House (1995 film)

House
Directed byLaurie Lynd
Written byLaurie Lynd
Daniel MacIvor (play and screenplay)
Produced byColin Brunton
Karen Lee Hall
Starring
  • Daniel MacIvor
CinematographyDavid Makin
Music byJeff Bird
Michael Timmins
Release date
  • September 8, 1995 (1995-09-08) (TIFF)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

House is a Canadian drama film, released in 1995. Written and directed by Laurie Lynd as an adaptation of Daniel MacIvor's one-man play House, the film stars MacIvor as Victor, an antisocial drifter with some hints of paranoid schizophrenia, who arrives in the town of Hope Springs and invites ten strangers into the local church to watch him perform a monologue about his struggles and disappointments in life.[1]

The original play was performed solely by MacIvor. For the film, Lynd added several other actors, giving the audience members some moments of direct interaction and intercutting Victor's monologue with scenes which directly depict the stories he describes.[2] The extended cast includes Anne Anglin, Ben Cardinal, Patricia Collins, Jerry Franken, Caroline Gillis, Kathryn Greenwood, Nicky Guadagni, Joan Heney, Rachel Luttrell, Stephen Ouimette, Simon Richards, Christofer Williamson and Jonathan Wilson.

The film premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival in the Perspectives Canada series,[3] before going into general release in 1996.

The film garnered two Genie Award nominations at the 17th Genie Awards in 1996, for Best Sound Editing (Fred Brennan, Daniel Pellerin, Virginia Storey, Paula Fairfield, Yann Delpuech) and Best Original Song (Michael Timmins, "House on the Horizon".)[4]

References

  1. ^ "Anti-hero's neuroses create a theatrical treat on screen". Toronto Star, July 19, 1996.
  2. ^ "House a quirky film that fascinates with its oddball insights". Ottawa Citizen, September 10, 1996.
  3. ^ "Gala Presentations". Toronto Star, September 1, 1995.
  4. ^ "Nominees for the 17th-annual Genie Awards". Montreal Gazette, October 17, 1996.