Film review: 'Lilies'
Canadian filmmaker John Greyson follows up his AIDS musical "Zero Patience" with another gay-themed film with theatrical roots. Winner of the 1996 Genie for best picture, "Lilies" is based on the 1987 play by Michel Marc Bouchard about a bitter prisoner confronting an old friend over a long-ago romance that ended badly.
With attractive performers and a lively agenda, "Lilies" nonetheless gets bogged down in its unwieldy structure.
The film premiered in
Los Angeles at UCLA's recent series "Borderlines: New Canadian Cinema," as well as screening in the World Film section of the Sundance Film Festival.
From the outset, the film's premises and developments are fantastical despite the drama's somber setting in a prison chapel. Greyson carefully sets up the central gambit of Simon (Aubert Pallascio), which is to restage the great love of his young life for the benefit of a captive bishop (Marcel Sabourin), who knew him when the events took place.
At first the re-creations are indeed stagy, with prisoners playing the roles of men and women, but soon the film indulges in full-blown flashbacks. Sometimes the effect is startling, but most often it's annoying.
The viewer also must deal with the basic confusion that the bishop's younger self (Matthew Ferguson) is not the intense lover of young Simon (Jason Cadieux).
A delicate nobleman of some sort, it's Vallier (Danny Gilmore) who puts the moves on Simon after rehearsing a steamy scene for a church play.
Vallier's mother is played in drag by Remy Girard, and it's she who picks the titular flowers and causes much hardship for her son.
Set in the early decades of this century, the love of Vallier for Simon is scandalous, and the latter embarks on a tempestuous relationship with one Comtess de Tilly (played soulfully by Brent Carver), an elegant but difficult black lady.
There are several interruptions to monitor the effect of Simon's theatrical creation on the bishop.
An elderly holy man, he tries to stop Simon's elaborate "confession," but for the performers and the watchers, there's no turning back.
It's eventually revealed that the young bishop acted rashly after the lovers had finally experienced happiness. The old bishop is forced to confess to the man whose life he destroyed.
While the performances are engaging, when the film strays from the attractive duo of Cadieux and Gilmore, the heavy themes and choral music take over and one feels as trapped as the bishop.
LILIES
Alliance Communications presents
A Triptych Media/Galafilm co-production
Director John Greyson
Producers Anna Stratton, Robin Cass,
Arnie Gelbart
Writer Michel Marc Bouchard
English version Linda Gaboriau
Director of photography Daniel Jobin
Production designer Sandra Kybartas
Editor Andre Corriveau
Costume designer Linda Muir
Music Mychael Danna
Casting Dorothy Gardner
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Bishop Marcel Sabourin
Simon Aubert Pallascio
Young Simon Jason Cadieux
Vallier Danny Gilmore
Young Bishop Matthew Ferguson
Comtess de Tilly Brent Carver
The Baroness Remy Girard
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
With attractive performers and a lively agenda, "Lilies" nonetheless gets bogged down in its unwieldy structure.
The film premiered in
Los Angeles at UCLA's recent series "Borderlines: New Canadian Cinema," as well as screening in the World Film section of the Sundance Film Festival.
From the outset, the film's premises and developments are fantastical despite the drama's somber setting in a prison chapel. Greyson carefully sets up the central gambit of Simon (Aubert Pallascio), which is to restage the great love of his young life for the benefit of a captive bishop (Marcel Sabourin), who knew him when the events took place.
At first the re-creations are indeed stagy, with prisoners playing the roles of men and women, but soon the film indulges in full-blown flashbacks. Sometimes the effect is startling, but most often it's annoying.
The viewer also must deal with the basic confusion that the bishop's younger self (Matthew Ferguson) is not the intense lover of young Simon (Jason Cadieux).
A delicate nobleman of some sort, it's Vallier (Danny Gilmore) who puts the moves on Simon after rehearsing a steamy scene for a church play.
Vallier's mother is played in drag by Remy Girard, and it's she who picks the titular flowers and causes much hardship for her son.
Set in the early decades of this century, the love of Vallier for Simon is scandalous, and the latter embarks on a tempestuous relationship with one Comtess de Tilly (played soulfully by Brent Carver), an elegant but difficult black lady.
There are several interruptions to monitor the effect of Simon's theatrical creation on the bishop.
An elderly holy man, he tries to stop Simon's elaborate "confession," but for the performers and the watchers, there's no turning back.
It's eventually revealed that the young bishop acted rashly after the lovers had finally experienced happiness. The old bishop is forced to confess to the man whose life he destroyed.
While the performances are engaging, when the film strays from the attractive duo of Cadieux and Gilmore, the heavy themes and choral music take over and one feels as trapped as the bishop.
LILIES
Alliance Communications presents
A Triptych Media/Galafilm co-production
Director John Greyson
Producers Anna Stratton, Robin Cass,
Arnie Gelbart
Writer Michel Marc Bouchard
English version Linda Gaboriau
Director of photography Daniel Jobin
Production designer Sandra Kybartas
Editor Andre Corriveau
Costume designer Linda Muir
Music Mychael Danna
Casting Dorothy Gardner
Color/stereo
Cast:
The Bishop Marcel Sabourin
Simon Aubert Pallascio
Young Simon Jason Cadieux
Vallier Danny Gilmore
Young Bishop Matthew Ferguson
Comtess de Tilly Brent Carver
The Baroness Remy Girard
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/18/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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