de la jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival.
As the film begins, the last day of 1999 has truly become the “last night.” The apocalypse is here. Humanity will die at midnight. As rioting and looting begin to take place in Toronto, disparate groups of people prepare to meet their fate. A young architect (McKellar) plans to go out solo while his best friend (Rennie) attempts to have as many sexual conquests as possible. When the architect meets a stranded young woman (Oh) who can’t find her husband (David Cronenberg), a strange and intense relationship quickly develops.
I admit I have not seen Highway 61 but have heard about it, and I’m certainly curious about it. However, I have seen Last Night and is a film I can certainly recommend. If you have not seen either of them, or have yet to see them on the big screen, tonight is your chance to do so. For more information on National Canadian Film Day, visit canadianfilmday.ca.
