Speaking Parts

Been in a mood to catch up with my Atom Egoyan and this is the first film! I a huge fan of this "out there" filmmaking and stories. They are never easy to categorize and he's just slightly more accessible than Lynch's films. This film leans heavy into style and film technique while presenting a film with complex and unusual characters. I really enjoyed this film but know that there are many out there who just want get into his style of films (especially his early and non-mainstream films).

As my first approach to Egoyan's films, I must say it was a great experience. The movie is about lonely people searching for something or someone, about the influence of media, about life. Its ambientation works excellent. Not an easy movie to see, though; but it's really an experience.

In all candor, I rented this film because I found out that Michael McMannus was in it, and I respect the man's acting abilities. Suffice it to say, I wasn't disappointed.

Michael's character, Lance, is a young busboy at a hotel who wants desperately to get a speaking part in a movie, instead of background extra roles. Meanwhile, one of his fellow employees is obsessed with him, and she will do practically anything in order to receive his affections. Essentially a psychological drama, the story basically explores what they will and won't do in order to achieve their goals.

Despite it's "vocal" title, the film can be unnervingly quiet at times, however it's never dull. I couldn't help but get wrapped up in the story and entranced by the powerful performances of all the actors. It's a very powerful, raw and sensual film, definitely not for younger viewers, which is typical of Atom Egoyan films. I would highly recommend it. :)

Personally, I also enjoyed it because it was filmed here in Toronto. I found myself laughing and saying, "I know where that is!" ;)

Small aspects of this film seem a bit dated, but Egoyan makes up for it by being so astonishingly innovative with everything else. It's strange to think that lost among the sea of crap that is most 80s cinema, is this deeply idiosyncratic ode to alienation that predates so much that has been come to be taken for granted in international art cinema. David Lynch is the only other filmmaker in North America I can think of who was even close to doing films this interesting in the 80s. Steven Soderbergh pretty much owes "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", and thus his entire career, to having the balls to steal what Egoyan was doing, relatively unseen, at the time, and passing off his own watered-down version.

Terrific. I hadn't seen any Egoyan films before, and I'd read some criticism that led me to expect it to be an incredibly depressing experience - but it wasn't; not at all. I really enjoyed his insistence on reminding you that you're watching a film & interest in how cameras affect human interaction..

Plus, for me there was a lot of humor in it! I don't think you should be worrying about whether it's appropriate to laugh at some scenes - I could hardly keep a straight face every time the goth boy/aspiring actor/hotel staffer was onscreen. Smart, witty, highly recommended.