Eclipse

There are two kinds of art films: the real deal and the pseudos. This is one of the latter.

I knew coming in that this movie had been critically slammed by the press. The film critic at the Ottawa Sun gave it a 0 and called it nothing. Very few films get a zero from the Sun (Street Fighter:The Movie got one) and he also blasted Jeremy Podeswa for wasting the money he got to make this film. However, Eclipse is one of those so-bad-it's-good films. The attempts by the actors to sound serious and profound are so laughable that instead of taking everything seriously you are laughing your head off with the situations presented here.

The side-story of the film is about a group of sky-watchers and scientists who are coming to Toronto to film the full Solar Eclipse that is taking place there and we hear about their preparations and their excitement and anxiety for the event.

It's the rest of the film that is terrible. We see a group of people interconnected from each scene waxing philosophically about life and sex. We see prostitution, one-night stands, disappointing rediscoveries, etc. The movie features English, French and Spanish characters in an attempt to keep anyone on their toes LOL.

The laughs come when you hear some of the stories from the characters. My favorite is the scene where Sylvie (Pascale Montpetit) is telling her English instructor Gabriel (Manuel Aranguiz) a sob story about her horrible childhood that saw her having sex with all her brothers. Just seeing the subtitles and over-the-top acting had me laughing it up. Way to over-reaching, Jeremy.

I doubt this will ever be on video but you're not missing much. If they happen to play it at some art house and you don't want to embarrass yourself by taking it as a comedy then pass it.

A dozen or so characters meet each other, speak pseudo-profound lines (Oh, she thought her father never really loved her!) and then pull their clothes off to engage in R-rated softcore sex, which is a little nudity here and there and a lot of huffing and puffing. It's all very fake-o film noir (or is it film sepiatone?), in which emotionless blank looks, staring into the sky, the twinkling lights of downtown at night, and characters pulling on cigarettes are passed off as a meaningful comment and reflection on the human and social condition.

Why bother? The screenplay doesn't have the chops to generate much interest, nor does the Cable-TV type sex.

"Eclipse" is an intriguing movie which left an unusual imprint in my mind. It's the kind of movie that you find yourself talking about long after the movie has ended.

It's a very circular movie, showing the interconnectedness of a group of people with no apparent connections. The movie follows from one person to the next as they stumble through life and a series of sexual encounters. If there's a main character, it's Angelo (Matthew Ferguson) who is shown, intermittently throughout the film, making a documentary about an upcoming eclipse.

It has no real plot, per se, leaving any conclusions about the characters or the movie's meaning completely up to the viewer. Because of this, the film forces the viewer to think about what it presented, which ultimately makes it's impact to be far more personal than most movies. Personally, I found parts of the movie to be somewhat disturbing, but it was partially because of this that it became memorable to me.

Visually, it's a beautiful film. The use of black and white footage (tinted in various colours) interspersed with colour footage is a particularly effective device, making it seem incredibly surreal.

It's definitely a must see movie for anyone who likes films that make you think. :)

Eclipse is the kind of film that sets you looking for meaning in all the pretentious dialog that you hear. But when all is said and done, all that you've been doing is watching a daisy chain of bisexual human beings just getting it on and telling the story of their pathetic lives. In between the sex and the confessions are some scenes of people talking about the impending eclipse due over Toronto and finally the big event itself.

I have to say the erotic scenes both straight and gay were well staged, a cut above your average porno film. Still it all seems hardly worth the effort in the end. The partners move on to another and another until we're back with the bisexual street male with whom we started.

If soft core porn is your taste, this is the film for you.