Speaking Parts [Blu-ray]

Director: Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan

Overview

"In my films, you're always encouraged to remember that you're watching a collection of designed images." Thus spake Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan in describing his calculatedly non-realistic style. In keeping with his earlier works, Egoyan's Speaking Parts, though grounded in reality, could never be confused with the facts of life. Arsinee Khanjian plays a near-somnambulistic maid who carries a torch for aspiring actor Michael McManus. She obsesses on McManus by renting tapes of the films in which he's appeared as a non-speaking extra. As McManus ignores Khanjian while wooing would-be filmmaker Gabrielle Rose (he wants to star in a film based on Rose's life-saving organ donation), Khanjian develops a sort of rapport with video store manager Tony Nardi, who also harbors dreams of becoming a filmmaker. The most curious (and, to some, maddening) aspect of Speaking Parts is that all the characters physically resemble one another. What this has to do with Egoyan's "message"--if any--is unclear, but it sure works towards the director's goal of assuring that the viewers are constantly aware that they're watching a movie and not Real Life.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/30/2023
UPC:	0814456027180
Original Release:	1989
Rating:	NR
Source:	Canadian Int'l Pics
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	35,644

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Arsinee Khanjian	Lisa
Gabrielle Rose	Clara
David Hemblen	Producer
Patricia Collins	Housekeeper
Tony Nardi	Eddy
Gerard Parkes	The Father
Jackie Samuda	The Bride,Actor
Peter Krantz	The Groom
Patrick Tierney	Actor,Actor
Michael McManus	Lance
Robert Dodds	Doctor
Sharon Corder	Hotel Manager
David McKay	Man at the Party
Cindy Fidler	Women at the Party
Mychael Danna	Composer

Technical Credits

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Camelia Frieberg	Producer
Don Ranvaud	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

The characters don't interact so much as bounce off one another like bumper cars in writer/director Atom Egoyan's dense meditation on voyeurism, obsession, and communication. The plot's many threads -- involving a bit-part actor (Michael McManus) who becomes the fixation of both a hotel maid (Arsinée Khanjian) and a screenwriter (Gabrielle Rose) -- ultimately aren't as important to Egoyan as the frissons his situations generate among the three emotionally starved loners. The director's beloved video motif is put to good use here, as each person finds solace only through the act of viewing another, whether through rented videotapes, home movies, or video conference calls. Though the deliberately stilted opening may frustrate those unfamiliar with the director's work, his deft cross-cutting in Speaking Parts's latter half gives the film an undeniable momentum and, ultimately, a philosophical gravity that lingers long after the film's end. Many of the themes exploited here would reappear in virtually all of Egoyan's latter work, including his U.S. breakthrough The Adjuster.

All Movie Guide - Michael Hastings