The Last Night
The "Last Night" is the story about several Canadians and their adventures in last 6 hours before the end of the world. The movie got in the top 5 of the best Canadian movies. It was the first movie Don McKellar produced and received rewards for it. The "Last Night" is a very thought infuriating and amusing movie. However, there is a doubt that it's a pure Canadian movie, and not a simply Hollywood-like picture.
One problem with identifying what makes a typical Canadian film is the
diversity that is currently splitting Canadian cinema. G. Prately of
www.kinema.com states, 'it (is) impossible to generalize over Canadian
cinema as a whole' (2002). This is a reference to the present divide
between the American influenced Canadian film industry and the more
traditional Canadian flick. Such is the state of Canadian cinema that
Hollywood influenced films are themselves a genre of 'Canadian' film.
For example the low brow comedy Porkey's. More widely accepted as a
typical Canadian film are the darker, murkier movies that are the
staple diet of French speaking Canada's film industry. These are the
films Canada is known for, with arty direction and often sinister
undertones. These films are made to provoke reflection and take the
silver screen in new directions. It was this Canadian film style that
hinduonnet.com describes as having 'there own identity born out of
their own geography, climate and social customs' (2002). Sadly these
films have small audiences and do not profit. 3% of films seen by
Canadians are made in Canada. Isidora Rajsic of Capital News Online
quotes, 'Canadian film is virtually invisible'. This lack of
commercialism forces Canadato copy Hollywood. But which of these camps
does Last Nightbelong to? Is it a replication of Hollywood's
blockbusters with muscle bound heroes trying to save the earth in the
final few nail biting hours? Or is it typical of Canadian cinema
featuring dark humour and originality? To determine this, comparisons
will be made to Hollywoodhits Armageddonand Deep Impact, both also
released in 1998, and more importantly also centre on the end of the
world.
The basic scenario of Last Night, the earth ending, could at first
impression be seen as a bit ambitious for a Canadian film, and fit the
mould for a Hollywoodproduction. However similarities in the storyline
stop there. Last Nightis at heart a people film, a film that deals
with emotions and relationships, in this way it is typically Canadian.
While the blockbuster equivalents focus on space rockets and specials
effect meteors, Last Nightforgets computer generation, Joshua Tanzer
writes 'all the action is in the eyes of the actors'(2000). This lack
of special effects allows for the development of the characters,
central to any good Canadian film. The special effects that do occur
are subtle, for example the burning tower block as a back drop for one
of the car journeys. The scale of the film is also characteristically
Canadian. The whole film centres on a few loosely connected characters
set in one area of Toronto. Compare this with Deep Impact which
features clips of scenes in Moscow and shots of the planet as the
meteor hits, there is nothing on this scale in Last Night, it is
simply people.
There is simply no need for special effects in Last Nightas the shock
value comes from the head on tackling of stressed emotions and some
taboo subjects. The choice of the gas man to ring every customer to
thank them would rarely been included in a Blockbuster. More notably
the references to homosexuality as an experiment for experiments sake,
and the presence of a 40 something virgin are unusual topic matter.
Although Canadian cinema isn't renowned for its sexual content, these
subjects are dealt with in true Canadian film style. The use of tongue
in cheek humour is apparent, as is sarcasm. The later is used to good
effect at the Christmas dinner scene by the character Patrick. This
makes the film more believable and helps avoid most of the 'good-bye'
American cliches used in the Hollywoodequivalents.
The ending to the film also strongly contrasts that of most American
motion pictures. Bruce Willis manages to save the world in Armageddon,
and Morgan Freeman saves most of it in Deep Impact, but this is not
the case in Last Night. For whatever reason it is known from the start
they will all die and this fact accepted. This aspect of 'the unknown'
is rarely seen in American films, where more commonly the story line
is explained in full with diagrams. To emphasize a point made earlier,
this film is not about the events; it is about emotions and
relationships between the characters. The people who play these
characters are yet another example of differences between the
blockbusters and Last Night. There are no truly famous actors to rival
the likes mentioned earlier. This is another characteristic of
Canadian cinema which is shared by Last Night.
What adds the extra Canadian spirit to Last Nightis the promotion of
the fact the film is Canadian. Many Canadian films have been
criticised for not making reference to the fact the film is set in
Canada. For example the highly successful film My Big Fat Greek
Weddingwas shot in Torontoand starred a Winnipegborn actress, but is
set in Chicagoand all Canadian aspects of the film are ignored. This
is not the case in Last Night. It is mentioned they are in Torontoand
the no attempts are made to hide the fact the star is Canadian and the
leading lady has Canadian parents.
Last Night is a great Canadian film. It manages to ignore the influence
of its southern neighbours and stay true to the grit of the Canada's
traditional style, while remaining amusing and challenging.
Comparisons have shown it couldn't be more unlike a
Hollywoodblockbuster. And because of the lack of funds available to
the Canadian film industry this is the type of film they should focus
on. Attempts should be made to overlook the temptation of
Americanising the industry in search of profits and stick to making
Canadian films such as this one.
About the Author: The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a senior writer and writers' consultant in term paper writing.
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