À Beira da Loucura

In 1851, the young woman Annie is married off to Simon, a nonstop jerk(who you can still somewhat understand the reasoning of... he's proud, a product of his time and pragmatic) but finds herself far more interested in his sweet brother. Divorce is an impossibility in this period, and that leaves only one option if the two are to be together. I got this on sale, as part of a deal, and was honestly surprised by its quality. The acting is pretty good, if the accents switch between not only regions but continents even in the middle of the fairly well-written dialog. This is filmed and edited reasonably well. The pace is tight, there aren't any real slow spots, and in fact this manages to tell a lot in just under 90 minutes sans credits. This goes into the themes of innocence(can it remain intact?) and guilt(who is truly responsible for what happens in this?). A lot of harsh reality in this, from nature and from "the system", and it tends to be dealt with in a believable manner. Perhaps the very conclusion is a tad "easy". Maybe they didn't think of anything better. There is a bit of strong sexuality and violence in this. I recommend this to fans of drama-thrillers. 7/10

Two brothers. A young woman. A house far from civilization. A murder. And the verdict. Ambiguous, far from justice, fragile and behind rules. A love story. And common sacrifice. A body as frontier between past and future. And present as desert isle. The axis - Caroline Dhavernas look. Axis of story, images, questions about innocence and guilty, nuances of fear and hope and ash of a building who must be, in strange form, the home.A movie as a land in rain. The storm, the wed ground, lightning, few thunders, rainbow, fresh air ,after cried. Mixture of mystery and beauty. A flash tale in which sensitivity and hidden expectations are seeds of passing existences.

A beautiful story on the age-old themes: who is guilty on a crime? Does true innocence exist? Too bad the outcome spoils a lot by being a bit infantile. I felt it didn't do justice to the movie as a whole.

The scenery of Canadian life in the 19th century is really captivating and draws you as a viewer into its raw atmosphere. You really feel the battle against the elements as the characters are faced against it. Their harsh lives make it practically unbearable to keep a steady pace in life, let alone to have a decent love life. The acting is superb, with a huge extra plus for Caroline Dhavernes as the gorgeous but natural protagonist.

I decided to see this movie because I am a huge fan of Caroline Dhavernas and Brendan Fehr and love seeing my favorite actors in diverse roles. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the film making and acting. I never once saw Annie or Simon and thought I was looking at Jaye Tyler (Dhavernas in Wonderfalls) or Michael Guerin (Fehr in Roswell). In fact, I was so impressed by Caroline Dhavernas' acting that I had to watch the entire Wonderfalls DVD set to remind myself that they were the same person. She carries herself so differently in these different roles that I may not have even recognized her at all.

I went in to this movie expecting a dark period piece. What I found was a haunting look at the effects of isolation and wilderness on the human mind. Simon Herron, who was raised in the wilderness by his mother's cousin, grew up to become a hard man who valued hard work and duty, eventually spiraling into a violent monster. His younger brother, George, was raised in the city by his father's sister who taught him to value education and human contact. And Annie, a naive child raised in a Christian school (probably an orphan) believes that marriage and a new start on a homestead will be the answer to all of her dreams. Over time, the violence, loneliness, and isolation begin to take their toll on Annie and George, ultimately leading to Simon's death and Annie having a near total break from reality, as we meet her when the film begins.

While obviously not for children due to graphic violence and nudity, I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves good storytelling and great acting. Edge of Madness differs greatly from anything normally seen in the U.S. It is not flashy or high budget, but instead offers a character driven story that, while slightly predictable, stays with you long after the credits have ran.

Call me unpatriotic, but I have never been much of an enthusiast for Canadian films. Too many of them are either lame sex comedies or "ethnic" stories about social issues. Nothing wrong with either of those genres if you're interested, but they're just not my cup of tea. This movie, however (the version I saw was entitled "Edge of Madness"), gave me hope that Canadian films can achieve some real heights.

Set in Manitoba in 1851, the story is a truly compelling mystery. Annie (Caroline Dhavernas) is a young woman who staggers out of the bush and admits to having killed her abusive husband Simon (Brendan Fehr). Something about her story doesn't ring true to Henry Mullen (Paul Johansson) - the closest thing there is to law enforcement in this village. The movie is then primarily a flashback as Mullen pieces together what actually happened to Simon.

The lead actors (Dhavernas, Fehr, Johansson and Corey Sevier as Simon's brother George) all put on excellent performances, and the story moves along crisply. Never once did I find my attention wandering. The sets had a realistic feel to them, as did the characters (the Scottish accents were at times a bit thick and difficult to follow).

There were a couple of problems. A bit more research should have been done before the scene in which the girls in the church-run school were singing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus." It's a lovely hymn (and a Canadian hymn, written in Port Hope, Ontario by Joseph Scriven,) but the movie is set in 1851, and this scene was a flashback to Annie as a younger girl (which would put it in the 1840's.) The problem is that Scriven didn't write the hymn until 1855 (and he actually wrote it as a poem) and it would have taken some time before it was set to music and became a popular church hymn. I also thought the ending was a little weak. There was a clear effort by Director Anne Wheeler to keep the viewer guessing about Annie's ultimate fate, but somehow the ending seemed far too contrived for my liking and a bit of a letdown after what had been a very good movie. Still, I liked this very much.

7/10