What makes Chloe a Canadian film?

What makes a movie Canadian?

There are movies that are obviously Canadian: director, writer, actor, producer, crew, where it's shot — all Canadian. Marion Bridge; Les invasions barbares | The Barbarian Invasions; Everything's Gone Green.

Sometimes, a movie will come out that isn't obvious, more of a mixed bag. Chloe is a remake of a French film Nathalie but that doesn't influence the nationality of the film. Chloe stars American actors Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried and British actor Liam Neeson.

Director Atom Egoyan is Canadian. Two prominent producers on the film are Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, and you likely have heard of them. And yes, they are Canadian.

Chloe was shot in Toronto, which could make it not Canadian. When you see the movie, Toronto isn't background for New York City or some other urban jungle. Specific areas of Toronto are on display.

The Allan Gardens Conservatory is obvious and specifically identified. Cafe Diplomatico on College Street in Little Italy is featured so prominently in the film; actors speak specifically to it several times. It was so obvious that even I was looking at the screen and going, "I've been there."

Chloe is a Canadian movie because the main elements of the movie are Canadian, the sensibility is Canadian, and the pace is Canadian. If this were an American movie, the mystery elements would have been more hyped and the lesbian love scenes less tender.

If you get a chance to see this movie, let us know what you think: Canadian or not Canadian?

One sad note: I pointed out last year when Natasha Richardson suffered a fatal head injury skiing in Quebec that her husband Liam Neeson was in Toronto shooting a movie. Chloe was that movie.

Comments

[Linda D.]

Hi, I just saw this film on TV. I'm American by birth and a naturalized Canadian, having spent half my life in Canada, but am back in the US because of my mom's health. So, back to the film. Five minutes in, I said to myself, "This is a Canadian film." At the end the credits were impossible to read, so I got online to look it up, which is how I found your web site. Your right, it's a Canadian film. I have been to Toronto a few times, but don't know it well; however, that was my guess. Definitely felt like Toronto. There was a scene that had a street car in it. For me that was a big clue. The sensibility is uniquely Canadian. Now I'm all homesick for Canada!