Monkeys in the Attic

Canada has produced many odd movies that have no commercial appeal whatsoever but this has to be one of the strangest, not just among Canadian movies but movies in general. There is no real rooting interest. The storyline is very scant and basically plotless. It involves one night in the lives of 4 people with varying mental problems sharing an apartment together and what happens when an unsuspecting pizza delivery man shows up. (Hey! Maybe this movie inspired that old porno flick chestnut!) Louis Del Grande plays a character teetering on the edge of sanity and explosive violence. It is quite a radical departure from his work on "Seeing Things". The film features some rather explicit nudity and sex, some of which borders on an X rating, at least for this time period. Some scenes involve dream sequences and may well give the viewer the impression that the film makers were high when the scenes were shot. Monkeys in the Attic is a curiosity at best and has little to recommend about it. Most of the cast went on to do far better work in projects of far higher quality which leads one to wonder what attracted them to a project like this as they had some credits to their names. One may also wonder how such an oddity like this was financed in the first place. The end result is like something that one of the 4 mentally challenged people might have dreamt of.

This is an unusual film. That will be my first of many understatements about Monkeys in The Attic. I know that this is a Canadian film about two dysfunctional couples who live, love, and trip (not in the travel sense) together. Their interaction with each other is only interrupted when the pizza delivery man pays a call. That is where my understanding of the plot stops. I have a few theories about the meaning of this movie; I think all are equally valid. Theory number 1: This is an obvious attempt to shed light on aimless bourgeoisie awash in the morass of modern decadent Western capitalistic society. Theory number 2: This is a treatise on the subtle differences between appearance and reality, soberness and drunkenness, sanity and insanity, male and female, body and soul. Theory number 3: This is a visual essay on the physical and emotional impotence of the male in the modern world, in light of the feminist movement. Theory number 4: This is one long public service message about the need to "Just say no." Theory number 5: This is a paradigm of what happens when a bunch of Canadians get together to get naked, drop a lot of acid, smoke a lot of doobies, and get "turned on." The actors in this little drama do what they can with what they are given---which is not much. Victor Garber--who later went on to play the kind-hearted Thomas Andrews in the blockbuster Titanic--and Jackie Burroughs are the most interesting to watch. They must explore the greater range of emotions. Jess Walton--of The Young and the Restless fame--and Louis Del Grande, on the other hand, just seem to be in a bad mood. Comic relief is provided by Jim Henshaw, who plays the hapless pizza delivery boy.

Despite the playful title, this an adult film with some disturbing scenes of drug abuse, and sexual and domestic violence. It is not for the close-minded or the easily offended. To fully appreciate this film (if that is possible), you have to remember the times in which it was made: it is 70s mentality and morality. Many today will find it politically incorrect, but will watch anyway...like glancing back at a bad car crash.