A Wake

A real fun and intricate story, with wonderful characters! it was a real treat to watch. A classic in it's genre, full of intensity, humour and mystery.

It takes place somewhere in Canada in winter time. The scenery is fully rendered to it's delicate splendour thanks to a wonderful cinematography. But really the story is a universal one and has nothing to do with Canada per say. The plot turns and twist in surprising directions holding the viewer and his breath glued to his seat with excitement and wonder. The acting is nothing short of wonderful in it's freshness and creativity. It's a real entertaining film in the classic sense. A real treat to the viewer and a tour de force by it's author/ director.

The story is a wonderful mystery full of suspense with interesting well developed characters. A wife puts on a weekend for the Wake of her dead husband saying that she is just following his request ... his dying wishes. The Wake is for a director and everyone invited to the Wake has worked with him and had different relationships with him. There is his son, his leading lady, various actors in his plays and of course the woman who accused him of rape. She is an absorbing character with many problems, at once antagonistic and sympathetic. The acting is exceptional mainly because the director shot the movie in sequence and laid out all the scenes so that the actors could improv. The ending ties everything together as the situation is slowly revealed with a surprise ending. Beautifully shot with excellent production value. The movie is shot in one location in a gorgeous house set in the country. The muted colours of the wintry, country scenes are breathtaking. Visually and emotionally engaging.

I found "A Wake" full of surprises and a unpredictable ending. The story takes place in one location, in an old farm house where a dinner party is taking place to say good bye to a friend who passed away suddenly. Not to give to much of the story away, the cast has to retell how they were connected to the decease, and how he effected their life. The cast were all very believable, especially Kristopher Turner, who I thought was remarkable in the love scene. Every older woman's dream! The cinematography was good and I enjoyed how the camera man played with light. Not until the end of the movie did I realized that most of the film was ad lib. The editing was seamless and paced brilliantly. The movie just flew right by and I enjoyed the ride.

A Wake is a really great bit of cinema. It's all about the acting, and the performances are excellent. A little bit of Hamlet, a little bit of Opening Night and it's all set up as a riff on The Celebration. It seemed to be so well written I was surprised to learn that the actors were improvising; it must have been the swift editing that made it all seem so tight. The only criticism that I can think of is the title because it is not so much about death as about performance; it's theatrical without losing it by going over the top. Buitenhuis has taken the chamber drama concept of Dogma and put in a Canadian winter setting, so you get that closed in cabin-fever sense, along with a group of fairly wild personalities trying to work out some festering issues from the past. I can't wait to see it on the big screen!