Dirty (1998 film)
Dirty | |
---|---|
Directed by | Benjamin Ratner Nancy Sivak |
Cinematography | David Pelletier |
Edited by | Ross Weber |
Music by | Don MacDonald |
Production company | Dirty Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Dirty is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by
The cast also includes
The film premiered on January 14, 1998, at the Sundance Film Festival.[3] It had its Canadian premiere at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14.[4]
Production
The film was developed through an improvisational process, with Sweeney and the cast working for about a year to develop their characters and flesh out the dialogue.[5]
Sweeney acknowledged that the film had some semi-autobiographical aspects, based in part on incidents from his own life when he was a film student at
Critical response
Emanuel Levy of Variety reviewed the film favourably, writing that "Sweeney appears to work in the serio-comic and psychological mode of John Cassavetes and Mike Leigh, a 1991 master class with the famed Brit director having reportedly influenced his own aesthetic sensibility. 'Dirty' lacks the depth and veracity of Leigh’s best films, but like them, it digs deep inside its characters and discloses the inner workings of their psyches in a revelatory, serio-comic style."[1]
Katherine Monk of
Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail rated it two stars, writing that "Dirty tries to develop the ills of this fun bunch into a stark picture of misery's twin pillars, obsession and depression. Well, at least half the photo turns out -- watching all this is definitely depressing. I'm not suggesting that characters must be likable in order to be compelling -- even a pop confection like Seinfeld knew better than that. However, if the audience is to develop any empathy for them, something of their motivation and vulnerability and personal history needs to be explored, and precious little of that spadework gets done here."[9]
Awards
At the 1998 Vancouver International Film Festival, Sweeney won the award for Best Emerging Western Canadian Director.[10]
At the 1999 Leo Awards, Sivak won the award for Best Lead Actress in a Film.[11] The film was nominated in eight other categories, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenwriting, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and acting nods for Chula, Scholte and Ratner.[12]
References
- ^ a b Emanuel Levy, "Dirty". Variety, February 22, 1998.
- ^ "Dirty". Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
- ^ Glen Schaefer, "Dirty Sundancing down in Utah: Vancouver crew busy promoting film at festival". The Province, January 21, 1998.
- ^ Ray Conlogue, "Film festival's Canadian lineup offers eclectic range of talents". The Globe and Mail, July 29, 1998.
- ^ Chris Dafoe, "Dirty-minded director lives for on-set moments". The Globe and Mail, October 17m 1998.
- ^ Katherine Monk, "Dirty helped Bruce Sweeney exorcise his past: In his semi- autobiographical film, Bruce Sweeney tells the story of a young student's obsession with a dope-dealing older woman". Vancouver Sun, October 16, 1998.
- ^ Jack Vermee, "Bruce Sweeney gets Dirty". Take One, Vol. 7, Iss. 21 (Fall 1998).
- ^ Katherine Monk, "Dirty characters challenge viewers". Ottawa Citizen, December 18, 1998.
- ^ Rick Groen, "Sweeney's Dirty is a postcard from heck". The Globe and Mail, September 26, 1998.
- ^ Katherine Monk, "B.C. film-makers win at festival". Vancouver Sun, October 13, 1998.
- ^ David Spaner, "Sivak gets down and Dirty: Local actress wouldn't give up on her dream - now she has Leo award to show for it". The Province, May 24, 1999.
- ^ Chris Dafoe, "Da Vinci leads nominees for Leo Awards". The Globe and Mail, April 21, 1999.
External links
- Dirty at IMDb