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NEW WATERFORD GIRL ......Directed by Allan Moyle; written by Tricia Fish....Running time: 97 minutes..........WITH: Liane Balaban (Mooney Pottie), Tara Spencer-Nairn (Lou Benzoa), Nicholas Campbell (Francis Pottie), Mary Walsh (Cookie Pottie), Andrew McCarthy (Cecil Sweeney) and Cathy Moriarty (Midge Benzoa).
'NEW WATERFORD GIRL': Mooney Pottie (her given name is Agnes Marie)
is a dreamy, bookish teenager living in Cape
Breton, Nova Scotia, in the mid-1970's and
longing to be anywhere else. Life in her close-knit,
conservative small town seems unbearably drab; even
the riot of ill-matched plaids that seems to be New
Waterford's idea of fashion can't overcome its essential
grayness. This is the kind of place where thrift and
common sense dictate that a shotgun wedding at the
local church double as a funeral, in spite of the
inconvenience of sorting out condolence cards from
congratulations. No wonder Mooney dreams of Rome,
Paris and above all, Manhattan.
Ten years ago Allan Moyle, who directed this quirky,
charming movie from Tricia Fish's eagle-eyed script,
made "Pump Up the Volume," a cheerfully incendiary
fable of teenage rebellion starring Christian Slater as an
insurgent boy disc jockey. While the look and setting of
his new picture are different, "New Waterford Girl,"
which opens today at the Film Forum, is animated by a
similarly feisty spirit. It's about a young girl's struggle
for independence against the forces -- her parents, her
town, the way things are -- that rein her in.
It's not exactly a new story, but the filmmakers' sense of
local color, their springy, disjointed narrative style and a
general refusal on their part or the actors' to stoop to
caricature give this version a freshness and intensity that
recall the television series "My So-Called Life" of
blessed memory. Liane Balaban, an 18-year-old from
Toronto making her first film appearance in the role of
Mooney, is like an angrier, more angular Winona Rider.
She captures both Mooney's worldliness and her naïveté
as she tries out poses and attitudes on her uncomprehending family.
These include her two older sisters, who are full of confused and confusing information about
sex, sin and social acceptability, a harried mother (Mary Walsh) and a good-humored dad
(Nicholas Campbell), who has an impossible dream of his own: to watch his hockey game in
peace and quiet. It would have been easy to make the elder Potties into small-minded clowns
or repressed ogres, but Ms. Fish, helped by these two fine actors, allows us to catch glimpses
of the world of work, family and local pride they inhabit.
Mooney's allies are Cecil Sweeney, a gloomy schoolteacher (Andrew McCarthy, majestically
coiffed in full pompadour and three-inch sideburns), and Lou Benzoa, a pugnacious neighbor
(Tara Spencer-Nairn). Both are outsiders, thrown up on the shores of Cape Breton for
reasons the script doesn't entirely explain.
Lou is the daughter of a disgraced New York boxer (her mother is played by Cathy Moriarty,
in quiet tribute to her role as Mrs. Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" 20 years ago), and she uses
her inherited pugilistic skill to take revenge on the two-timing, sweet-talking men of New
Waterford. She and Mooney, cruising through town in a beat-up car, are like a maritime
Thelma and Louise, all fired up with nowhere to go.
Except that Mooney has noticed that a select group of local girls -- the unwed, pregnant ones
-- manage to escape as far as Antigonish, where their babies are given up for adoption. So
Mooney conceives, as it were, an elaborate plan to trash her reputation; to transform herself
from the town nerd to the town slut. In its second half, "New Waterford Girl," which had
been a meandering tour of its locale, accelerates into a comedy of sexual misunderstanding --
not the least of which is Mooney's own incomprehension of sexual matters.
The soundtrack, meanwhile, outdoes "The Virgin Suicides" in its devotion to the great bad
music of the 1970's. Perhaps out of a desire for absolute authenticity, perhaps in order to
meet Canadian-content requirements, there is a heavy emphasis on bands like April Wine and
a Foot in Cold Water. There is also a welcome if anachronistic performance by the
present-day Cape Breton fiddle sensation Ashley MacIsaac and an a cappella rendition of an
old sea chantey -- sly reminders that out-of-the-way places are not necessarily cultural
backwaters.
"New Waterford Girl" is being shown with "When the Day Breaks," an animated short film
by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis that sketches a landscape of urban disconnection
populated by farm animals. The story, a curious mixture of somberness and whimsy, involves
the chance encounter between a shy pig dressed in kerchief, cloth coat and sensible shoes, and
a brusque, business-suited chicken.
Maddin, Guy
Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997)
Odilon Redon (1995)
Careful (1992)
Archangel (1990)
Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1988)
... aka Gimli Saga (1988)
... aka Pestilence (1988)
Dead Father, The (1986)
Guy Maddin is widely recognized as one of the most unique visionaries in cinema today. His far-reaching understanding of the medium has enabled him to explore the possibilities of film, and exploit the art form to its true potential. This ability has earned accolades around the globe, culminating with the Telluride Medal in 1995.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1956, Maddin was named after 50's western star Guy Madison. A descendant of Icelandic pioneers, Maddin grew up in the Winnipeg arena watching his father coach the National Hockey Team. He was a student of economics at the University of Winnipeg and entertained a brief career as a banker. Though his true affections lie in writing, Maddin felt more inclined towards film-making. It has been little more than a decade since Maddin began honing his skills with the venerated Winnipeg Film Group, and four feature films later, has become its most celebrated member.
In 1986, Maddin wrote, shot, directed, production-designed and edited his first film, a 30-minute short entitled The Dead Father. Only two years later, fulfilling the same some functions, he created his first feature film, Tales from the Gimli Hospital. The movie attracted attention at international film festivals, and became a cult-hit playing for months as a midnight movie in New York City. Maddin's debut feature was also included in the prestigious Canadian retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Building on his successes, the rising film maker continued to write, shoot, direct, production-design and edit his next two features Archangel (1990) and Careful (1992). Archangel earned him the U.S. National Society of Film Critics Prize for Best Experimental Film or the Year, and was featured at the Telluride Film Festival; one of 19 international feature films to be invited. Careful, Maddin's colour debut was applauded at film festivals around the globe including the New York Film Festival and the exclusive Tokyo Film Festival. The film was selected to open the Perspectives Canada Series at the Toronto Festival of Festivals.
Regularly compared to Jean Cocteau, David Lynch, Brian De Palma, Woody Allen, Maddin has received acclaim from the likes of Martin Scorsese and Leni Riefenstahl. In 1994, the BBC approached Maddin, along with Tim Burton, Jonathan Demme, Jane Campion and Dennis Hopper to consider directing one portion of an anthology project of five short films. The result was Maddin's filmic prose poem on the French artist Odilon Redon. The film was awarded Special Jury Citation at the Toronto Film Festival in 1995 and was invited to the New York, London, Locarno, Rotterdam, Vancouver and Telluride Film Festivals. That same year, he directed the half-hour TV thriller The Hands of Ida, produced by Twilight of the Ice Nymphs colleague, Ritchard Findlay. The picture won the award for Best Dramatic Short Program at the Charleston Worldfest and was nominated for a Gemini Award in the same category. In 1995, Maddin became the youngest ever recipient of the Telluride Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Cinema; previous winners include Gloria Swanson, Francis Ford Coppola, Leni Riefenstahl and Clint Eastwood.
Guy Maddin continues to employ his craft in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
André Turpin...(b 1966)
Un 32 août sur terre (1998) Cinematographer
... aka August 32nd on Earth (1998)(Europe: English title)
Comtesse de Bâton Rouge, La (1997) Cinematographer
... aka Countess of Baton Rouge, The (1997)
Cosmos (1997)
Zigrail (1995)
Kari Skogland
Men with Guns (1997)
Size of Watermelons, The (1996)
Gary Burns
Kitchen Party (1997)
Suburbanators, The (1995)
Michel Poulette
Conciergerie, La (1997)
Louis 19, le roi des ondes (1994)
... aka King of the Airwaves (1994)
... aka Louis the 19th (1994)
... aka Reality Show (1995) (France)
John L'Ecuyer
Confessions of a Rabid Dog (1996)
Curtis's Charm (1995)
Use Once and Destroy (1995)
It's a Beautiful Day (1994)
Low Life (1994)
John Pozer
Michelle Apts., The (1995)
... aka Michelle Apartments, The (1995)
Grocer's Wife, The (1991)
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