Q is the arts and entertainment interview show on CBC Radio One. Tom Power is the host. He's from Newfoundland and Labrador; doesn't take long for him to point that out on the show. We love Q and Tom Power as the host. There is a lot of promotion on the show for Canadian authors, musicians, and even TV shows.
Canadian film doesn't get featured too often, even on the public broadcaster. We sarcastically tweet the few times Eli Glasner actually reviews a Canadian film. We love Glasner but like most film reviews, the obsession is on American product.
Recently, Tom Power had on Gabriel Byrne and Sigourney Weaver (separate interviews) talking about their latest films. Turns out those films are secretly Canadian, so secret in fact that only one of them got mentioned with a direct Canadian connection. That was because of an answer Weaver gave late in her interview.
Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley, daughter of Andie MacDowell, are featured prominently in the trailer and publicity. So why is My Salinger Year a Canadian film?
Heralded French-Canadian director Philippe Falardeau adapted the screenplay based on My Salinger Year from American author Joanna Rakoff and directed the film.
Falardeau is known for such great Quebecois films as Monsieur Lazhar (2011); My Internship in Canada (2015); and Congorama (2006).
Falardeau has directed American films in English: Chuck (2016) and The Good Lie (2013). He didn't write either film.
My Salinger Year was filmed in Montréal. While the major players in the film are not Canadian, there are a few actors further down on the callsheet: Colm Feore, Théodore Pellerin, Yanic Truesdale, Hamza Haq, and Leni Parker.
Weaver had great praise for Falardeau in the Q interview. Only then did Power point out that Falardeau is Quebecois.
The reviews so far have not been too good. The likelihood of slipping into a U.S. streaming service means waiting a little longer to see the film.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah had a Canadian talking about a Canadian film
The theme of Leonard Cohen songs might lead you to think Death of a Ladies' Man is a Canadian film.
Writer/director Matt Bissonnette also explored Leonard Cohen in Looking for Leonard (2002) and Passenger Side (2009). You might also know Bissonnette from Who Loves the Sun (2006) starring his then wife, Molly Parker.
Sarah Polley sneaked Cohen into Take This Waltz (2011). Jon Stewart sneaked Leonard Cohen into the American film Rosewater.
Leonard Cohen, Canada's poet, passes away at the age of 82
Rosewater and its Canadian connections
Death of a Ladies' Man features these Leonard Cohen songs: Bird on the Wire; Memories; Hallelujah; Why Don't You Try; Heart with No Companion; The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien errant); and Did I Ever Love You.
The film features some very fine Quebecois acting talent such as Jessica Paré, Suzanne Clément, Antoine Olivier Pilon, Karelle Tremblay, and Pascale Bussières. The film also features English Canadian talent in Tyrone Benskin and Joel Bissonnette, brother of Matt.
Though Death of a Ladies' Man also takes place in Ireland and is a co-production, this film feels more Canadian than My Salinger Year. Both films are filmed in Montréal.
CanadianCrossing.com radio coverage
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Their non-Canadian leads might convince Canadians to go see these films. These films are available in the U.S. as well so they offer up good options below the 49th parallel.
video credits: YouTube/IFC Films; YouTube/Mongrel Media
photo credits: My Salinger Year film; Death of a Ladies' Man film
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