 |
| Carl Bessai on the set of No Clue, an eOne Films release. |
 |
| Amy Smart and Brent Butt star in No Clue, an eOne Films release. |
Bessai, who is currently completing his next film Bad City, enjoys a prolific career among
Canuck filmmakers, for he has directed nearly one film a year since making his
dramatic feature debut with Johnny in
1999. Bessai’s films include an impressive range of credits, including the
drama Emile (2003) starring Sir Ian
McKellan, the sci-fi thriller Repeaters
(2010) starring No Clue’s Dustin
Milligan, and the powerful drama Normal
(2007), which earned four Canadian Genie nominations including Best Picture,
Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor, the latter of which brought a win for
Callum Keith Rennie. Despite the range of projects, Bessai’s body of work
consistently remains true to the Vancouver film scene and frequently casts the
city in a predominant role. Audiences at the CFI will particularly note the
indelible role that the Vancouver cityscape and harbor play in No Clue, and will doubtlessly enjoy
seeing Butt’s private eye Leo Falloon explore a comically darker side of the
city.
Screening at this edition of “The Enlightened Screen” are:
Mothers & Daughters
Dir. Carl Bessai | Canada | 2008 | 85 min.
-Thursday, June 26 at 7:00 PM
Synopsis: A
“collective creation” by Bessai with his talented cast, Mothers &
Daughters follows the lives and relationships of three mother and daughter
duos. Micki and Rebecca are the first: Micki is a romance novelist with grand
delusions to which daughter Rebecca cannot accept. Their relationship is
strained as the mother treats her daughter as a sidekick or companion instead
of a child. They are too close, with Micki so controlling that she pushes her
daughter away instead of maintaining their longstanding dynamic. The second
pair is Brenda and Kate. Brenda's husband has seemingly disappeared with their
money, leaving her in what Kate recognizes as the complete denial of the end of
her parents' marriage. Kate herself is bitter and put off by her mother's
neediness. The third relationship is between a surrogate mother and daughter
who are not related by blood. This narrative follows painter Celine who is
working on a job at Cynthia's home. When it becomes clear through a bout of
morning sickness that Cynthia is pregnant, Celine offers her maternal support
as a balm for their shared abandonment issues. With its Cassavetes-like
intimacy and improvisation, Mothers features a powerhouse cast,
including Babz Chula, Tantoo Cardinal, and Gabrielle Rose.
No Clue
Dir. Carl Bessai | Canada | 2014 | 96 min.
-Thursday, June 26 at 9:00 PM
Synopsis: When a
case of mistaken identity snowballs out of control, a bumbling salesman (Brent
Butt) struggles to guide a beautiful, mysterious woman (Amy Smart) through a
deadly web of corruption, fraud, and murder, before she can realize the truth –
he’s not actually a private detective. When you’re in over your head, all you
can do is keep kicking.
Review: “The film
is a stylish throwback to wise-talking gumshoe pics of noir’s heyday, as Bessai
and company give No Clue an air of
mystery using peculiar cinematography—the oft-moving camera frames Leo as a
fish out of water in the Vancouver underworld. Bessai and DP Jan Kiesser especially
seem to have fun investing the character of Vancouver into the noir atmosphere
of No Clue by using locations
effectively with moody lighting.” (Full review here.)
All screenings take
place at the Auditorium of 395 Wellington St.
Tickets for the event
will be sold at the door: $12.00 for general admission, or $8.00 for CFI
Members, seniors, and students. Each ticket offers admission to both films.
Please visit www.cfi-icf.ca for more information.
