Little Red Riding Hood

Here's the review of the The Woodsman that I promised.

Making a film about a pederast is not easy. It's a topic so taboo, that one has to tread delicately to make such a film, and because it is such a difficult topic, a filmmaker can't take certain stances (at least, easily). It's hard, for example, to say that pedophilia is anything besides a horrid thing. Despite these problems, filmmakers continue to tackle the subject. Happiness, the ironic title of Todd Solondz's film, is an amalgamation of several stories, the toughest of which is a father who finds his son's classmates attractive. The father, despite his desires, has never done anything with his son, and leads to one of the toughest scenes in the film where the son confronts his father.

The Boys of St. Vincent deals with the topic via Catholicism. With so much press about Catholic priests taking advantage of young boys and girls, it's not surprising a film was made about it. Henry Czerny (who has since disappeared) is the priest who's abused several children (the story spans two time periods involving an earlier period where the incidents occur, and many years later, when the children-now grown adults, accuse him of impropriety in a court of law). Atom Egoyan has hinted at incest in his films, though he is so subtle, that it's hard to tell he's even addressing it. One must pay attention.

The Woodsman starts Kevin Bacon, recently released from prison for pedophilia. All he wants is to get back to living in society. Alas, the only place that will let an ex-convict like him have housing is right near an elementary school.

The acting is reasonbly solid throughout, but the story is reprehensible. To illustrate this, I'm going to have to indulge in spoilers. How often to acts of pedophilia occur? I have to imagine it's quite uncommon. Yet, there are four different pederasts in the film. First, there's Kevin Bacon's character. Then, he falls for a tough female coworker. You discover that her brothers and dad had their way with her when she was young (so incest, as well). Then, he spies this guy hanging out at the school talking to little boys (number 3).

Finally, Walter (Kevin Bacon) follows a girl, with the intent to? Well, after talking to her, he discovers daddy has been not so nice to her. Only when he realizes what's happened to this girl does he feel the guilt of what he could have done to her. How convenient! If she had been just a normal kid, then he would have continued on? And in an act of redemption, he beats up the guy who he sees talking to boys. The story is just too convenient, and too outrageous to believe.

Beyond that, one of Walter's friends is his sister's husband. His sister won't visit him, although her husband will. Why? Does her husband not suspect why Walter's sister won't visit him?

It would have been far more realistic for him to deal with this issue without having to introduce three other incidents of pedophilia/incest. I'm not sure what the point the filmmaker is making.

Mos Def's character seems a bit odd too. He knows what Walter is doing, and yet Walter still is tempted, and is willing to do "bad things". To make Mos Def's character more interesting, he is shown to have an interest in furniture, which (surprise) Walter is good at making.

The one aspect the film seems to get "right" is Walter's relapse, the temptation to want to hang out with girls, to talk to them. It's an addiction that's not so easy to get rid of. I suspect it's right that Walter tries to avoid dealing with society, to get himself away from the things that tempt him. If they were going to have a second pederast, it would have been more intriguing if this other guy was also interested in little girls, because then that character would parallel his own. It's a bit unfair that the second pederast is made out to be a non-person, to make it easier to despise him, even as it tries to make Walter, well, if not likeable, then understandable.

In the end, I don't understand Walter that much better. I don't like the way Walter learns his lesson. It's reminiscent of a bully bullying another bully. I'm sure a better film could be made covering the same topic.

To be honest, I think it would be interesting to see Egoyan deal with this subject more directly. Egoyan loves subtlety, however, and so he never tackles subjects head-on. One of his best films, Calendar, is about the disintegrating marriage between a filmmaker (played by Egoyan) and his wife (played by real life wife, Arsinee Khanjian). What makes it most interesting is that it plays a little like a documentary, so it's hard to say whether it's really Egoyan's marriage being shown, or a fictional couple.

In Calendar, Egoyan is a photographer who goes to Armenia to photograph ancient churches with his wife. They are shown the various sites by a local guide. His wife and the guide can both speak Armenian. Egoyan's photographer also videotapes the ongoings, and throughout, he's searching, I suspect, for that one moment in time, when his wife and the guide have fallen for each other. There's never an overt moment where you see them exchanging romantic words or looks. Egoyan isn't about being blunt, and he's no more subtle than in this film.

In Next of Kin, a boy, disenchanted with his own parents, decides he will be the long lost son of an Armenian-Canadian couple who gave up their child for adoption. This boy seems to have feelings for the daughter, and the feelings seem reciprocated (again, nothing overy). Although this is technically not incest since they are not related, there is that hint. In The Sweet Hereafter, a father seems to suggest a relationship with his daughter. It's barely mentioned. In Ararat, a half-brother and sister are lovers. In Speaking Parts, a woman who wants to make a film about her dead brother casts someone who looks like him as her brother, and eventually sleeps with him.

You know Egoyan wants to deal with this topic, and he does so, but not overtly because of how difficult the subject matter is. Perhaps one day.