There’s a reason movies about Big Issues are usually relegated to the small screen as TV movies or miniseries-it’s certainly been awhile since we’ve seen one at the megaplexes, and with today’s audience’s taste for empty-headed blockbusters, it’s just as well. So it’s somewhat odd that Canadian indie auteur Thom Fitzgerald (the Hanging Garden)’s latest, The Event, doesn’t just tackle a weighty topic, but arguably one of the biggest-AIDS. Throw in family dynamics, assisted suicide, damaged individuals, and you’ve got quite the murky cinematic soup.
The movie opens with the death of Matt, a gay cellist in New York (filmed in gritty browns and greys by Fitzgerald), being carted away in a body bag from his apartment, while hippie anthem “Spirit in the Sky” plays incongruously (and amusingly) beneath the scene. Matt’s medications have stopped working and his quality of life is rapidly deteriorating, so he throws himself a big farewell party (the ‘Event’ of the title) before ending it all. We only see that in flashback, however, as the main storyline involves his main caregiver (Canuck theatre and film mainstay Brent Carver) being investigated by an assistant D.A. (indie doyenne Parker Posey) for having too many of his patients die under similar circumstances. While the flashbacks offer several different perspectives, the structure makes for a confusing film at times.
While the subject matter is heavy, Fitzgerald and his co-screenwriters don’t let the film get bogged down by it. It’s tricky to do black comedy, but if you’re going to do it, Don McKellar’s probably the guy to put in your movie. That being said, his role here isn’t one of his usual neurotic, deadpan characters (think Twitch City), but rather his first dramatic role to date, and he takes on the challenge admirably with a nuanced, non-cliched portrayal of Matt. McKellar, who actually learned to play the cello for the role, is best in his scenes with Olympia Dukakis, who plays his mother. More filmmakers need to give Dukakis meaty roles in their movies, because the legendary actress owns the screen whenever she’s on it (something Fitzgerald obviously recognized when he decided to cast her in his next film as well).
Aside from Parker, who plays against type as a brittle, unlikable district attorney, this film really soars on its strong cast. Even in the supporting role of Matt’s sister, an actress, Sarah Polley gets off some of the film’s best lines, and Carver and Jane Leeves (Frasier) as a daffy grief counselor are also terrific.
The ‘whodunit’ framework of the movie was obviously an attempt to get away from making a maudlin AIDS story, but it distracts from the real issues raised by the script. Some reviewers have noted that the film feels dated, but the reality is that the issue of AIDS has been largely ignored of late by the mainstream. Bringing it back into the spotlight is a brave move by Fitzgerald-one just wishes that his movie had as much weight as its topic.
