Whale Music

[IAN KERR]

Just saw Whale Music, and I must say, I was very impressed. Many of
you may not of heard of it, since it is a Canadian movie, but if you ever
get the chance to see it, I suggest you do. It won 4 Genies, including Best
Actor.
The movie is based on Paul Quarrington's novel of the same title.
The story is about a reclusive retired rock star Desmond Howl, of the Howl
Brothers. He lives in his mansion on the British Columbia coast (in the book
it was in California), where he sits around all day and composes his "Whale
Music". Desmond is depressed, overwieght and always drunk, because of his
brother's death. One day he is visited by the "alien" Claire from the planet
Toronto. She helps him work through his problems and finish his Whale Music.
The soundtrack is excellent, with the score by George Blondheim, and
Desmond's musical creations by The Rheostatics. I have to admit, I saw this
movie because I am a big fan of the band (which unfortunatly just broke up),
and I already read the book, but I think the movie can stand up on its own.
I recommend seeing this on the big screen, as there are great shots
of the B.C. scenery and underwater scenes of the whales. I hope to see more
quality films like this from the Canadian film industry in the future.
If anyone else saw the movie, I'd like to hear what you thought.

Ian

[Mike Quigley#2]

ke...@gaul.csd.uwo.ca (IAN KERR) writes:

I saw this movie at the Vancouver Film Festival and thought that it was
extremely boring, aside from the excellent photography and the score.
However, compared to some of the Canadian movies at the festival, this
Whale Music was almost like Citizen Kane!!