In 1964, Peter (Peter Kastner) has a lot of teenage angst. He has a good middle-class life in the Toronto area. Peter doesn't want to be in a world consumed with money.
Peter's girlfriend is Julie (Julie Biggs). Peter's father sells cars and brings one home. Peter begs his father to let him drive the car. The father says no.
Later, Peter and Julie go out for a joy ride and he gets arrested. Now Peter has to look for a job and start thinking about money.
The angst is quickly left behind for a slow pace of watching Peter figure out the real world. Peter gets a job parking cars working for the lot supervisor (John Vernon, yes that John Vernon).
The story is pretty much Peter. Julie has a bit of a presence before the arrest, then appears here and there. She is involved in the ending.
Nobody Waved Good-bye is a non-fiction film that feels a bit like a documentary.
Don Owen wrote and directed the film, a National Film Board of Canada production. Unlike the over-the-top approach to Blackboard Jungle and Rebel Without a Cause, Nobody Waved Good-bye is far more subdued.
Unfinished Business is the sequel to Nobody Waved Good-bye 20 years later in 1984.
Isabelle (Isabelle Mejias) turns out to be the love child of Peter and Julie. The act is inferred at the end of Nobody Waved Good-bye.
Mejias shines as the lead in the film but there isn't much to the film itself. Izzy goes on about nuclear war, a topic her parents rebelled against as well. Peter is understanding. Julie isn't because this reminds her of her now ex husband.
Unfinished Business feels like a bad 1980 video at times. Every time they go into the basement of the club, day or night, the Parachute Club is always playing in the cafe basement.
The good news is you can see this film without having seen the original film. The bad news is the original film is way better.
The original film worked because the film felt real. Isabelle's life in sequel is more about being in an awkward film.
Owen gives the same first name to his major characters as the actors themselves.
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Mejias got a Genie Award nomination for Best Actress at the 6th Genie Awards in 1985.
Nobody Waved Good-bye finished 9th in the 1984 version of the Toronto International Film Festival list of the Top 10 Canadian Films of all time.
photo credits: Nobody Waved Good-bye; Unfinished Business
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