VIFF Staff Picks – Best Canadian Films, Part Two
We’re continuing our countdown to Canadian Film Week (April 14-23 at VIFF Vancity Theatre) with Part Two of our VIFF Staff Picks of favourite Canadian films. Take a read through, share your thoughts and tell us what your favourite Canadian films are!
Last Night (1998)
“I’m going to go with Last Night. Staring Don McKeller and Sandra Oh. The world is ending at midnight and everyone knows it. We follow the last hours on earth of several people that live in Toronto, Canada as chaos takes the streets. Who will live (nobody)? Who will die (everybody)? And will that one dude played by Callum Rennie sleep with everyone and everything he wants to sleep with (and how well does that storyline hold up today)?
I love it because it was one of the first Canadian films I ever saw. I watched it dozens of times on a bootlegged VHS copy that I had made (we had a VCR that could get around that no-copy white signal). I was captivated by the noon-sun at midnight, the never ending marathoner, and the atmosphere of a film that didn’t need any effects to tell it’s story.
I still see the final scene of the film whenever I hear Guantanamera. I’m pretty sure it fades to white at the end, but I haven’t watched it in years.” –Sean Wilson, Logistics Manager
49th Parallel (1941)
“OK, technically this is a British production, but at a time when the world is once again consumed with questions about borders, nationalism, democracy vs fascism, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s propaganda piece about a shipwrecked Nazi U-boat commander trying to evade Canadian authorities and escape across to the then-neutral United States assumes renewed resonance. It’s a film that reminds us where the right side of history is to be found, and makes you proud to be Canadian.” –Tom Charity, Vancity Theatre Program & VIFC Rentals Manager
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
“Loved it. Almost as Good as Camping Sauvage!. Can you tell I’m from Quebec!
Mon Oncle Antoine is a film everyone in Quebec studies in High School.
And then, there is The Decline of the American Empire and Jesus of Montreal. Brebuf? I don’t know where to begin. – Joy, VIFF Infoline
Dead Ringers (1988)
“My favorite Canadian Director is David Cronenberg – I like all of his films but the one I like the best is Dead Ringers.
Film description via IMDB:
‘The Mantle brothers are both gynecologists – and identical twins. Mentally however, one of them is more confident than the other, and always manages to seduce the women he meets. When he’s tired of his current partner, she is passed on to the other brother – without her knowing. Everything runs smoothly, until an actress visits their clinic, and the shy brother is the first to fall in love. Will they be able to ‘share’ her?’
I’ve watched this film numerous times – first during its theatrical release, then as a VHS tape, then as a DVD, and most recently I streamed it through Amazon Prime – Jeremy Irons is brilliant in this!” – J Bradford, Theatre Operations Manager
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