Quirky Canadians

If you believe the critics Canadian actor Seth Rogen is the new “one to watch”… Comedy Knocked Up, in which he stars, is as doing as much great business at the box office as it is receiving great reviews. Travelling the world promoting the film he’s also having as much fun promoting his place of birth – Canada.

Someone’s got to do it; not unlike Australia, Canadian films are often branded “quirky” with the country’s movie reputation often more to do with Hollywood’s habit of using the country as a kind of “ Mexico” – a place across the border to save money on locations and crews (something Australia also shares). Nothing could be further from the truth; Canada has a rich film history, with many of the country’s best movies available on DVD.

Certainly Canada’s most notable filmmaker - perhaps even its most famous - is David Cronenberg. Starting out in the 70s making low budget horror movies, he moved on to making, well more low budget horror movies amongst others, after a brief stint inside the American movie system remaking 1958 cold war classic The Fly (1986). Seen as a maverick and innovator, Cronenberg’s back-catalogue traverses haunting book adaptations (The Naked Lunch, Crash, Spider, The History Of Violence) and brilliant original scripts (ScannersM, Videodrome, eXistenZ, Dead Ringers, The Brood). Shooting most of his productions on home soil Cronenberg is known for his love of body horror and brooding characters wrestling with all manner of disease. He is however one of Canada’s most mature filmmakers, and will go down in movie history as one of the country’s best.

Documentary maker Ron Mann is kind of a legend in Canada. Known for his cheeky counter/pop-culture documentaries, at 12 films and climbing he’s still going strong. Using archival footage from education movies and government training films, Grass (1999) is a highly entertaining – and extremely informative – essay on the history of hemp and marijuana. Grass’s narrator is actor and hemp activist Woody Harrelson. They also team up on another foray into non-fiction, Go Further (2003), Harrelson’s eco-warrior road trip along America’s Pacific Coast. And Comic Book Confidential (1988) is a gem; an entertaining and completely fascinating journey into the evolution of the humble comic.

Waydowntown is a great Canadian satire set in the world of twenty-something office workers and hermetically sealed buildings and super-malls. Tom and Sandra make a bet to see which of them will be able to avoid going outside the longest. As the days wear on and the recycled air wears thin, they each begin to lose it. Sandra becomes addicted to perfume while Tom thinks he can fly. This fantastic indie film also features Canadian star Don McKellar as office nerd Bradley, a sad little man who ultimately has the last laugh on everyone.

On the subject of talent… Canadian actress Sarah Polley might now be more well known for her role in the blockbuster remake of Dawn Of The Dead (2004), but her best films have been home grown. For a sample of the power of Polley, look no further than The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Playing the the young victim of a tragic school bus accident, she steals the film with a haunting performance way beyond her years.

- Megan