Egoyan keeps it simple in Remember
The thriller Remember, starring Christopher Plummer, is a more straightforward story than the director is used to: ‘Sometimes it’s difficult to feel like it’s really me’
Atom Egoyan recalls a friendly standoff with Christopher Plummer during their first collaboration, on Egoyan’s 2002 film Ararat, which had its world première at the Cannes Film Festival.
“I’ll never forget the day,” the Canadian director said, sitting down at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September to talk about his absorbing new thriller Remember, also starring Plummer, which screens Friday and Sunday as part of the Festival du nouveau cinéma and opens in theatres on Oct. 23.
“We were doing a take, and he was very good, but I said ‘OK let’s try it again,’ ” Egoyan continued. “He said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Just to try something else.’ He goes, ‘Well, were you happy with that take?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘So why do we need to do it again? Unless it’s something specific. If it is, ask me and I’ll do it.’
“And I went, ‘You’re right.’ So we just moved on.”
That experience helped Egoyan focus on the essentials for Remember, in which Plummer plays an Alzheimer’s-afflicted octogenarian sent on a mysterious mission by a fellow resident of the old-age home where he lives, played by veteran American actor Martin Landau.
The thing is, Plummer’s character’s condition means that he keeps forgetting the nature of his quest. That can complicate things when you’re in your 80s, you wake up in a hotel room with a gun in your possession, and you’re having a running conversation with your recently deceased wife.
Which reminds Egoyan of an anecdote about his second film, Family Viewing, winner of the 1987 TIFF award for best Canadian feature. Louis Marcorelles, then film critic for French daily Le Monde, was on the jury.
“They asked him, ‘Did you give (Family Viewing) the prize for its use of video technology and experimentation?’ He said, ‘No, it just felt like a good thriller.’ ”
Egoyan is acquiring a new appreciation for simplicity, of late. Written by Benjamin August, the script for Remember was offered to the director at the request of Plummer, who was already tied to the project. It’s a more straightforward story than the texturally nuanced narratives the director is used to tackling, and he enjoyed the challenge.
“Making this, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I want to keep making films this simple,’ ” he said. “But I’m not sure I can. It’s something I respect and admire. I have been working on a script that’s more linear, but sometimes it’s difficult to feel like it’s really me. I like the idea of using different layers of experience (to tell a story), but I’m also aware that maybe I’ve got to find a different way of doing that. I’ve just made three films that are very different, and have led to very different experiences.”
Egoyan’s 2013 courtroom drama Devil’s Knot (starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon) was a bust; and though 2014’s The Captive (also known as Captives, starring Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman and Rosario Dawson) did better at the box office, it, too, was savaged by critics, leading the director to take pause.
“There’s a very big difference between the Italian and European response and the North American response,” he said. “I have a very thick skin, but I also like to know where I’m positioned; and right now, I’m not quite sure.”
Remember premièred in September at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a 10-minute standing ovation and glowing praise in the Italian press — due perhaps in part to the film’s Holocaust-related subplot, he surmised.
“I think because the country is so close to fascism, seeing these themes had a resonance in that culture.”
And yet those themes take a back seat to the intrigue. What keeps Remember on track is the steady forward motion of the script. Egoyan gets inside the head of Plummer’s troubled protagonist, who is at once distressingly vulnerable and surprisingly resourceful.
Flattered that the 85-year-old thespian chose him to direct the project, Egoyan was more than eager to return the compliment.
“We had a very good experience on Ararat,” he said. “We stayed in touch, and he knows I’m a huge fan. I go to see him whenever he’s onstage, and I always go to meet him afterward. I read his autobiography twice. I’ve had public conversations with him about his (work).
“I think he is without a doubt the greatest stage and screen actor this country has ever produced. I just feel that every moment with him is precious.”