BRUCE MacDONALD

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB.5. 

Canada, 2007.  Shadow Shows, Téléfilm Canada, Corvid Pictures, Shadow Shows, Alcina Pictures, Corvid Pictures, Alcina Pictures, The Harold Greenberg Fund, The Movie Network, Movie Central Network, Rogers Telefund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Media Development Corporation, Tracey Fragments.  Screenplay by Maureen Medved, based on her novel.  Cinematography by Steve Cosens.  Produced by Sarah Timmins.  Music by Broken Social Scene.  Production Design by Ingrid Jurek.  Costume Design by Lea Carlson.  Film Editing by Jeremiah Munce, Gareth C. Scales.  

Fragments are exactly what you get in this film by Bruce McDonald, with images constantly splintered across the screen giving multiple angles at all times. Somehow, McDonald keeps it from giving you a major headache, but while he proves himself a wizard technically, he isn’t able to cover up the fact that the story he’s telling is completely inconsequential. Ellen Page plays a Winnipeg teenager who gets fed up with her ridiculously unsympathetic parents and runs away, motivated by her difficult time in school and the fact that her little brother has gone missing. Told out of sequence, the film details her experiences on the street, the events leading up to her brother’s going missing, and a series of monologues she delivers as a way to let us know her emotional state of being. Unfortunately there is never any attachment to the characters, but it is impressively achieved by some very talented artists behind the camera. It’s basically the Canadian version of Juno, with Page as another wayward teen, but because it’s a Canadian film she never washes her hair or tries to be sympathetic. Fans of Run Lola Run will find it worthwhile.

Toronto International Film Festival:  2007