After Jesus of Montréal but before The Barbarian Invasions, Denys Arcand went through a time experimenting with English-language films. Stardom was the second of those films.
The film focuses on Tina Menzhal (Jessica Paré), a female hockey player from Cornwall, Ontario turned model. The film is shot in a documentary style as part of an ongoing film about Menzahl. Often, Menzahl talks to the camera, which is good for the audience but also good for her, because her character gets ignored or cut off when trying to communicate. Arcand's last film An Eye for Beauty shows the director is still curious about the perspective of beauty. Menzhal is more capable of speaking but gets ignored because she is so beautiful.
Dan Aykroyd plays a Montréal restauranteur who is smitten with Menzhal, follows her to New York City, and goes completely overboard. Aykroyd is clearly more than just a comedian and shows a vulnerable man in midlife crisis with striking accuracy. Frank Langella plays an UN ambassador smitten with Menzhal who ultimately wants to model her to the image he needs. Most of the people in Tina's world come across as wanting to attach their tentacles to her beauty and ride her successful coattails.
The father figure issues are amplified since we find out Menzhal's father had run away 7 years before she was discovered. The tension of a reunion on a talk show feels very painful.
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The film has some parallel to Paré in that stardom comes quickly to both the character and actress. For someone who is young and inexperienced, Paré lends a core strength that older actresses still haven’t mastered. Menzhal is charming and awkward and confused, a whirlwind of emotions successfully juggled by Paré.
Stardom also features Thomas Gibson, who had the lead role in the Arcand film Love and Human Remains. Arcand's good friend and fellow Quebecois director Robert Lepage plays the documentarian within the film. Patrick Huard as a small role as a Montréal talk show host.
Menzhal has to learn to communicate within the system. Menzhal had a lousy time in her first visit to Paris as a model. She admits the next time in Paris was better. Later, Menzhal tells a TV reporter she always loved Paris but now more than ever.
The 2000 film feels ahead of its time and may seem more relevant in more modern times, minus the lack of social media awareness. With a Twitter account, Tina Menzhal might be able to speak her piece. Then again, like the film, people put their own spin on what she would say.
Video credit: YouTube/Fraghe Rap
Photo credit: Stardom
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