Coming into this film, I had only seen 3 of Egoyans films but I was very intrigued and I wanted to see some of his earlier work. I ended up really loving this one and it leaves me very excited to see the rest of his films.
The first thing to mention about this film is how "bare bones" the production is. Calendar is incredibly minimalist. There are about 4 or 5 camera angles for the scenes in the house... Then there are the static shots of the churches and the video footage without sound, usually with voice overs. With this simple construction and only a few actors he makes a fantastic film that never feels confined or uncinematic.
Even more interesting is the fact that the story is really not all that special. I mean if you put it in the right order and told it in a conventional way, it wouldn't amount to much of a film. By taking it apart and telling it out of order, he takes a simple story about marital difficulty and turns it into a mystery film. You quickly find yourself deconstructing everything and piecing it all together like a puzzle. Every line of dialog and even the most insignificant seeming details have some purpose.
I was prepared for this kind of structure since I had seen a few of his films already but I can see how a newcomer to his work might take a little time to adjust to it.
This is a rare case where the treatment is much more important to the film's success than the content. The fact that it's such a minor story and that it's still so successful is a testament to Egoyan's incredible talent. It's also a perfect case study in how form can sometimes be more important than function or even supersede function completely.
The movie is much greater than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended.
The first thing to mention about this film is how "bare bones" the production is. Calendar is incredibly minimalist. There are about 4 or 5 camera angles for the scenes in the house... Then there are the static shots of the churches and the video footage without sound, usually with voice overs. With this simple construction and only a few actors he makes a fantastic film that never feels confined or uncinematic.
Even more interesting is the fact that the story is really not all that special. I mean if you put it in the right order and told it in a conventional way, it wouldn't amount to much of a film. By taking it apart and telling it out of order, he takes a simple story about marital difficulty and turns it into a mystery film. You quickly find yourself deconstructing everything and piecing it all together like a puzzle. Every line of dialog and even the most insignificant seeming details have some purpose.
I was prepared for this kind of structure since I had seen a few of his films already but I can see how a newcomer to his work might take a little time to adjust to it.
This is a rare case where the treatment is much more important to the film's success than the content. The fact that it's such a minor story and that it's still so successful is a testament to Egoyan's incredible talent. It's also a perfect case study in how form can sometimes be more important than function or even supersede function completely.
The movie is much greater than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended.