I've been enjoying this month's Criterion Channel Atom Egoyan collection, despite my ragging on Chloe the other day. My judgment is probably unfair, mainly because I hold him in such high esteem as a director. Yesterday I watched his Speaking Parts, one of his earliest and best efforts. It's almost painful to watch, and not simply because it's so brilliant and it brings me back to the question of why Egoyan doesn't make interesting films anymore. Rather, it's painful because Egoyan's vision is so prescient and depressing. Among other things, it deals with how technology steals away our humanity and leaves us floundering in an artificial world. I'm always saddened in class to see my students paying no attention to each other before class and instead sitting quietly staring at their phones, which starts again immediately after class is over. I sometimes get angry with them - once, notably, when we finished watching The Deer Hunter, and none of them said anything but instead just returned to their phones and their perceived reality. It features some Egoyan regulars, with Arsinee Khanjian and Gabrielle Rose particularly giving great performances. Highly recommended.
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