Atom Egoyan’s Adoration finds a familiar subject
Katherine Monk CanWest News Service
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Long before the Internet redefined the place of ordinary people in the real
world, Atom Egoyan was obsessed by new modes of communication that allowed for
a virtual separation between mind and body, as well as a reinterpretation of
individual identity.
For a big chunk of the 1980s, the celebrated director of The Sweet Hereafter
made movies that touched on these themes: the role of a therapist’s videotape
in the development of a young boy’s self-image (Next of Kin, 1984); people
looking for family through a video lens (Family Viewing, 1987); the blurred
line between reality and fiction as he explored the idea of alternate
identities and the actor’s craft (Speaking Parts, 1989).
It’s been a while since the Victoria-raised, Toronto-based director examined
technology and its effect on the construction of personal identity, but he’s
back at it in his latest effort, Adoration.
Currently in post-production, Adoration focuses on one young man’s
fascination with the possibility he’s the spawn of two historical figures —
and how his personal obsession is both enabled, and threatened, by technology.
"We’ve just assembled the first rough cut and it looks good," says Egoyan
>From a Toronto edit facility. "The whole idea was triggered by an account of a
real life incident I read from 1986, where a Jordanian guy talked his Irish
girlfriend into boarding an El Al flight with a bomb in her purse — which she
didn’t know was there," he says.
In his dramatic account, Egoyan doesn’t focus on the two newsmakers as much
as he focuses on their potential offspring, or at least one young man’s desire
to be seen as the progeny of the doomed couple.
"The whole thing is left pretty ambiguous, but there’s this thing about high
school drama. There’s a definite relationship between adolescents and
theatricality," says Egoyan.
"Our son is 14 now, and it seems the whole idea of (remote) connection is
very casual now. Before, the world was essentially divided into those who make,
and those who watch. The lines of demarcation between the two worlds were
very clear. But not anymore," he says.
"It’s been really exciting to go back to textures I explored in the ’80s, the
idea of people looking at each other in video monitors and the need for
connection. Back then, it was a pretty rarified form of communication — it
wasn’t something everyone had access to. But that’s changed so much," he says.
"Before it was all quite intimate. Now, it’s viral."
Egoyan says he’ll expand his thoughts on the role of technology vis-a-vis the
human condition when he takes the stage at the Whistler Film Festival this
weekend, where he will be honoured with a tribute as well as preside over the
jury for the Phillip Borsos Competition, one of the richest purses on the
Canadian festival circuit boasting a $15,000 prize.
"I’ll also be talking about a lot of the non-film related projects I’ve been
doing that people may not have had a chance to see, the work on (Samuel)
Beckett and stuff like that. It will be exciting to show clips from this work
and to share it with a new audience."
In Egoyan’s fertile mind, everything can find new meaning, and so the
convergence of technology, identity and his mid-edit trip westward has already
sparked his imagination — making it a little tough to keep up with his
lightning-fast synapses as they start to accelerate.
"You can generate a tremendous amount of excitement through the Internet, but
ultimately, that kind of energy can’t sustain itself," he says, continuing
his thoughts about the changes in communications technology.
"Apprenticeship is no longer part of the process and as a result, the journey
one used to go through in order to gain access has evaporated. The whole
nature of that journey has changed, so how do you find identity? You can’tfind
it through technology, even though it offers infinite possibilities for
character."
Egoyan says despite his own fascination for the changing face of technology,
he’s gone through his own struggles as a user. "I don’t Skype and I had a
hard time watching people texting all the time, but now I’m addicted to it."
The key is to remain curious in the face of change, he says, otherwise it’s
easy to feel overwhelmed, if not completely alienated by a world moving faster
than human understanding.
"The tension is always on now. People are always looking for the next thing,"
he says. "There is no down time on the Internet. No time to fully digest
anything, so how do you secure a physical relationship with other people using
the ‘Net’ when you can’t be off? You still have to negotiate the notion of
absence."
Egoyan’s voice trails off for a brief second. Technology is interrupting the
choo-choo train of thought. "I have another call," he says.
"But before I go, I want to say I don’t think we’re more disconnected than
before, I think the question is how much effect will our efforts produce? We
can make our feelings known to a broad community through the Internet, butdoes
anyone really care?"
© CanWest News Service 2007
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
