Canada
Writer: Emily Gan / Daniel Schachter
Producer: Emily Gan / Daniel Schachter
Director: Emily Gan / Daniel Schachter
Poems: Roo Borson
Original music: Michael Feuerstack
Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes
Genre: Romantic drama
All in all, this is a strong movie concerning human relationships and creating an awareness that they need to evolve and grow, if the protagonists are to survive. (Review by Barry Meehan)
Set in the Gatineau Hills in Canada during Winter, Pink Lake is a sophisticated and well-conceived movie about relationships and potential parenthood. The setting is quite beautiful – a quiet home in a forest, surrounded by drifting snows. Sam (Charles Brooks) is a tree planter and taxidermist, while his wife Cora (Alysa Touati) is a poet and part-time server in a local coffee shop. She has been very much affected by the recent death of her mother from virulent cancer, and it shows in some of her poetry as well as her attitude.
Their plan is to rent out their home, and use the money to build a dream house further up in the hills, but unfortunately their Bank is not playing ball with the finance they need.
Their almost-idyllic life is somewhat disrupted when an old and dear friend of Sam’s, Nadia (Marie-Marguerite Sabongui) arrives for a visit. She has just been through a bitter relationship break-up, and is starting to believe that she is almost too old to have a child, which she desperately wants. She approaches Sam, asking him – as a trusted friend - to be a sperm donor. Sam is intrigued by the request, and agrees once Nadia tells him that she wouldn’t ask anything of him in terms of support, time or money. Sam’s only stipulation is that Cora would have to agree.
Initially, Cora agrees to the sperm donation, but then misgivings enter the picture. Cora doesn’t really want kids herself, even though Sam does, and she is concerned that Sam might have feelings for the child and want to spend time with it. The turnaround is sudden, with Cora realising that she is not quite as open-minded as she thought she was. She makes her disapproval known, much to the disappointment of Nadia and Sam. Cora will brook no argument or discussion on the subject, and an uneasy truce comes into effect within the house.
The movie meanders along, featuring the great Canadian outdoors, vast tracts of snow, icy pools from melting snow high up in the hills, and even features an episode with the three of them on a magic mushroom trip. What will Cora’s final decision be as she wavers from one scenario to the next, very much aware that the wrong decision could cost her the lifestyle she enjoys.
All in all, this is a strong movie concerning human relationships and creating an awareness that they need to evolve and grow, if the protagonists are to survive. – Barry Meehan
For more information on the Durban International Film Festival visit https://ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za/
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