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October 24, 2003
Event offering is bitter-sweet
McKellar and Dukakis are exceptional in poignant and intelligent
film.
BAILA LAZARUS EDITOR
He's a bad Jew," says Thom Fitzgerald, only half jokingly,
about main character Matt Shapiro (Don McKellar). "He's gay,
he commits suicide and he has himself cremated."
But in Fitzgerald's latest film, The Event, which opens Oct.
24 at Tinseltown, McKellar's character, Matt, has a lot more to
worry about than which commandments he might be breaking. Matt,
an accomplished musician, is dying of AIDS. After seven years of
debilitating and painful treatments, and while he's in a state of
remission with his faculties and energy intact, he decides to throw
an "event" or party, at which he will commit suicide,
surrounded by those he loves.
After his death, district attorney Nick (Parker Posey) starts investigating
the party, trying to find out who is responsible for the assisted
suicide. In her attempt to put the puzzle pieces together, Nick
must interview Matt's friends and family members – people who
are far from interested in making her job easier.
In facing the loving testimony of Matt's counsellor (Brent Carver),
sister (Sarah Polley) and mother (Olympia Dukakis), Nick questions
her own principles about life and death, including the death of
her own father.
The Event is a poignant and heartfelt film with superb acting.
McKellar (The Hanging Garden, Last Night) is outstanding
as Matt, whom he plays with stoic resolve. He conveys the perfect
blend of a desire to fight his debilitating disease, to go on with
life, no matter how hard, and the feeling of helplessness and depression
that comes with incapacitating sickness, such as when he can't even
take himself to the toilet.
Dukakis, who, according to Fitzgerald, has been to two real "events"
in her lifetime, is stellar as the grief-stricken but supportive
mother, Lila. Every scene she's in conveys to the audience her pain
and struggle as she watches, helplessly, as her son makes the ultimate
choice about his life. In one particularly poignant moment in the
film, mother and son embrace on a park bench. Nothing is heard but
the slight whimpering of Dukakis as she realizes and finally accepts
her son's decision. It is a moment that brings the entire audience
to tears.
Polley and Joanna Adler play Matt's sisters, Dana and Gaby, one
of whom understands and accepts Matt's decision, and attends his
event, along with their mother; the other of whom is completely
against assisted suicide and refuses to go along with any of their
plans. And Carver is faultless as Matt's counsellor, Brian, a man
who devotes his entire life to caring for people who he constantly
outlives. When district attorney Nick tries to intimidate Carver,
telling him she knows of three patients of his who have died, Brian
responds, "All my patients die."
The biggest weakness, although not by much, is Posey's character,
Nick, who comes across too Hollywood cop – too snarky and clichéd.
Interviewing friends of Matt who were at his event, she is given
lines like, "You think you're so brave. Do you know who you're
dealing with?" Though Posey certainly does as well as can be
expected with the role she's given, her character doesn't seem to
ring as true as the others.
Though this film is as bittersweet and poignant as they come, it
is, thankfully, not without its lighter moments, most of which are
stolen by Dukakis as Lila. In one scene where Lila is talking to
the prosecuting attorney, she says, with deliberate slowness and
emphasis, "What you know about AIDS could fit in my purse,"
shutting Posey down with a look.
In another, as she's sprinkling Matt's ashes and they blow back
on her clothes, she says, "He was always a messy kid."
Shot in early 2002, Fitzgerald's crew was the first company to start
shooting in New York after 9/11 and he said they therefore got a
lot of support from the municipality. A lot of film companies felt
awkward about picking up shooting again in New York, he told an
audience at a recent screening of The Event at the Vancouver
International Film Festival.
Ironically, prior to Sept. 11, said Fitzgerald, New York was considered
"ground zero" for AIDS in the United States.
The setting of New York, with its varying characteristics, from
grey and depressing to sunny and hopeful, is perfect for Fitzgerald's
film. And, rather than avoid references to the Trade Towers, Fitzgerald
brilliantly uses their disappearance as a metaphor for all passages,
including Matt's.
Much like Philadelphia, The Event forces the viewer
to deal with AIDS-related issues at a level that is both highly
emotional, as well as intellectual. It doesn't ask us so much to
choose between the law and sympathy, but asks us to understand those
who do. Unlike Philadelphia, however, The Event draws
us much more into the effect such a decision has on one's family,
especially on the mother of an only son.
Moving, sensitive and intelligent, The Event will provoke
many discussions about a person's right to choose death, as well
as the legal responsibilities of those who assist.
Bring plenty of Kleenex.
^TOP
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