Surfacing (film)

Surfacing
Directed by Claude Jutra
Produced by Beryl Fox
Written by Bernard Gordon
Starring
Music by
Cinematography Richard Leiterman
Edited by Toni Trow
Release dates
  • 23 July 1981 (1981-07-23) (Canada)
Running time
89 minutes
Country Canada
Language English

Surfacing is a Canadian drama film. Directed by Claude Jutra and released in 1981,[1] the film was written by Bernard Gordon as an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel Surfacing.

The film's cast included Kathleen Beller, R. H. Thomson, Joseph Bottoms, Michael Ironside and Margaret Dragu.

Atwood's novel was widely considered "unfilmable",[1] and Jutra's adaptation was not considered successful.[1] He had been brought in as director only at the last minute, after original director Eric Till dropped out;[2] it was also the first feature film ever produced by Beryl Fox, primarily known as a documentary filmmaker.[2] In addition, the film was criticized for casting Beller and Bottoms, actors from the United States, in a film adaptation of a novel with themes of Canadian nationalism, as well as for giving Bottoms top billing even though Beller's character was the novel's primary protagonist.[2]

The film garnered one Genie Award nomination at the 3rd Genie Awards, for songwriter Ann Mortifee in the Best Original Song category.

Jutra rebounded the following year with the more successful and better-received By Design.[2]

One of the final scenes was filmed in the Bon Echo Park area on Mazinaw Lake at Mazinaw Rock in south-eastern Ontario.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Claude Jutra at the Toronto International Film Festival's Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jim Leach, Claude Jutra: Filmmaker. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0773520059.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.