Victoria Day (film)

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Victoria Day
Victoria Day VideoCover.jpeg
Directed by David Bezmozgis
Written byDavid Bezmozgis
Produced byJudy Holm
Michael McNamara
Starring Mark Rendall
Holly Deveaux
Sergiy Kotelenets
Nataliya Alyexeyenko
John Mavrogiannis
Scott Beaudin
CinematographyDavid Franco
Edited byRoderick Deogrades
Music by Lesley Barber
Production
company
Markham Street Films
Distributed byMaximum Film Distribution
Release date
  • January 17, 2009 (2009-01-17)(Sundance Film Festival)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguagesEnglish
Russian

Victoria Day is a 2009 Canadian independent film directed by David Bezmozgis and produced by Markham Street Films. [1] The film stars Mark Rendall in the lead role, as well as Holly Deveaux, Sergiy Kotelenets, Nataliya Alyexeyenko, John Mavrogiannis, and Scott Beaudin. [2]

Contents

Plot

The film's story takes place the week preceding the Victoria Day long weekend in Toronto, the year of 1988. The story line depicts the weeklong journey of a sixteen-year-old ordinary teenage boy, Ben Spektor, and the conspiring events that sequence to a coming-of-age story.

The film begins on Sunday May 19, 1988. The Victoria Day weekend is fast approaching, initiating the coming end of another high school year. The attention of characters first seems to rest on the Stanley Cup finals, which are in play in Boston with Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers facing the Boston Bruins. Since Ben Spektor's life is mostly centered on hockey, he is portrayed as the star player of his Toronto Red Wings minor hockey league team, resembling the skills of a young Gretzky throughout the film's opening scenes. However, a life-altering event changes the course of Ben's path as he attends a Bob Dylan concert alongside his juvenile close friends: Sammy and Noah. While there, Ben spots Jordan Chapman, his classmate, hockey teammate, and tormentor, taking part in what appears to be a routine drug deal. Being short of five dollars to purchase the drugs, Jordan provokes Ben into reluctantly spotting him the remainder. This critical affair seemed hardly significant to Ben at the time— he could not have foreseen the life-altering consequences this event would have on his future.

As the days pass, Jordan's whereabouts are a mystery, and the city police organize a search party that is ultimately fruitless. With a guilty conscience and the fear of Jordan's disappearance, the days drag on for Ben. However, the sequence of events initiate a budding romance for Ben and Jordan's fifteen-year-old sister, Cayla. From love and romance, to the future of Ben's hockey career, Ben's adolescent life appears to be promising. Yet, the continuous discomfort of his teammate's disappearance preoccupies Ben's life, drastically altering the determined path of his promising future.

Cast

Reception

A lot of suburban Toronto is depicted in the film, including city landmarks like Ontario Place. Since the film is set in Canada and named after a Canadian public holiday, there are definite illustrations of the life of a teenage boy in Canada. Regardless of these distinct references, Bezmozgis states, "I didn't set out to make a film that is distinctly Canadian, I set out to make a movie that reflected my experience of growing up, and it just happened to be in Toronto. It's an experience that could have happened for the most part in Chicago, or New York, Boston or Los Angeles. It happened to take place in Toronto, so there are elements that are specific to Toronto, but the story itself is like any teenage story in North America." [3]

Finally, the film was featured at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, in the World Dramatic Competition category. "In what amounts to a record, the movie was picked up faster for Sundance than any other Canadian film in history - enough to the point that the press kit and other promotional material had to be hastily assembled." [3] [4]

According to John Anderson of Variety "The hero of Victoria Day doesn't quite come of age, but he realizes he'll have to in writer-helmer David Bezmozgis' tale of late-'80s Toronto teenagers -- one of whom disappears like Amelia Earhart, endowing this Canadian production with an undercurrent of apprehension". [5]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryResult
2009Genie Awards [6] Best Original Screenplay: David Bezmozgis [1] Nominated
San Francisco Jewish Film FestivalFilm Presented [7] Nominated
Sundance Film Festival World Dramatic Competition [1] Nominated
Toronto Jewish Film Festival Film Presented [8]
Athens International Film FestivalFilm Presented [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Victoria Day". Markham Street Films. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  2. ↑ Sahakians, Sandrine (May 27, 2009). "Victoria Day Movie Trailer & Pictures". Film Equals. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Jancelewicz, Chris (January 1, 2009). "David Bezmozgis' Victoria Day: Not Your Typical 'Canadian' Movie". Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Kate (June 18, 2009). "Nostalgia for adolescent angst, and old North York" . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  5. ↑ Anderson, John (January 27, 2009). "Victoria Day". Variety .
  6. ↑ "30th Annual Genie Awards" (PDF). Genie Awards. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Victoria Day". Jewish Film Institute. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Toronto Jewish Film Festival" (PDF). p. 45.
  9. ↑ "Victoria Day". Athens International Film Festival. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
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