DISAPPEARANCE--CANADIAN STYLE

Hackeysack, skating and hair – these were the three requirements that actor Mark Rendall was asked about when David Bezmozgis interviewed him for the lead of his debut feature film Victoria Day.  Rendall’s talents as an actor carried him over all obstacles since, as he admitted to me quite candidly, he can’t play hackeysack, can barely skate and didn’t really have long enough hair.  None of these shortcomings are obvious in the film, which opened on June 19th.  Rendall plays the son of Russian Jewish immigrants in 1988 Toronto whose coming-of-age is overshadowed by the disappearance of a fellow teenager after a Bob Dylan concert.  Rather than focus on the mystery of the missing boy, Bezmozgis creates a slow-burning, jazzy cinematic experience that examines the effect that this event has on his protagonists.  Previously benign activities like hockey practice, dating and general long-weekend boredom now have sinister qualities.  Cinephiles will recognize a plot and tone connection to Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece L’Avventura; how surprised was I, then, when Bezmozgis revealed that he hadn’t seen that film before writing

and directing his highly impressive work (he told me he’s seen it since).  Antonioni’s drama follows a group of Italian aristocrats as they take a day trip to a remote island in the Adriatic and lose a member of their party.  Her absence casts a pall on life much as in Victoria Day, as gorgeously icy Monica Vitti tries to enjoy la dolce vita but suddenly finds the parties soulless and the sex empty.  Vitti gives a haunting performance and Antonioni’s direction is worthy of eternal praise, but something tells me that neither of them could have hackeysacked to save their lives.  Victoria Day is now playing at the AMC Yonge & Dundas.  L’Avventura is available on DVD from Criterion.