Adoration

Winner of the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the recent Cannes Film Festival and an honourable mention from the Canadian Feature Film Jury at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival®, Adoration is the latest work by the legendary Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Where the Truth Lies). Set in a world ruled by paranoia and suspicion, the film is a powerful and disturbing meditation on identity and family secrets.

When translating a piece of writing for his high-school French class, teenaged Simon (Devon Bostick) decides to inject some personal history into the exercise. Unfortunately, he plays with the truth more than a little, incorporating his own fantasies and the dark, disturbing stories told to him by his dying grandfather (Kenneth Welsh). Somewhat surprisingly and mysteriously, he’s encouraged in this pursuit by his French teacher, played by Arsinée Khanjian (Ararat, Sabah). When the story winds up posted on a website, chaos erupts and Simon and his family are suddenly the topic of conversation for the entire community – friends, university professors, conspiracy nuts and all manner of Internet observers.

The set-up is vintage Egoyan, trading in family secrets and lies, with the incisive gravity and sometimes absurdist sense of humour that has won him admirers around the world. As in earlier films like Family Viewing, Speaking Parts and Exotica, Egoyan pays special attention here to the way that memories are preserved and information and mythology are passed on. Complicating things is cyberspace, which, as Egoyan presents it, offers immediate "information" but absolutely no guarantee that what is posted is true. Adoration explores the manner in which instant communication undermines reflection, inflaming deep-seated prejudices and fostering confusion and panic in these decidedly turbulent times. While the film unfolds through the prism of family dynamics, it is as much about our addiction to chatter and our corresponding inability to actually listen.

A courageous analysis of the contemporary context in which world leaders intentionally mislead the public and exploit our fear of the new or the foreign, Adoration may be Egoyan’s most timely film to date.



CRITICAL NOTES

"Once again, Egoyan has created a film that descends from ideas rather than experience, driven by theme rather than character, and he does both very well." - Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail

"Adoration is a profound and provocative exploration of cultural inheritance." - Stephen Holden, New York Times

"Scott Speedman gives a piercing, intelligent performance." - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

FILM INFORMATION

Director: Atom Egoyen
Cast: Scott Speedman, Arsinée Khanjian, Kenneth Welsh, Rachel Blanchard, Devon Bostick
Year: 2008
Runtime: 100 minutes
Country: Canada
Language: English
Distributor: E1
Distributor Estimates Availability As: Current

Ratings: ON NR / BC NR / AB NR / SK NR / MB NR / QC NR / Maritmes NR

SCREENING DATES AND TIMES 

Jun 17, 2009 
Circuit Centre: Charlottetown
Province: Prince Edward Island
Circuit Group Name: City Cinema Ltd
Venue:City Cinema
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