Souvenir of Canada: A-
OK, this was a very North American film: it has *my* sense of humour, was in *my* language, features one of *my* favourite authors. It was not a stretch for me to *get* this film. Douglas Coupland is much funnier and genuine than I expected. See, I have this made-up construct of how jerky Coupland is in my head: he cancelled an appearance at the University of Waterloo back in 1992 or 1993. I had purchased a hard-cover first edition of Microserfs (a book I love dearly) for him to sign and skipped a class to see him. When I got to the bookstore, there was a big sign saying he'd cancelled. I've been bitter for 12 years. But after seeing Souvenir of Canada, I've been able to get over it.
This film is fun to watch. Though it's another one of those films that seems to end a couple of times. The whole film is an exploration of "what it means to be Canadian" mostly told through commentary on various Canadian pop-culture fads. At the end, there is a tacked on bit about how what it really means to be Canadian is our connection with the wilderness. The transition from pop-culture to wilderness was kinda weak and didn't really fit. But overall the film was snappy and funny and self-effacing and filled with those "inside" jokes Canadians love about themselves. Oh, and some really kickin' title design.
A more detailed summary as well as highlights of the director's Q&A following the screening I saw have been posted on the IMDB (fyi .. the comment about the Hinterland Who's Who spots was made by my friend, Daniel).
And, I totally stole this pic from Kurt's Film Blog.