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The Cinema of Canada. Ed. Jerry White. London & New York: Wallflower Press (24 Frames Series), 2006. xv + 268 pp. £45 (hardback)/£18.99 (paperback). ISBN 1–904–76460–6/76461–4, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 43, Issue 1, JANUARY 2007, Page 96, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cql128
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Extract
This volume draws attention to Canada's vibrant cinema culture, all too often overshadowed by that of its better-known southern neighbour. An equal amount of space is allocated to the three dominant traditions within Canadian cinema: Anglophone, Francophone and Aboriginal. The inclusion of films like Earth (1998) by Deepa Mehta, a Canadian director intrigued by her native India, supports the point made by director Atom Egoyan in the preface that the new Canadian identity goes beyond these traditions. In the introduction, White argues that although state sponsorship of cinema in Canada, via the National Film Board (NFB), has commonly been perceived to result in dry, didactic films, it has also facilitated many experimental projects. Attention is given to the NFB's investment in innovative documentaries, which are the focus of ten out of the twenty-four essays. In addition, the book pays homage to low-budget fiction films like Le Déclin de l'empire américain (Denys Arcand, 1988), Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994) and Le Confessionnel (Robert Lepage, 1995) that have enjoyed critical and commercial success. This thought-provoking new addition to the 24 Frames series persuasively reminds us of the diversity and significance of this often neglected “other” North American cinema industry.
