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...Rowe's feature--length Popcorn with Maple Syrup favours populist chronicle over cultural analysis its survey of major personalities, events and turning points in Canada's movie history.
Subtitled And Other Canadian Film Phenomena, Monk's 357-page tome, published in 2001, consisted of thematic essays, biographies of directors associated with themes probed in the book and mini-reviews of 100 milestone pictures. At the end of each review, Monk itemized the typically Canadian themes and motifs in the film. These include anti-heroic protagonists, dysfunctional relationships, an obsession with death, and, of course, strange sexual cravings. After all, the Canadian canon includes a movie (Kissed) about a necrophiliac corpse-humper. Sharpe's fight little documentary, subtitled A Trek through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche, only hints at the numerous lines of discussion in Monk's book. In fact, Sharpe said during an interview that her film is intended to be more a "celebration of Canadian film" than head-scratching exegesis.
To set up its cheery tone, Weird Sex and Snowshoes opens on bemused and bewildered filmmakers trying to define Canadian movies. For Norman Jewison, they're "kind of perverse ... really sick." Guy Maddin calls them "sneaky. and two-faced." Surprisingly, Atom Egoyan is tongue-tied, a little gag that pays off near the end of the documentary when he comes up with a definition that serves as the movie's final word. Loaded with clips from dozens of pictures, Weird Sex strives to counter widespread public perceptions of Canadian cinema. Sharpe, working closely with producer Gabriela Schonbach and writer Dianna Bodnar, sought out movie moments that are dramatic, funny, lyrical and strange in films ranging from David Cronenberg's The Fly to Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjurat. Forceful, rapid pacing boosts an impression of vivacious, sexy energy, rather than the awkward inwardness audiences expect to be condemned to if they buy a ticket to a Canadian...
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More articles from Take One
Shipbreakers: the place where ships go to die., September 01, 2004
Cannes Film Festival., September 01, 2004
Banff Television Festival., September 01, 2004
Defile in Veil.(Short Takes), September 01, 2004
They Came from Within: a History of Canadian Horror Cinema., September 01, 2004
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