CANADA, 2000
93 Minutes

The Nortel Palm Springs Film Festival is most notable for showcasing the largest number of foreign product on the entire West Coast. Held in late January of this year, it hosted a number of cinematic delights, one most noteworthy being a Canadian entry entitled THE PERFECT SON. Written by Leonard Farlinger, this effort marks his directorial debut.

The tale begins as Theo (David Cubitt), a drug addict just out in the world again after another of his many excursions into rehab is reunitedwith his brother Ryan (Colm Feore) for the funeral of their father. Unlike his brother who has lived life on the edge, Ryan, an attorney, has established himself as an accomplishedprofessional. Settling the details of their father’s will they are forced to reconcile a lifetime of differences with each other. Through ensuing circumstances Theo discovers Ryan not only is gay but terminally ill. In addition to all of this, Theo has become involved once again with Sarah (Chandra West), a former girlfriend and medical intern. Sarah informs Theo she has become pregnant with his child and has arranged to have an abortion. Theo must now cope with the impending death of his brother andprepare for the possible arrival of his first child. He is confronted, challenged and fundamentally transformed with life and death issues as he reclaims his humanity and personhood.

THE PERFECT SON is neither a work of ‘gay cinema’ nor does it qualify as a film about the AIDS epidemic (it’s no LONGTIME COMPANION,that’s for sure). Leonard Farlinger’s tour de force screenplay is emotionally rich and heart-wrenchingly real. Characters and situations are not at all sanitized nor sugar-coated as was the case in the breakthrough PHILADELPHIA of many years ago. Farlinger admitted to this writer that his film is indeed the portrait of his relationship with his own brother whom he lost years ago. Inspite of the serious gravity and potential for tragedy the story has, Farlinger has imbued this opus with many humorous and touching moments. Indeed, the spirit and humanity of Colm Feore’s Ryan is somewhat reminiscent of the Steve Buscemi character in the triumphant PARTING GLANCES (1986), an early entry in the cinema history of the AIDS crisis.

The small cast is truly inspired. Colm Feore portrays Ryan as a rather smug and self-righteous professional who becomes humanized once his disease takes over and grows dependent upon his brother and learns to love him in spite of a past of which he has never approved. Feore’s career includes many high-profile credits including PEARL HARBOR (2001) with Alec Baldwin & Ben Affleck, THE INSIDER (1999) with Russell Crowe and TITUS (1999) with Anthony Hopkins & Jessica Lange. After reading THE PERFECT SON, Feore was sold on interpreting the role of Ryan. “Iwanted to do something as serious as THE PERFECT SON but that also had a poetic, almost fable element to it. Leonard [Farlinger] has a seemingly very straightforward story about two estranged brothers who end up reunited. But how did they get there? I think Leonard’s cinema has an enormous amount of poetry to it.” Admits Farlinger, “He [Feore] is a brilliant actor and he has this exceptionally dry wit. I knew he could play the character with the perfect mixture of sympathy, humor and arrogance.” Regarding his role Feore added, “We see Ryan after he has succeeded and he is on his way out. And he’s more open and vulnerable to all kinds of different things you wouldn’t expect someone like that to be. There were all kinds of nuances Leonard and I felt we could address—sort of reveal him as he goes out into the light. And that captivated me.”

The smolderingly handsome David Cubitt gives a stellar performance as a lost soul who eventually finds life truly is worth living. His film credits include ALIVE (1991) starring Ethan Hawke & Vincent Spano, K2 (1991) starring Michael Biehn & Matt Craven. He has also appeared on the small screen in series hits ‘The X-Files’, ‘The Outer Limits’ and ‘Tek Wars’. Cubitt was very attracted to the role of Theo but also to how these three characters connected and evolved. Cubitt remarked, “It’s a very human story,|a truly emotional journey. This film is all about evolution. It is constant hard work but I get rewardedwith moments of truth all over the place. And this happens because the film is well written, well constructed and well conceived.”

The impressive Chandra West portrays the career-driven Sarah whose dedication to the medical profession places other concerns at first on the backburner, but after giving Theo another chance, she blossoms forth as a deeply caring fellow human being. West’s other screen credits include THE SALTON SEA with Vincent D’Onofrio, SOMETHING MORE (1999) with Jennifer Beals, and TRUE CONFECTIONS (made for television in 1999) directed by Gail Singer. Her portrayal of Sarah filled with strength and vulnerability at the same time, West held her own next to Feore and Cubitt. “I don’t think it is a typical portrayal of a relationship in a film. It’s definitely complicated and remain’s realistic—theway things are in life.” Of the story itself West noted, “One thing I really like about the script is that it was so small and intimate, focusing basically on just the three people. It’s really nice that way.”

In a related note both Cubitt and Feore were nominated for Genie Awards this year but lost as critics’ votes for one canceled out votes for the other.

Director/Writer Leonard Farlinger makes an impressive feature film debut here and has several projects now in development. The talented young graduate of the Canadian Film Centre has an impressive history of work in short films for which he has been honored with various awards. Of his own experience in bringing this personal story to the screen he noted, “THE PERFECT SON is a film about connecting. How people connect and how family is inescapable. It also shows how an older brother inspires his younger brother to believe life is worth living.” He added, “In THE PERFECT SON I wanted to depict the challenges of accepting another person. That you have to find those points of connection, or you have to rebuild them, or you have to ignore the disconnection of those terrible family spirals.”

Producer Jennifer Jonas (wife of Leonard Farlinger) enjoys a varied background in the Canadian film & television industries with such efforts as THE LIFE BEFORE THIS (1999) with Stephen Rea, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER(1999) with Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd and LE VIOLON ROUGE (THE RED VIOLIN) (1998) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Greta Scacchi. Of Farlinger’s script she remembered “The voyage of a script to a film is always a funny thing. Leonard worked on different drafts of the script. Once we got to the stage where it was ready, it was clear to me that what he was refining in script form, he was absolutely burning to bring out into the world in a three dimensional way.”

The masterful lensing by Barry Stone is noteworthy, with superb time-lapse visuals and crisp images of the city of Toronto where PERFECT SON was filmed. Stone has over twenty-five years of experience in theatre, film and television. This ‘man of all trades’ has worn the hats of producer, director, writer, composer, actor and editor in addition to being a splendid cinematographer. His extensive credits in numerous documentaries garnered him two coveted C.S.C. Awards.

Who is the perfect son? “I think that one of the great advantages to the script is Leonard placing enough ambiguity that your idea of who the perfect son is, or what the perfect son is, vacillates. It’s just a lot grayer. We don’t have the black and white emotions one usually gets in movies. We have many more shades of gray, which I think is much more revealing of peoples’ real lives” stated Feore.

THE PERFECT SON is eloquent and elegant, an elegiac work of art, and deserves to be seen for its great beauty.

Credits:
Producer: Jennifer Jonas.
Director/Writer: Leonard Farlinger.
Co-Producer: Tony Johnston.
Casting: John Comerford, CSC & Claudia Smith. Location Sound Mixer: Stuart French.
Supervising Sound Editor: David McCallum.
Cinematographer: Barry Stone,
CSC. Line Producer: Allan Levine.
Editor: Glenn Berman.
Art Director: Graeme Morphy.
Music: Ron Sures. Costumes: Linda Muir.

Cast:
Theo (David Cubitt),
Ryan (Colm Feore),
Sarah (Chandra West)

Galatea-Jolly Films (Italy)
Shot at Titanus Studios from 3/20/60-4/6/60. Premiere in Rome 8/1.60. Released in USA by American -International Pictures in February 1961.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Image Entertainment has unleashed on DVD the most satanic valentine to gothic cinema ever conceived – and at least in this writer’s opinion, the greatest horror film ever made. Black Sunday is not merely equal to the best of Murnau, Whale, Freund and the classic Universal Pictures tradition, but surpasses all contenders with M.C. Escheresque visuals informed with the dark poetry of stylish sadism. Barbara Steele imbues her portrayal of the vampire/witch with a demonic majesty never before brought to the screen. Indeed, her skeletal facial features, a landscape of puncture wounds bearing forth wild, burning eyes and thick, cruel lips (promising the joys of eternal Hades) is itself the very ensign of Italian fantascienza of the Sixties.

Though most afficionados of the genre are well-acquainted with the details of its plot, a brief summary shall follow here.

The tale begins in the wilds of medieval Moldavia, a land of twisted barren trees surrounded by thick fog and ubiquitous gloom. Princess Asa of the aristocratic Vaida family and her serf, Javutich, have been found guilty of witchcraft and acts of sorcery. Both are sentenced to death at the stake by Asa’s own brother, the Grand Inquisitor. As a bronze devil’s mask lined with sharp spikes is placed up to her face, Asa curses her brother and his descendants for the centuries to follow. Scores of robed priests carrying torches observe as one massive blow from a sledgehammer strikes the mask, impaling the witch to the stake. An attempt to set the two ablaze is thwarted by the fury of a sudden nocturnal storm. The priests carry off the bodies of Asa and Javutich for burial.

Two centuries later the elder Dr. Kruvajan and his handsome young associate, Dr. Gorobec, are en route to a medical convention. Their carriage proceeds through spectral forests and breaks down in front of a ruined chapel. Inside they discover an ancient crypt with a stone tomb illuminated by moonlight. Kruvajan’s inspection of the sarcophagus reveals the body of Asa the witch still wearing the devil’s mask. A large bat flies out from the darkness and attacks the doctor. Kruvajan beats the animal to death with his cane, in the process damaging the tomb and shattering a window recessed in its lid. He wounds his hand in the fury of the moment. Drops of his blood fall into the empty eyesockets of Asa’s corpse. After the doctors exit the crypt, the blood begins to revive the cadaver.

Back at Castle Vaida the elderly prince sits in fear before the burning embers of a massive fireplace. His daughter Katia (the mirror image of her ancestor, Asa) seems rather apprehensive as she plays a melody on the piano. Her brother, Prince Constantine, notes that wolves seem to be present despite the lateness of the season. Prince Vaida, already in the grip of fear, begs his children to retire for the night, noting that this day is Black Sunday, the anniversary of the execution of Asa and Javutich, and the one day in each century when Satan walks among the living.

Back in the crypt, Asa summons her undead lover, Javutich, to rise from the grave. Fierce winds howl throughout the night skies, punctuated with thunder and lightning, responding to her otherworldly command. The earth above Javutich’s grave heaves with inexorable, supernatural force. Talons wet with the slime of the grave force their way through the dirt. The face of Javutich covered with the devil’s mask emerges. His rotting shroud falls aside as he forces the mask from his face and lumbers off into the night.

Javutich abducts Dr. Kruvajan and speeds away to Castle Vaida in a hellish frenzy. Through a secret passageway he leads the doctor to the crypt and vanishes. There he stands once again before the tomb of Asa which rumbles, shakes and finally explodes before his apoplectic eyes. Asa beckons the doctor forward and Kruvajan helplessly complies. In one of the film’s best scenes, he bends over her body and the two share a lengthy, necrophilic kiss.

The next morning, Dr. Gorobec arrives at the castle searching for Kruvajan. He receives an icy reception from Prince Constantine who informs him that Prince Vaida, despite the presence and then disappearance of the elder doctor, passed away during the night. Gorobec is taken aback in disbelief and conveys his puzzlement at Kruvajan’s peculiar behavior. Princess Katia invites Gorobec to stay overnight to assist and protect the family in its grief. Katia and Gorobec exchange romantic glances and the young doctor unhesitatingly agrees to remain within the Vaida walls.

As the royal family prepares for the funeral, Kruvajan appears in Gorobec’s bedchamber. He warns the young assistant not to meddle in the unfolding drama and flees from the room.

Gorobec & Constantine discover a secret entry to the crypt through the castle fireplace. Soon before them is the body of Asa lying on the shattered tomb breathing menacingy. Gorobec rushes off to the village seeking the assistance of the local priest. Javutich appears in the crypt and murders Constantine. The vampire then abducts Katia and presents her unconscious body to the resuscitated witch. Asa drains away Katia’s life force and transforms into the likeness of her innocent descendant.

Gorobec and the village priest arrive at the castle. The young doctor searches the palace for Katia and instead faces the enraged Javutich. A fight to the death ensues and Gorobec hurls the sorcerer into a pit filled with glistening spikes.

Gorobec then faces the bodies of Asa and Katia who now appear indistinguishable from each other. He attempts to embrace the one he believes is Katia, but her cloak slips away revealing bones covered with decay and putrescence. Gorobec gasps as the witch commands him to become her next victim, promising him “pleasures that mortals cannot know.”

The priest bursts into the crypt with a throng of villagers. They overcome the witch, bind her to a stake and set a pyre beneath her ablaze. Gorobec weeps over the lifeless body of Katia as the priest consoles him. The princess revives in Gorobec’s arms and the two share a long, romantic kiss. The film closes as the screaming and shrieking witch is engulfed in flames, thus ending her reign of terror forever.

Aside from the drop-dead gorgeous quality of the print itself, the audio commentary by Tim Lucas is superb. His ardent love of Mario Bava and true appreciation of his genius singing throughout the spoken text, one is simply overwhelmed at his encyclopedic command of facts in the creation of this masterwork. (His observations and personal vision leave us breathless for what shall follow in his work-in-progress, the long-awaited book on the career of The Maestro.)

The disc includes so many divine extras – a never-before-seen trailer for the film, a photo and poster gallery, the transcript of a deleted scene from Italian to English — leaving even the most fanatical admirer in a state of ecstasy.

However, a most noteworthy missed opportunity in this stellar effort is Barbara Steele’s participation in the audio commentary. Her Black Sunday anecdotes and insights conveyed over our many years of friendship would have ranged from the hilarious to the sublime. The presentation of the film in the beauty of its Italian language would have been a certain plus (or at least the presentation of the deleted scene from all but the indigenous print). Lastly, the inclusion of the American-International Pictures release containing the unfairly maligned Les Bexter score would have been the proverbial frosting on Miss Havisham’s cake.

This effort nonetheless merits a five-star, full-thrust knockout. Watch for Image Entertainment’s next installment in the Mario Bava Collection this April (the FIRST Italian horror film, I Vampiri (The Vampires). The following month will be the presentation of Operazione Paura (Kill, Baby, Kill!) with another audio commentary by Tim Lucas.

Cast:
Barbara Steele (Princess Asa/Katia),
Arturo Dominici (Igor Javutich/Javuto),
John Richardson (Dr. Gorobec),
Ivo Garrani (Prince Vaida),
Andrea Checchi (Dr. Kruvajan),
Enrico Oliviere (Constantine).