THE NATIONAL PARKS PROJECT (multiple directors, Canada). 127 minutes. Rating: NNN
To celebrate the centenary of Parks Canada, Joel McConvey, Geoff Morrison and Ryan Noth assembled 13 filmmakers and 39 musicians to interpret the country’s national parks in a series of beautifully photographed shorts. (Imagine North Of Superior without the uncomfortable patriotism.)
As with any omnibus project, tone and content vary wildly from one segment to the next, and at just over two hours, The National Parks Project does drag on a bit the experience might fare better as a series of individual HD shorts than a continuous feature film. (Discovery World HD is a co-producer.)
Fortunately, the best parts are waiting at the end. Daniel Cockburn offers a playfully creepy take on Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula (“the place you don’t remember”), scored by John Samson, Christine Fellows and Sandro Perri Hubert Davis brings Kathleen Edwards, Sam Roberts and Matt Mays to Manitoba’s Wapusk National Park and Kevin McMahon takes an impressionistic trip along the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories, scored by Olga Goreas, Jace Lasek and Shad.