Lenny Abrahamson’s Room ruled the Canadian Screen Awards last night, and if you don’t have a problem with that – well, just read on.
Room is a good movie. I liked it a lot. But is it Canadian enough to compete with movies like Atom Egoyan’s Remember, Anne Émond’s Our Loved Ones or Philippe Falardeau’s My Internship In Canada? How about Paul Gross’s Hyena Road, which wore its Canadianness on its sleeve?
Room was shot in Toronto with a largely Canadian crew. But it’s set in the U.S., director Abrahamson is Irish, as are most of his producers, and stars Brie Larson, Joan Allen and William H. Macy are American. Jacob Tremblay and Tom McCamus are Canadian, but … well, does anyone watch Room and think of it as a triumph of Canadian cinema? They will now, because it won nine Screenies, including the top prizes of picture, director, screenplay, actor, actress and supporting actress.
Same question for Brooklyn, another Irish/Canadian venture that one was shot in Montreal, with a British and American cast and a couple of token Canadians. It won Screenies for cinematography and original score, and now more people are aware of its Canadian origins.
So, hooray. But the rush to reward these films reveals a larger issue with the Canadian Screen Awards, which a filmmaker friend summed up very nicely this morning:
“Don’t pretend you’re celebrating Canadian talent and then give Brie Larson an award because her producers took advantage of some tax credits.”
I can’t argue with that. Foreign talent always wins in these situations, because it’s far more important for Canadians to acknowledge being acknowledged than it is to celebrate our accomplishments ourselves.
“The awards basically disprove their own argument for existing,” my friend continued. “You can’t say that Canada is full of great talent worth recognizing and then give your top awards to non-Canadians in a movie that’s only marginally Canadian itself.”
Again, no argument from me. As much as the Academy’s week-long celebrations pumped up Canadian talent – handing out more than a dozen special awards and holding three different galas – the presence of more glamourous international talent on the ballot inevitably skews the voting. And that ballot is already skewed by a nomination process vulnerable to gaming.
I don’t mean to diminish the work of Room’s Tremblay – or Orphan Black’s Ari Millen, for that matter – but they won awards last night in leading-actor categories in which they never should have been competing. Tremblay’s Jack wasn’t the male lead in Room that film is focused on Brie Larson’s character of Ma, to the point where Jack disappears for long stretches of the second half of the movie. The kid’s good, but it’s a supporting role.
And Millen’s multiple roles in Orphan Black are entirely peripheral, both in terms of screen time and plot service, to the show’s primary storylines, which revolve around the clones played by Tatiana Maslany. No one would argue that Maslany didn’t deserve her award for best performance by an actress in a continuing leading dramatic role – she is the hearts and souls of that show – but the show doesn’t perceive Millen as her narrative equal. He’s not the lead.
More to the point, consider the other nominees in those categories. Maxim Gaudette is only in the first half of Our Loved Ones before the focus shifts to someone else, but River’s Rossif Sutherland, Remember’s Christopher Plummer and The Waiting Room’s Jasmin Geljo are undeniably the centres of their respective movies. And yeah, Remember may be cheesy and ridiculous but Plummer’s performance is unimpeachable.
Tremblay’s being part of the juggernaut of Room (and the novelty of his age) meant he’d likely win in whatever category in which he found himself nominated, so why not let him compete in the appropriate category?
And speaking of appropriate categories, I suggest the Academy strongly consider creating an international co-production prize for films like Room and Brooklyn, the better to separate them from the more intrinsically Canadian films that deserve a chance to compete against one another on their own merits, rather than facing movies that have just come off glossy Oscar campaigns.
There’s already a Best International Drama category for television – this year’s winner was Vikings, beating Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell – and there’s no reason the Screenies couldn’t have one for film. Maybe start there.
And just so I don’t seem like a total crank today, I do like the idea of nicknaming the awards for a genuine Canadian legend. “The Candies” has a really nice ring to it, eh?
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
