Dan Geiser (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dgeiser13) wrote,@ 2002-07-30 14:30:00 |
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Last Night (1998)
Last Night (1998) [06/10] ~ Last Night is the feature-film directorial debut of Canadian actor and writer Don McKellar. If you are familiar with Don's work then you'll know that he has played a pretty substantial role in, what I like to call, quirky Canadian cinema. He has co-written and acted in two films by Francois Girard, The Red Violin (1998) and Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) and co-wrote and starred in one of my favorite films, Highway 61 (1991), directed by semi-famed Canadian director Bruce McDonald.
The film follows the lives of a handful of characters in Toronto on the night that the world is supposed to end. The movie has a nice mix of comedic, oddball moments and intense, serious and thought-provoking moments. Everyone in the movie seems to know that the world is ending, and have known for a couple of months, so they've each had time to prepare for how they'd like to spend their last night. To say much more would probably ruin any surprises but let's just say that things don't necessarily work out as everyone has planned. If you're the type of person who likes to have all of their ends neatly tied then this probably isn't the film for you.
I think the concept for the movie is quite unique and the filmmakers have done a great job of telling the story of the potential end of the world from a personal scale instead of a global scale, as most filmmakers would tend to do. Why the world is ending in this movie isn't nearly as important as how the characters, who the filmmakers have chosen to focus on, choose to spend their last hours. I feel this film is meant to make the viewer reflect on their own life and not, necessarily, ask themselves "What would I do with my last day on Earth?" (although you'll probably ask yourself just that question), but instead think seriously about what each of us does do with what could be our last day.
Last Night (1998) [06/10] ~ Last Night is the feature-film directorial debut of Canadian actor and writer Don McKellar. If you are familiar with Don's work then you'll know that he has played a pretty substantial role in, what I like to call, quirky Canadian cinema. He has co-written and acted in two films by Francois Girard, The Red Violin (1998) and Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) and co-wrote and starred in one of my favorite films, Highway 61 (1991), directed by semi-famed Canadian director Bruce McDonald.
The film follows the lives of a handful of characters in Toronto on the night that the world is supposed to end. The movie has a nice mix of comedic, oddball moments and intense, serious and thought-provoking moments. Everyone in the movie seems to know that the world is ending, and have known for a couple of months, so they've each had time to prepare for how they'd like to spend their last night. To say much more would probably ruin any surprises but let's just say that things don't necessarily work out as everyone has planned. If you're the type of person who likes to have all of their ends neatly tied then this probably isn't the film for you.
I think the concept for the movie is quite unique and the filmmakers have done a great job of telling the story of the potential end of the world from a personal scale instead of a global scale, as most filmmakers would tend to do. Why the world is ending in this movie isn't nearly as important as how the characters, who the filmmakers have chosen to focus on, choose to spend their last hours. I feel this film is meant to make the viewer reflect on their own life and not, necessarily, ask themselves "What would I do with my last day on Earth?" (although you'll probably ask yourself just that question), but instead think seriously about what each of us does do with what could be our last day.
