Speaking Parts

Canada

1989

93 Min

Color

1.33:1

English

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
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CAST Michael McManus, Arsinée Khanjian, Gabrielle Rose, Tony Nardi, David Hemblen, Patricia Collins, Gerard Parkes, Jacqueline Samuda, Peter Krantz, Patrick Tierney

SOUND Steve Munro

Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), New York, Toronto, Vancouver: Best Canadian Screenplay

Synopsis

A struggling, bit-part actor’s job as a hotel custodian is a front for his real job: being rented out as a gigolo by his woman supervisor. A female co-worker is obsessed with him, but he ignores and avoids her. He leaves his acting resume in the hotel room of a woman screenwriter, who is casting for a TV movie based on the true story of her deceased brother. She hires him to play the lead and the two begin an affair. She becomes increasingly distraught as it becomes evident that the movie’s producer is changing her story. Egoyan’s trademark tangle of bizarre relationships surrounds the protagonists on their way to a mind-blowing conclusion. A hypnotic, fascinating film.

Director

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan’s parents were painters and he studied International Relations and music at the University of Toronto where he began making short films: “Howard in Particular” 1979, “After Grad with Dad” 1980, “Peep Show” 1981 and “Open House” 1982.

While he has several distinguished Television and Opera works on his resume and such pictures as his debut “Next of Kin” 1984, Berlin and Moscow International Film Festival-winning “Family Viewing” 1987 and “The Adjuster” 1991 – his most critically acclaimed creation is The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and his most famous work is the astonishingly clever film-in-film Ararat (2002)

4 time Cannes Film Festival winner and the most famous Armenian filmmaker since Sergei Parajanov, the Egypt-born, Canada-bred, Oscar-nominated master of indie cinema, has collected an impressive 4 awards from the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.

A 7 time recipient of Canada’s top Genie Awards, he is a remarkable figure in contemporary… read more

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Bongos615

13Jul11

I love Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter, and like Calendar a lot. This, however, was the first time Egoyan's tics (repetition, stiltedness) felt grating to me. The film has a strong conceptual hook, but lacks strong characterization or narrative momentum.