Reviews

I caught this movie on Bravo, while channel surfing. I stopped, because I recognized English Bay as the beach where the two male leads were studying. After watching longer, I noted several Vancouver street scenes, which was a twist, given that few films were made in the city in the 1960s. The film itself is quirky and some of the minor characters seem to stumble over their lines.The plot line is interesting, though -- we see the protagonist, Tom, struggle with losing his virginity. However, when Tom gets his tutor pregnant, just after becoming engaged to his girlfriend, he and his friends threaten to ruin the tutor's repuation. The movie is more frank than you might expect for the times, although, being a Canadian film, this subject matter may have been more routine for the decade.

I caught this movie on Bravo, while channel surfing. I stopped, because I recognized English Bay as the beach where the two male leads were studying. After watching longer, I noted several Vancouver street scenes, which was a twist, given that few films were made in the city in the 1960s. The film itself is quirky and some of the minor characters seem to stumble over their lines.The plot line is interesting, though -- we see the protagonist, Tom, struggle with losing his virginity. However, when Tom gets his tutor pregnant, just after becoming engaged to his girlfriend, he and his friends threaten to ruin the tutor's reputation. The movie is more frank than you might expect for the times, although, being a Canadian film, this subject matter may have been more routine for the decade.

The Halifax Explosion was a turning point in Canadian history. It shook a young country, but left it stronger, if not more sober.

The CBC's "Shattered City" uses fiction to tell the story of the Halifax Explosion. Some of the actors put in good performances, although many are stiff. My major grievance is with the use of fiction. The viewer is not able to discern truth from fantasy. In fact, at the film's conclusion, a short clip shows the actors explaining they had not ever learned anything about the Hfx Explosion. This may be true for many Canadians, as well as people in other countries. The story has little to teach us, because it fails to recognize the greatness of the real story.

Based on the 1974 Governor General's Award-winning novel, The Diviners brings Margaret Laurence's Manawaka to life. The film follows Morag Gunn from her tough childhood in Manitoba through to middle-age -- all the while showing Morag's search for love. Along the way, we meet various characters from the Manawaka series and catch a glimpse into the many ways that society creates outcasts. The film also explores mythology, as shown through Christie's Scottish Piper Gunn, Mètis hero Jules Tonnerre, Morag's novel and songs by Skinner and Piquette. As Margaret Laurence's crowning achievement, The Diviners shows that truth and love can be "divined" in many ways.