Raleon

Picture Claire is a good movie, with a good storyline and good acting. But when it didn't go into theatres and Bruce MacDonald himself thought poorly upon it, I had to wonder what was wrong with it. (And I wasn't the only one.) I bought it the first moment I saw it in stores. Basically much of the movie's elements aren't up to Bruce MacDonald's standards. Everything he uses to make a good story- the foreshadowing, the slight hinting toward something, the full circle- wasn't as clear in the movie as it was in others as say Hard Core Logo and Dance Me Outside. Some of the things should have been made clearer, such as the reference to the islands, the misogyny of certain characters and their expectations of Claire. The denument itself seemed to fall apart on him. It ended in quite a mess, but the very ending itself, the closing credits, I liked.

So the movie has flaws. Most movies do. And it's not up to MacDonald's standards. Does that mean his fans won't enjoy it. No, his fans will still enjoy it. People who aren't fans will still enjoy it. Though somehow it should have been done better it would still have been worth seeing in theatres.

This was the first Denys Arcandes movie I've seen, however I never realized it was his work when I first watched it. I've always heard such great stuff about his movies, I had to wonder why I never heard anything about this one. Now I know why. Most of his work is thoughful and leads others to think, as well as being very entertaining to watch through their standard type comedy which everyone can relate to and their (often) dramatic storylines. This movie was just a simple comedy with noting to it. The story wasn't up to his standard and all in all it was pretty boring.

So if you're interested in Denys Arcandes at all, then good. Watch Jesus of Montreal or the Decline of the American Empire, or his best so far- the Barbarian Invasions, but if you watch this one don't hold it against him.

The Decline of the American Empire is a philosophical type look at sexual influence and how they effect culture. In all it's just a very good comedy with a seemingly sophisticated edge which urges you to ponder on what they are saying. Entertainment- wise there's little there, but artistically Arcandes does his job, with the exception of a scene near the end which was almost pornographic, but was really intended that way anyway.

As for one comment which stated this one was Canada's first great film, I'd like to point out that there were many great films which paved the way for this one- Goin down the Road and The Rowdyman just to name a couple. This is far from being Canada's first great movie, but it's a good movie nonetheless.