Brotherhood | |
---|---|
Directed by | Richard Bell |
Written by | Richard Bell |
Produced by | Mehernaz Lentin Anand Ramayya |
Starring | Brendan Fehr Brendan Fletcher Jake Manley Dylan Everett |
Cinematography | Adam Swica |
Edited by | Sarah Peddie |
Music by | William Rowson |
Production companies | Industry Pictures Karma Film |
Distributed by | levelFILM |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Brotherhood is a 2019 Canadian period drama film [1] written and directed by Richard Bell. [2] Set in the 1920s, the film recounts the true story of a group of youth at a summer camp on Balsam Lake in the Kawartha Lakes, who had to fight for survival when an unforeseen thunderstorm overwhelmed their canoe trip. [3] The film's cast includes Brendan Fehr, Brendan Fletcher, Jake Manley, Gage Munroe and Dylan Everett. [4]
In the opening scenes, Arthur Lambden packs a photo of his son in his backpack. He meets the young members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew and their leader, Robert Butcher, on the path to Long Point, a camp on the shores of Balsam Lake in the Kawartha Lakes, 145 kilometres northeast of Toronto. Both Butcher, who is the camp leader, and Lambden, who is second in command, are veterans of World War I. Butcher tells Lambden that, while it was his first time operating a camping trip at Long Point, the group had camped at Clear Lake for many years. He told Lambden that the youth—whose fathers had died in the war or in the Spanish flu pandemic that followed the war—would benefit from being in the rugged outdoors. Butcher is concerned that the boys of the generation that succeeded their own were being "feminized by their mothers and teachers." They begin their canoe trip late in the evening, and when their 30-foot war canoe is capsized during a sudden summer squall, drowning some, those that did survive spend the night in the frigid, dark lake waters clinging to the overturned canoe that is slowly sinking. The survivors struggle to ward off the freezing cold and fighting fatigue, hypothermia, and their fears. The film alternates between scenes of their struggle and lively, happy scenes from earlier in the evening when the boys formed a "band of brothers" through camp activities designed for male bonding. [5] The movie focuses on the individual lives of some of the characters before the camping trip. George Waller played by Jake Manley, had an abusive father; Arthur Lambden, played by Brendan Fletcher, had survived the front lines in World War I only to return home as a carrier of the Spanish flu virus that killed his own wife and child; the two brothers—Will played by Sam Ashe Arnold and Jack played by Gage Munroe, whose father had been killed during the war; and Leonard, played by Matthew Isen, whose father had drowned years before the camping trip and who feared water. [5] After surviving a harrowing night on the lake, only four remain alive and finally crawl onto the shores of Grand Island. They find makeshift paddles and return to Long Point. [5]
Principal photography on the film started in September 2017 in Michipicoten. [6]
The film received a private theatrical screening for residents of the Balsam Lake community in July 2019, [7] which was also attended by provincial lieutenant governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell. [8] It began screening on the Canadian film festival circuit in the fall, including at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. [9]
The film opened theatrically on December 6, 2019 in Toronto [10] and went on to screen at over 60 theatres nationally. [11]
In 2020, the visual effects team of Adam Jewett, Steve Ramone, Michelle Brennen, Tim Sibley, Aneesh Bhatnagar, Saikrishna Aleti, Peter Giliberti, Alex Basso, Arminus Billones and Marshall Lau won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Visual Effects at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards. [1] The same year, Bell and Bramwell Tovey received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song for the song "I've Got a Big One".
A December 5, 2019 Globe and Mail review said that Bell had succeeded in "stripping back the mythos of what it means 'to be a man'." He showed how strong one can be under duress "while embracing compassion, vulnerability and love." [10]
The National Post called it a "powerful, fight-for-survival" film. [12]
The San Francisco Bay Times said the "scenes in the lake are artfully filmed" and that Bell created a "sense in the open water that alternates between claustrophobia and momentum." [5]
The Now review said that the film "nearly sinks" and that it was "less than the sum of its parts." [13]
Original Cin said it was "interestingly fashioned as a “lost generation” metaphor" with some "loose ends." [14]
The Trent–Severn Waterway is a 386-kilometre-long (240 mi) canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. Its major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, Kawartha Lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching and Severn River. Its scenic, meandering route has been called "one of the finest interconnected systems of navigation in the world".
Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which includes the surrounding Townships of Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Otonabee-South Monaghan, and Douro-Dummer, was 128,624 in 2021. In 2021, Peterborough ranked 32nd among the country's 41 census metropolitan areas according to the CMA in Canada. The current mayor of Peterborough is Jeff Leal.
Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a bivy or tarp, or no shelter at all. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors, in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment or an educational experience. Spending the night away from home distinguishes camping from day-tripping, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.
Trenton is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues northwest to Peterborough and eventually Port Severn on Georgian Bay.
The City of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is mostly rural. It is the second largest single-tier municipality in Ontario by land area.
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, also known as Cinéfest and Cinéfest Sudbury is an annual film festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, held over nine days each September. It is one of the largest film festivals in Canada.
The Municipality of Trent Lakes is a lower-tier township in the rural, mostly wooded northern section of Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada. The municipality has a primarily cottage and tourist industry based economy but has grown year round residency due to its commute distance to the Greater Toronto Area.
Canoe camping, also known as touring, tripping or expedition canoeing, is a combination of canoeing and camping. Canoe campers carry enough with them to travel and camp for several days via a canoe.
"Land of the Silver Birch" is a traditional Canadian folk song that dates from the 1920s. The lyrics are sometimes erroneously attributed to Pauline Johnson, perhaps in confusion with her well-known poem, "The Song My Paddle Sings". It is sometimes sung to keep time while canoeing, and sometimes sung at campfires in a round. It is in Aeolian, or natural minor, but may be sung with a raised sixth, creating a Dorian feel.
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park is in Kananaskis Country about 90 kilometres (56 mi) west of Calgary, along the Kananaskis Trail in Alberta, Canada.
Richard Bell is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is most noted as the writer and director of the films Eighteen and Brotherhood.
South River is a village on Highway 124 near Algonquin Park in the Almaguin Highlands region of Parry Sound District of Ontario, Canada. It is about halfway between North Bay and Huntsville or a 3-hour drive (300 km) north from Toronto. South River has access to the Algonquin Park for canoeists at Kawawaymog. South River is home of Mikisew Provincial Park on the shores of Eagle Lake.
Sugar is a 2004 independent Canadian romantic drama film co-written and directed by John Palmer, and starring Andre Noble, Brendan Fehr, Marnie McPhail, Maury Chaykin, and Sarah Polley. Its plot follows a young gay man who falls in love with street hustler in Toronto. It is based on short stories by Bruce LaBruce. Noble, who received strong reviews for his performance in Sugar, died just a few weeks after the film's debut.
Mantrap is a 1926 American silent comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. Mantrap stars Clara Bow, Percy Marmont, Ernest Torrence, Ford Sterling, and Eugene Pallette, and was directed by Victor Fleming.
Scouting and Guiding in Alberta has a long history, from the 1900s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Temagami, formerly spelled Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart.
King's Highway 35, commonly referred to as Highway 35, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, linking Highway 401 with the Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Algonquin Provincial Park. The highway travels from west of Newcastle, through Lindsay, near Fenelon Falls, Coboconk, Minden Hills, and into Haliburton before terminating at Highway 60 to the west of Algonquin Park. Within those areas, it services the communities of Orono, Cameron, Rosedale, Norland, Moore Falls, Miners Bay, Lutterworth, Carnarvon, Buttermilk Falls, Halls Lake, Pine Springs and Dorset. The winding course of the road, combined with the picturesque views offered along its length, have led some to declare it the most scenic highway in Ontario.
Eighteen is a 2005 Canadian drama film written and directed by Richard Bell.
Jake Manley is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Jack Morton in the Netflix series The Order, Brad in the NBC series Heroes Reborn, Fisher Webb in the CW series iZombie, Shane in A Dog’s Journey (2019), George Waller in Brotherhood (2019), Dean Taylor in Infamous (2020) and York in Holidate (2020).
The Amazing Race Canada 8 is the eighth season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured ten teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across Canada. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, a trip for two around the world, and two Chevrolet Silverado ZR2s. This season visited five provinces and travelled over 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) during eleven legs. Starting in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, racers travelled through Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick before finishing in Vancouver. New twists introduced in this season include the On Ramp, which was a task that gave teams the chance to reenter The Amazing Race Canada; the Pass, which forced a team to stop racing until another team passed them; a double elimination leg; and four teams racing in the final leg. The season was originally scheduled to premiere on CTV in July 2020; however, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced production to postpone the season for two years due to travel restrictions between selected Canadian provinces, it premiered on July 5, 2022 with a preseason special etalk Presents: The Amazing Race Canada airing on July 1. The season finale aired on September 20, 2022.