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The Comox Valley Art Gallery/Toronto International Film Festival Fall Film Series begins this Sunday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. with The Grand Seduction – a charming crowd-pleaser and a rare remake that exceeds the original.
A favourite among Film Circuit audiences, Jean-François Pouliot’s 2003 La grande séduction was a box-office smash in Quebec and wowed critics at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. Now, a decade later, the classic Canadian tale returns to the screen as an English-language remake.
Substituting the quaint charm of a fishing village in rural Quebec with the rugged beauty of a tiny coastal community in Newfoundland, The Grand Seduction charts the lengths to which the community will go to enchant a visitor from the city. Like many affected by the collapse of the fishing industry, residents of this once-thriving village are driven to seek employment in the city or, worse, queue for government assistance.
The future looks brighter, briefly, when a plastics company proposes building a factory in the village—until the villagers learn that they need to secure a full-time doctor to serve the community’s needs, which is easier said than done.
Enter Dr. Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch, television’s Friday Night Lights, The Bang Bang Club), a young, cosmopolitan plastic surgeon banished to the physician-starved seaside due to a previous misdeed. In a hilarious attempt to charm him – without revealing their plan – the villagers take up the doctor’s beloved cricket and fall over themselves trying to persuade him that he has come to the most fascinating, desirable place in the world.
Gentle, whimsical and poignantly funny, The Grand Seduction is brought to life through tremendous performances from Ireland’s Brendan Gleeson (Albert Nobbs, Gangs of New York) and Newfoundland-born Canadian icon Gordon Pinsent (Away From Her, Saint Ralph).
Shot on location in Trinity Bay, the film captures the colour and vibrancy of Newfoundland’s coastal landscape, and is certain to delight even the saltiest cynic.
Tickets are $13, or $12 for CVAG members, available at the CVAG Gift Shop, 580 Duncan Ave., and at the door if available.
Cash only at the door. Exact change is appreciated.
To purchase tickets over the phone call CVAG at (250) 338-6211.
The show is at the Rialto Theatre, 5 p.m. Sunday.
