Loyalties

I saw this film 17 years ago, when it first came out, at the Toronto Film Festival, and yet many parts of it are as clearly etched in my mind as if I had seen it yesterday. It deals with a very contentious issue in a sensitive manner, building with a slow and understated momentum to a harrowing climax. Tantoo Cardinal's performance in particular is exceptional. Highly recommended.

Adjusting to life in an isolated Canadian village proves challenging for the wife and kids of the new doctor in town in this acclaimed drama from 'Better Than Chocolate' director Anne Wheeler. The film is mostly told from the wife's point of view and while some of her struggles to fit in (at social gatherings, local pubs, walking the street and being stared at) is fairly routine, the whole film is underscored with an unsettling sense of something sinister in the air. The circumstances that led to the family moving are, after all, highly mysterious and it is made clear early on that there is some dark secret that is common knowledge back in England where they came from; "everyone knows" the couple's son morosely comments, and the way the doctor changes topic as soon as someone mentions his hometown suggests something shocking in their past. Without revealing too much, everything culminates in an emotionally charged climactic few minutes in which the wife has to decide where her loyalties lie. Susan Woodridge is not terribly appealing in the role, but Kenneth Walsh makes the most of his character's intriguing checkered past. He always seems so friendly and charismatic but with a hint of something not quite right about him too. Tantoo Cardinal also does well as a native Albertan who bonds with Woodridge after they discover that their marriages are almost equally rocky.

Intense, true-to-life Canadiana drama in alcohol-fueled Northern Alberta. Can't believe I missed this one all these years, but it was worth the wait. Fascinating insight into First Nations family life, its mingling with European culture, and how people get along or don't get along ultimately depends on individual personalities, and not as much social grouping and ancestral ties. Extremely well-written, and Tantoo Cardinal is amazing as usual. Easy to follow despite the twists and turns, down-to-earth and no-nonsense throughout despite its intricasies and its unravelling of the tapestry of human psychology.

I'm amazed how well I remember this film, nearly 20 years after the only time I saw it. It paints a compelling picture of an outsider family's relationship with the small town in which it's arrived. The relationship has both overt and covert elements, and at the beginning of the film the viewer is let in on the secret of which the townspeople are unaware. I think that's part of what made this film so captivating for me: there was no whodunit aspect to distract me, so I was able to get fully immersed in the complexities of the developing relationships.

This is no Hollywood good-guys-vs.-bad-guys movie. There are shades of grey, and difficult tradeoffs.

I highly recommend this film. It's a shame that it doesn't seem to have received exposure outside Canada, as its themes are universal.

I can't agree with Mr Maltin that this splendid movie is either "predictable", or defined by the hiring of a half-Indian woman.

Astute as I am, I had no idea who was going to prove loyal (or not) to what, or whom, until the proper time - at the climax of the always interesting yarn...from the various synopses studied beforehand, I anticipated that there would be some kind of family "secret" exposed by the interaction with the h-I woman, and her family, and this proved to be the case, but not, I maintain, necessarily because of the association between the two families, English, and semi-Native...for me, the "secret" as such, would have outed, eventually, under any circumstances, it being so much a character trait e.g.if one or more in the characters in the movie had been predatory by nature, sooner or later, someone is going to be preyed upon.

The s-N family does play a large part in the movie, and it is very heartwarming to see how these rough and ready Canadians, get along with their oh-so-proper English counterparts. As a rock-ribbed old right-winger myself, I was struck by how I identified with those characters in the movie, of a different race from mine...I have the usual WASP prejudices and reservations about those who look different from me and mine, but if they act, and sound like real Canadians, or Brits, then I become most comfortable with them...they're really "one of us, after all"...go figure. All the characters in this film rang true, as real Canadians, or proper English.

Neither did the film beat one over the head with the "secret". when finally revealed...nobody gave speeches, or delivered lectures on the subject...it was all very subtly put over -it was all DEPICTED for the viewer to interpret...the most significant phrase for me, at the climax was an outraged "What kind of woman are you...?"

I found the film riveting from start to finish...I spent many years working, and living in small Canadian towns like the one depicted, and can vouch for the environment suggested by the sets, costumes, behaviour, and dialogue - it especially reminded me of the Ladner region of the Fraser Delta, as it was thirty-some years ago.

I am very proud of this Canadian-made film - it was a credit to all taking part, in front of, and behind the camera. Well done, indeed, folks!