THE ADJUSTER 1991
1. Flashlight (3:36)
2. Dinner at Home (2:44)
3. Archery (2:58)
4. House Tour (3:32)
5. Fire (4:43)
SPEAKING PARTS 1989
6. Speaking Parts (5:10)
7. Piano Concerto (Slow Movement) (3:00)
8. Clara's Story (2:25)
9. Talk Show (6:48)
10. Touch (3:23)
FAMILY VIEWING
11. The Great White Bear (2:01)
12. Unmarked Grave (1:41)
13. A Natural Death (3:38)
14. Memories, These Things Possess You (2:29)
15. North Wing (3:37)
16. Family Reunion (3:26)
THE ADJUSTER - Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, The Adjuster is an examination of the sexual quirks of a married couple. Starring such Egoyan regulars as Elias Koteas, Arsinée Khanjian, Maury Chaykin, and Don McKellar, the film focuses on Noah Render (Koteas), an insurance adjuster who enjoys sleeping with his clients, and his wife, Hera (Khanjian), a film censor who finds excitement in making copies of the most explicit parts of the movies she's assigned to review. When they invite Bubba (Chaykin) into their house to make a movie, the Renders find their lives becoming even more complex. McKellar plays a young film censor who works with Hera. 1991
SPEAKING PARTS - "In my films, you're always encouraged to remember that you're watching a collection of designed images." Thus spake Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan in describing his calculatedly non-realistic style. In keeping with his earlier works, Egoyan's Speaking Parts, though grounded in reality, could never be confused with the facts of life. Arsinee Khanjian plays a near-somnambulistic maid who carries a torch for aspiring actor Michael McManus. She obsesses on McManus by renting tapes of the films in which he's appeared as a non-speaking extra. As McManus ignores Khanjian while wooing would-be filmmaker Gabrielle Rose (he wants to star in a film based on Rose's life-saving organ donation), Khanjian develops a sort of rapport with video store manager Tony Nardi, who also harbors dreams of becoming a filmmaker. The most curious (and, to some, maddening) aspect of Speaking Parts is that all the characters physically resemble one another. What this has to do with Egoyan's "message"--if any--is unclear, but it sure works towards the director's goal of assuring that the viewers are constantly aware that they're watching a movie and not Real Life. 1989
FAMILY VIEWING - Ignore the title: Family Viewing makes for fascinating viewing, though it is not designed as entertainment for the whole family. This Canadian film stars David Hemblen as Stan, a profoundly disturbed young man. Upon the disappearance of his mother, Stan feverishly tries to piece together existing clues. He's not sure he likes the outcome, but given the extent to which his family has disintegrated, he's not surprised, either. Family Viewing was expertly filmed on a wafer-thin budget by independent Canadian director Atom Egoyan. 1987
