DVD These Walls
Run time: 9 min
Rating: 0.0
Genres: Thriller
Director: Doreen Manuel
Stars: Gracey Dove, Andrea Menard, Peter Hall
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Storyline Details |
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Details: Country: Canada Release Date: 30 March 2012 (Canada) |
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Box Office Budget: CAD 1,000 (estimated) |
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DVD These Walls
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2 comments
I saw this film at the Crazy 8's screening in Vancouver in the Spring. I thought it was going to be a scary film but it made me feel more angry than scared. It made me think about all the stories left untold. My gran and mom and aunties had talked about babies being buried around the Indian residential schools. I hear some bits and pieces on the news about this stuff but then the stories disappear. I want my family to see this film. We know what the truth is and know that the stories will come out and won't just disappear. I wish it was on TV so that more people could see it. I would also like to see a longer version of this film. I want to know what happened to the priests and what happened to Mary and her mother. I hope you keep making films, someone needs to tell our stories. Thanks.
Pleasantly surprised at this writer/director Doreen Manuel's approach to an atrocity on the Native people's of the Americas. Admittedly when I initially read about the subject matter, "Indian residential school" I was expecting a painful walk into the past. But in this refreshing approach Manuel took a horrendous subject matter (murdered babies) and took the audience on a thrill ride, albeit a quick one. The actor's in particular the main character "Gracey Dove" as Mary, gave an outstanding performance. She gives her character so much depth. She disappears into her role with her subtle mixture of strength and vulnerability. The chilling performance of Peter Hall as Father Kelly made me feel equally angry and horrified at to what it must have been like for Native people to have endured living in these prison camps passed off as religious schools for children. I also enjoyed the music choices and felt they all added to the experience. Fara Palmer is definitely on my list of CD's to buy. I was curious about the Claire character's background and what her experiences were and would have liked to have seen more about who she was, which brings me to my problems with this film. The only thing that bothered me about this film is that it at times felt choppy in the editing. It felt as though I needed some time to breathe in order to absorb what was happening. I realize that it was written as a short film but I'd much rather see this as a feature or perhaps a mini-series. This would enable the subject matter and the characters to be fully fleshed out. That said, overall I did enjoy this short film and look forward to seeing more from this filmmaker.