Canada celebrates Victoria Day on Monday, May 24, and we thought, “Hey, that’s a great excuse to celebrate our favorite Canadian movies.” We’ll take any excuse to celebrate movies here at Disc Dish.
Before we unveil our list, here’s a quick nod to the origins of Victoria Day: Celebrating the birthday of England’s Queen Victoria, Victoria Day was first observed in 1845 in Ontario.
Ok, back to our list. Our only major criteria is that the movie must have been produced in Canada and/or directed by a Canadian filmmaker and/or, hopefully, embodies some substantial, er, Canadian elements. Here’s what we came up with:
Videodrome
Videodrome (1983)
One of the great David Cronenberg’s earlier, gooier and undeniably “Cronenesque” works. James Woods is in full-on sleazebag mode as a Toronto cable TV operator whose station is targeted for takeover by an evil corporate entity that has developed a reality-searing video weapon.
Available on DVD from Universal and Criterion
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Acclaimed Canadian (by way of Egypt) independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan elicits outstanding performances from Canadian cast members Sarah Polley, Alberta Watson, Bruce Greenwood and Gabrielle Rose in this adaptation of Russell Banks’ searing novel about a tragic bus accident and its effects on the population of a small town.
Available on DVD from Warner
Meatballs (1979)
Pre-Hollywood-giant Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Stripes, Twins) cut his teeth on this family-friendly summer camp comedy starring then-hot-but-getting-hotter Bill Murray.
Available on DVD from Sony
The Silent Partner (1978)
In between the TV projects for which he is best known (Tai-Pan, The Thorn Birds), Daryl Duke banged out this tight little thriller about a bank teller’s (Elliott Gould) involvement with a psychotic robber (Christopher Plummer) who has been casing his bank. Written by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential).
Available on DVD from Lionsgate
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)/ Joshua: Then and Now (1985)
Ted Kotcheff’s adaptations of a pair of adaptations of Mordecai Richler novels starring Richard Dreyfuss and James Woods, respectively, offer the final word on the Jewish-Canadian experience.
Used copies of Duddy available online; used VHS copies of Joshua available online
Outrageous! (1977)
Richard Benner’s ridiculously tawdry and over-the-top tale of a drag queen (Craig Russell) and a schizophrenic (Hollis McClaren) was one of the first gay-themed films to receive wide theatrical distribution in North America.
Available on DVD from Henstooth
Jesus of Montreal (1990)
Quebec’s Denys Arcand’s uniquely French-Canadian take on the Passion Play remains an audacious and intelligent look at religion in the modern, commercial world.
Available on DVD from Koch Lorber
Careful (1993)
A candy-colored, crackly soundtracked, German silent film-styled tale of incest, murder and suicide in an Alpine village, courtesy of inimitable Winnipeg-based auteur Guy Maddin.
Available on DVD from Zeitgeist
Black Christmas (1974)
The near-classic sorority house scream-a-thon starring Margot Kidder is still one of the most effective shockers to emerge from the Great White North.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Somerville House
Strange Brew (1983)
…and speaking of the great White North, remember when Canuck brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie (SCTV’s Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) got their dream job at a brewery, which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare? Not your favorite silly Canadian comedy? Then you can take off, you hosers.
Available on DVD from Warner
As a Canadian here, and one old enough to remember all of these movies, I really have to congratulate you on the diversity of this list, and its reminder of how much genuinely interesting homegrown material there is that doesn’t just try to copy Hollywood tropes, but that reflects the enormous complexity of “Canadian identity”! Let me throw in a few more suggestions people might want to hunt for (not sure all are on dvd): Pages from a Virgin’s Diary (also Guy Maddin, his homage both to Nosferatu and to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s incandescent Dracula set to Mahler), Goin’ Down the Road (the quintessential Canadian road movie about poor young guys from the East Coast seeking their fortunes in Toronto), The Red Violin (a love story in several movements, tracing the progress around the world of the titular instrument and its various owners, and if it doesn’t break your heart, you don’t have one), and 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould (a virtuoso performancy by Colm Feore as one of Canada’s great eccentrics and musical virtuosos).