The Sweet Hereafter (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Sweet Hereafter | |
|---|---|
 The Sweet Hereafter DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | Atom Egoyan |
| Produced by | Atom Egoyan Camelia Frieberg |
| Written by | Russell Banks (novel) Atom Egoyan |
| Starring | Ian Holm Sarah Polley Bruce Greenwood |
| Music by | Mychael Danna |
| Cinematography | Paul Sarossy |
| Editing by | Susan Shipton |
| Release date(s) | May 14, 1997 (premiere at Cannes) 26 September 1997 (UK) 10 October 1997 (Canada) 21 November 1997 (USA) |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian film written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It is adaptation of the novel of the same name by Russell Banks.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The Sweet Hereafter depicts life in a small town in Canada in the wake of a terrible school bus accident in which numerous local children are killed. Hardly able to cope with the loss, their grieving parents are approached by a slick city lawyer (Ian Holm) who wants them to sue for damages. At first the parents are reluctant to do so, but eventually they are persuaded by the lawyer that filing a class action lawsuit would ease their minds and also be the right thing to do.
As most of the children are dead, the case now depends on the few surviving witnesses to say the right things in court. In particular, it is 15 year-old Nicole Burnell (Sarah Polley), who was sitting at the front of the bus and is now paralysed from the waist down, whose deposition is all-important. However, she unexpectedly accuses driver Dolores Driscoll (Gabrielle Rose) of speeding and thus causing the accident. When she does so, all hopes of ever receiving money are thwarted. All the people involved know that Nicole is lying but cannot do anything about it. Only her father (Tom McCamus) knows why, but he is unable to publicly reveal his daughter's motives; she is lashing out at him for molesting her.
[edit] Factual basis
See article on the novel.
[edit] Adaptation
Banks approved of Egoyan's adaptation, playing a cameo role as the town doctor, and discussing the film with Egoyan in the DVD's commentary track.
In adapting the novel, Egoyan changed the setting from Upstate New York to Canada. Another major change is Egoyan's addition of references to the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, which Nicole is seen reading to children who later die in the accident. In that story, the Pied Piper leads all the children away, never to return, after their parents refuse to honor their debt to him.
In the Pied Piper, there is a crippled child who is unable to follow the Piper's song, and so he is left behind in a now-childless town, forever wishing he could have gone with the other children. The paralyzed survivor, Nicole, is clearly identified with this child in the movie, shifting away from her motivation in the book in which she is primarily acting out of anger against her father.
[edit] Production
The movie was filmed in four locations: Merritt, British Columbia, Spences Bridge, British Columbia, Stouffville, Ontario, and Toronto, Ontario[1]
[edit] Music
The Pied Piper theme is further enhanced through Mychael Danna's score, which is heavily influenced by Medieval and Renaissance music with frequent appearances of a flute.
The song Courage (for Hugh MacLennan) by The Tragically Hip serves as the theme song used in the soundtrack. A version of the song as sung by Sarah Polley also appears in the film.
[edit] Reception
The film was welcomed with overwhelming critical acclaim but did not perform very well in the American box office.
[edit] Awards
The Sweet Hereafter won three awards at the Cannes Film Festival: the FIPRESCI Prize, the Grand Prize of the Jury, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. It won Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor (Holm), and three other prizes at the Genie Awards for Canadian Films. It was also nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 70th Academy Awards.
[edit] Cast
- Ian Holm - Mitchell Stephens (lawyer)
- Sarah Polley - Nicole Burnell (victim)
- Tom McCamus - Sam Burnell (father)
- Alberta Watson - Risa Walker (parent)
- Bruce Greenwood - Billy Ansel (parent)
- Gabrielle Rose - Dolores Driscoll (bus driver)
- Arsinée Khanjian - Wanda Otto (parent)
- Mychael Danna - Live band harmonium player (uncredited)
[edit] References
- ^ Filming Locations for The Sweet Hereafter. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
[edit] External links
- The Sweet Hereafter at the Internet Movie Database
- Film reviews
- Script of movie
- City of Alton Website
- The Sweet Hereafter (film) is at coordinates Coordinates:
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||
