Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Canada  2022
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Carly Stone
Cast:  Sarah Gadon, Amanda Fix, River Price-Maenpaa, Robert Carlyle, Janet Porter
Running time:  90 minutes
Language: English 

Nominations: Calgary International Film Festival: Emerging Artist, Carly Stone; The Joey Awards Vancouver: Best Leading Performer in a Feature Film, River Price-Maenpaa; Windsor International Film Festival: WIFF Prize in Canadian Film, Carly Stone; CAFTCAD Awards: Best Costume Design.

“A lovely and engaging film elevated by strong performances.”—Kim Hughes, Original Cin

Based on Cea Sunrise Person’s memoir, Carly Stone’s accomplished “North of Normal” recounts the author’s tumultuous, unconventional childhood. In the 1970s, Cea’s hippie grandparents, Grandpa Dick (Robert Carlyle) and Grandma Jeanne (Janet Porter), flee the repressive climes of the United States for the untrammeled wilds of Alberta and British Columbia with Cea and her teenage mother, Michelle (Sarah Gadon), in tow. 

Surrounded by perma-stoned adults acting with little regard for any conventions (especially sexual ones), Cea lives a blissfully ignorant, near idyllic life. But when Michelle tires of her father’s criticisms, mother and daughter find themselves living nomadically on the margins of society.

Caught between her desire to lead a more conventional life (possibly with heat and running water) and her deep but troubled attachments to her mother and grandparents, Cea struggles to relate to more hidebound human beings.

Michelle’s relationship with her parents has poisoned her romantic pursuits, and she’s often appallingly oblivious to how her bad romances impact Cea. Meanwhile, despite his anti-establishment rhetoric, Grandpa Dick doesn’t hold to the loftiest concepts. He hooks up with almost every woman who joins his commune, ostensibly to educate them in the group’s values. Still, the film observes the family members’ affection for one another, even when it’s marred by fully baked ideology, selfishness, insecurity, or psychological damage.

Stone directs with energy and compassion, eliciting fine performances from her excellent cast, especially Gadon, whose Michelle invariably and often perilously wears her heart on her sleeve, and River Price-Maenpaa and Amanda Fix who play Cea as child and teenager, respectively. Exuberant and empathetic, “North of Normal” explores how principles and family can lead you astray and can also provide long-lasting succor.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Ireland  2023
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Director: Colm Bairéad
Cast:  Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Catherine Clinch
Running time: 95 minutes
Language: English 

London Critics Circle Awards: Best Foreign Language Film; Berlin International Film Festival: Best Feature Film; Dublin International Film Festival: Discovery Award-Director, Audience Award; Denver International Film Festival: Best Narrative Film; 21 other wins; Academy Award Nomination: Best International Feature, 31 other nominations; 

“The first Irish language film to be nominated for a foreign language Academy Award, "The Quiet Girl" is a small, humane gem.”—James Verniere, Boston Herald

“The Quiet Girl” marks an impressive debut by director and scriptwriter Colm Bairéad.  
Based on the novel, ‘Foster’ the 2010 novel by award-winning Irish author Claire Keegan, the film is told through the eyes of a nine-year-old Cáit (extraordinary Catherine Clinch), “The Quiet Girl” is coming-of-age tale set in rural Ireland in 1981, spoken almost entirely in the Irish language. 

Cáit lives a rundown farm with her drinker/womanizing dad, harried mum and two older sisters and baby brother. Upon the expected birth of yet another sibling, Cáit is sent away to live with a distant cousin, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley), and her husband Séan (Andrew Bennett). They are also farmers but they are far more industrious than Cáit’s ne’er-do-well Da. 

While chatting with Cáit Eibhlín, declares, “There are no secrets in this house;” Cáit will indeed stumble upon something disturbing, no thanks to a meddling neighbour.  By summer’s end, Cáit’s mom has given birth. The now changed ‘quiet girl’ has to return to her unhappy home.
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“The Quiet Girl” is a remarkable first film, comprised of small moments and gradual awakenings. Momentous occurrences do happen, minus melodramatic flourishes. Much of the film is shot from the child’s point of view so in some scenes adults are obscured by car seats etc. Cáit witnesses other scenes she doesn’t understand, so we aren’t privy to the context of the shot. This is Bairéad’s method of illustrating how a child interprets what happens around her. Aside from amazing young Clinch, Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett are excellent as a lovely but quietly despairing people. Despite life’s bruises, they have managed to keep faith and hope alive.

“The Quiet Girl” is a profoundly moving film. It is a rare thing: a movie that manages to impart a great deal of emotion and understanding while not saying very much at all. 
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