| Film Review: Emile
Tue Sep 23,12:00 AM ET By Michael Rechtshaffen TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - In "Emile," Ian McKellen plays a retired university professor who travels from England to his long-forsaken hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, to receive an honorary degree. It's a beautifully modulated performance in a nicely crafted, quietly unassuming character study by Vancouver-based writer-director Carl Bessai. It's the kind of film that's a great fit for festivals but proves to be a trickier sell when it comes to securing distribution. The third in Bessai's trilogy of films linked to the theme of identity (the others are 1999's "Johnny" and 2001's "Lola," both of which premiered as this one did at the Toronto International Film Festival), Seville Pictures' "Emile" follows its title character as he returns to the country of his birth after a lengthy absence. Ostensibly, the purpose of his trip is to accept that university degree, but Emile is also hoping to reconnect with the daughter of his long-deceased older brother. Now a single mother with a difficult 10-year-old daughter (Theo Crane), Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger doesn't exactly welcome her houseguest with open arms, and it turns out that she has good reason to feel resentment. Naturally, it doesn't take much time before all those repressed memories come flooding back, but rather than opting for the standard flashback treatment, Bessai seamlessly weaves the elder Emile in and out of the past as words or images trigger reminiscences, not necessarily sunny, of his childhood on the family farm. But after a while, the constantly utilized technique grows a bit stale despite Bessai's luminously photographed transitions (he also serves as his own cinematographer this time out). That leaves McKellen's aching portrayal of an old man finally facing his life's regrets as the picture's true special effect. Reuters/VNU Copyright © 2003 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. |
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 Carl Bessai and Sir Ian at the Toronto Film Festival |
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On the set of "Emile" |
 Freddy (Tygh Runyan) and Emile (Ian McKellen) |
 Deborah Kara Unger and Ian McKellen on the set of Emile Photo by Keith Stern |
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