The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian film written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It is adaptation of the novel of the same name by Russell Banks.
Plot summary
The Sweet Hereafter depicts life in a small town in British Columbia, Canada in the wake of a terrible school bus accident in which numerous local children are killed. Hardly able to cope with the loss, their grieving parents are approached by a lawyer (Ian Holm) who wants them to sue for damages, and who also is haunted by his dysfunctional relationship with his adult daughter. At first the parents are reluctant to do so, but eventually they are persuaded by the lawyer that filing a class action lawsuit would ease their minds and also be the right thing to do.
As most of the children are dead, the case now depends on the few surviving witnesses to say the right things in court. In particular, it is 15 year-old Nicole Burnell (Sarah Polley), who was sitting at the front of the bus and is now paralyzed from the waist down, whose deposition is all-important. However, she unexpectedly accuses driver Dolores Driscoll (Gabrielle Rose) of speeding and thus causing the accident. When she does so, all hopes of ever receiving money are thwarted. All the people involved know that Nicole is lying but cannot do anything about it. Only her father (Tom McCamus) knows that she is lying to punish him for molesting her.
Factual basis
See article on the novel.
Adaptation
Banks approved of Egoyan's adaptation, playing a cameo role as the town doctor, and discussing the film with Egoyan in the DVD's commentary track. Not only did Banks approve of the adaptation, but he freely admitted that this was one of the few instances where the film was actually better then the book.[citation needed]
In adapting the novel, Egoyan changed the setting from Upstate New York to Canada. Another major change is Egoyan's addition of references to the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, which Nicole is seen reading to children who later die in the accident. In that story, the Pied Piper leads all the children away, never to return, after their parents refuse to honor their debt to him.
In the Pied Piper, there is a crippled child who is unable to follow the Piper's song, and so he is left behind in a now-childless town, forever wishing he could have gone with the other children. In the movie, the now wheel-chair bound survivor, Nicole, clearly identifies with this child, in contrast to her motivation in the novel (where she is primarily acting out of anger against her father).
Production
The movie was filmed in five locations: Moha, British Columbia,Merritt, British Columbia, Spences Bridge, British Columbia, Stouffville, Ontario, and Toronto, Ontario.[1]
Music
The Pied Piper theme is further enhanced through Mychael Danna's score, which is heavily influenced by Medieval and Renaissance music with frequent appearances of a flute.
Polley's character, Nicole, was an aspiring singer before the accident, and is seen on stage at various points in the film performing both The Tragically Hip's "Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)" and Jane Siberry's "One More Colour". The Tragically Hip's original version of "Courage" also appears in the film.
Reception
The film was welcomed with overwhelming critical acclaim upon its release. It holds a rare 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 8.9/10 based on 53 reviews, and a 100% rating based on 15 "Top Critic" reviews.[2] In 2002, readers of Playback voted it the greatest Canadian film ever made.[3]
Awards
The Sweet Hereafter won three awards at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival: the FIPRESCI Prize, the Grand Prize of the Jury, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.[4] It won Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor (Holm), and three other prizes at the Genie Awards for Canadian Films. It was also nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 70th Academy Awards.
Cast
References
External links
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Films directed by Atom Egoyan |
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| Short Films |
Howard in Particular (1979) · After Grad with Dad (1980) · Peep Show (1981) · Open House (1982) · Men: A Passion Playground (1985) · Looking for Nothing (1988) · Montréal vu par... / Montreal Sextet segment: En passant (In Passing) (1991) · A Portrait of Arshile (1995) · The Line (2000) · Diaspora (2001) · Chacun son cinéma / To Each His Cinema segment: Artaud Double Bill (2007) ·
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