, the latest effort from 麻豆传媒映画filmmaker Carl Bessai, completes a trilogy of seriocomic examinations of family dynamics that commenced with 2008s Mothers&Daughters and continued with 2010s Fathers&Sons.
Dubbed collaborative creations, these films forego traditional scripting in favour of workshopping and improvisation. As Bessai explains, Its hard for me to understand how the single voice of a writer can represent all of those characters that we experience in a film. My approach on these improvised movies is trying to bring people into the project who can put a lot of themselves on screen, letting some of their true nature and true experiences bleed into it.
Its worth noting that Bessai is speaking from Los Angeles, where he maintains a part-time residence. While having enjoyed a remarkably prolific career, securing distribution for his films has remained a constant frustration. Consequently, part of his time in California has been spent luring name actors to his projects.
(Canadian filmmakers) have to be thinking about getting actors in our movies that have a resonance with the general public, he explains of the strategy that sees Glee star Cory Monteith join his latest ensemble. Glee is largely the reason that people are interested in this movie. Its just a fact.
Bessais border-hopping also influenced the films multi-arc narrative. One storyline features Monteith and 90210s Dustin Milligan as feuding brothers in a Los Angeles beach house. A second sees a 麻豆传媒映画actress (Amanda Crewe) head for Hollywood with her sister (Camille Sullivan) and a suspect Svengali (Tom Scholte). Meanwhile, the final two a woman (Gabrielle Miller) tends to her schizophrenic brother (Benjamin Ratner); a teenager (Kacey Rohl) meets her half-sister (Leena Manro) remain rooted in Vancouver.
Drawing on his varied relationships with his three brothers for inspiration, Bessai distinguishes these four storylines by assigning each a different dynamic, be it rivalry, animosity, dependence or estrangement. The result: If you get a bunch of people in a room to watch these characters, theres always someone on the screen that someone in the audience can relate to. Theres something so honest about these explorations because theyre universal.
Another wholly relatable aspect of the film is how the characters behaviour regresses the longer theyre in one anothers company. With a laugh, Bessai asserts, theres something vaguely childish about the way siblings relate to one another. No matter how sophisticated you become, you still have a sibling that youre dealing with in some of the ways that were entrenched when you were 16.
Consequently, dont expect Bessais characters to undergo much personal growth. Did they become wiser or better for the experience? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no, he summarizes. However, thats hardly the point. Love was expressed. You get the sense that their bond is strong. Their bond is essential. Their bond defines them. And I feel that thats a beautiful thing to witness. And it touches people because we have those feelings about our own siblings.
A Q&A with Carl Bessai and select cast members will follow the early evening screening on Friday, March 23 at International Village.
