YOU CAN’T SPLIT THIS ATOM; EGOYAN’S ADORATION; SMALL FILM GAVE DIRECTOR A CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT
by Chris Knight
National Post (Canada)
May 23, 2008 Friday
CANNES – Atom Egoyan was the victim of an unfortunate overlap in
scheduling at Cannes yesterday, when the press conference for his new
film, Adoration, coincided with another event featuring Madonna and
a master class in filmmaking by Quentin Tarantino. Perhaps the world
press felt that, since this is the Canadian director’s 12th trip to
the film festival, they’d just catch up with him next time.
In any case, it made for a relaxed atmosphere for some 50 journalists
in a room that can hold at least five times that number. If Egoyan
was upset by the turnout, he didn’t show it.
Earlier in the day, he sat down to talk about what it means to present
a film in competition near the end of a festival. "People might be
exhausted, or they’ve already made certain decisions," he said, "or
maybe they’re looking for something." Egoyan has been in competition
four times previously, and was a jury member at Cannes in 1996.
He admitted to being not very tuned in, as he arrived in Cannes only
Wednesday from Israel, where he was discussing his 2002 film Ararat,
about the genocide in Armenia early in the 20th century. "Normally
I have a sense of what the feel at the festival is," he said. "In a
way that makes it really different."
Adoration is a much smaller film than Egoyan’s last, 2005’s
Where the Truth Lies, which starred Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth
and Rachel Blanchard. It’s also more personal, revolving around
themes of communication and technology, with which he has long been
fascinated. In the movie, high-school student Simon (Devon Bostick)
is persuaded by his French teacher (Arsinee Khanjian, Egoyan’s wife) to
present himself as the child of a terrorist who once put a bomb in the
luggage of his wife when she travelled while pregnant. Thanks to the
internet, the story spirals beyond the confines of the classroom. Scott
Speedman plays Simon’s uncle, and Blanchard returns to portray his
mother, in flashback.
"I wasn’t sure what to expect," Speedman said of the movie. "The script
was so convoluted, and you never knew what the end product was going
to be." Nevertheless, he was certain he wanted to work with Egoyan,
and flew from Los Angeles to Toronto to meet with the director in
spite of the fact that the part called for a man at least 10 years
older than Speedman, who is 32.
Egoyan was soon convinced. "It was his doing," he said. "He touched
me. There must have been something in the script that he got." He
added: "With a smaller film you have a lot more room to experiment. You
don’t need a bulletproof, industrially approved blueprint. It’s much
more malleable." Making Speedman someone who gave up his twenties
rather than his thirties to raise his nephew after the boy’s parents
died changes the dynamic of the character. "There’s still a possibility
to learn from this experience," Egoyan said.
Although Speedman and Blanchard are very much known figures in
Hollywood, Egoyan stresses that it wasn’t necessary to cast name
actors. "Sometimes nobody’s in it that you’ve ever heard of and that
doesn’t diminish the film. It doesn’t translate into anything unless
the film is any good."
The stars clearly enjoyed working with the Canadian auteur. "I’d
say the whole experience was full of adrenaline," said 16-year-old
Bostick. "I’d just watch him every single day. I’d watch him watch
people. He was my subconscious. He was my thoughts, I guess."
"I’d had this image of him in black suits behind the camera," Speedman
said, but the feeling on the set was anything but austere. Blanchard
said: "He’s really accessible as a director, as complex as his themes
may be." Looking directly at him, she added: "I adore you. I do."
Adoration, which had its gala screening last night at 10:30,
is Canada’s second shot at the Palme d’Or this year. Blindness,
a Canadian co-production that opened the festival, suffered from
middling reviews and largely disappeared from sight (pardon the pun)
amid the media attention focused on Indiana Jones, which had its first
press screening here last weekend. Popular discussions are raising
hopes for Clint Eastwood’s The Exchange to take the top prize,
but often the jury favours a smaller, less showy, more visionary
film. Adoration could prove to be just that.