Cinema
The Company of Strangers
Cynthia Scott · 1990
Synopsis
A small coach takes seven elderly women and their young driver through the Quebec countryside. They make a detour so that the eldest, aged eighty-eight, can find the house of her childhood again. The coach breaks down far from anywhere, and the group takes shelter in an abandoned farm beside a lake. They have to feed themselves: they fish with a net made of tights, they catch frogs, one tries to repair the engine with a nail file. The days pass, and each tells her life.
Context
Produced by the federal film agency, the film was written with Gloria Demers and edited by its producer, David Wilson. The performers are not actresses: they play under their own names and improvise their dialogue, following a principle borrowed from documentary. Filming took place in the Mont-Tremblant region. In the United States, the film was released under the title Strangers in Good Company.
Who it is for
One hundred and one minutes, in English; a slow film, almost without a plot, carried by the faces and life stories of its performers.
Prizes and reception
Grand Prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg festival, Genie Award for best editing and prize for best Canadian film at the Vancouver festival.
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