This has been a very successful and enjoyable third season for the Innisfail Library Film Circuit. We have been able to donate $1,500 to our new library from our profits, and we look forward to choosing another season of films for next year.
Several people have offered to assist with the selection, and we welcome anyone else who is interested. Please phone Norma Hoppins, Barb Thomson, Colleen Hayden or one of the other committee members if you are interested in helping choose films.
The ninth and final film of this season, May 15, 7:30 p.m., is appropriately titled Goodbye Solo. It will be an original and thoughtful human drama.
Goodbye Solo looks at relationships and loneliness while proving that the director is an important voice in American independent films. In this movie, director Ramin Bahrani, uses wry humour, attention to detail and wide-awake intelligence with skill and grace.
Solo (first-time actor Souleymane Sy Savane) is a cab driver and William (long-time veteran and former member of the "Memphis Mafia", Red West) is his fare. On the lonely rods of Winston-Salem, North Carolina the two men forge and improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Solo is a Senegalese cab driver working to provide a better life for his young family. William is a tough, southern, good ole boy with a lifetime of regrets.
Both men are at the point of making decisions that will change the course of their lives. The crusty and cantankerous William offers the always upbeat Solo a deal: On Oct. 20,10 days hence, he will pay the cabbie $1,000 to drive him to Blowing Rock National Park.
No mention is made of a return trip, and solo suggests that William's plans are such that he only needs a one-way ticket. Solo accepts a $100 "deposit", but is uneasy about the proposition.
He decides to do what he can to change William's mind, and begins shadowing the man ñ at one point even going so far as to move into a hotel room with him for a few days. What Solo gradually comes to realize, however, is that there are some wounds that cannot be healed by the fine sentiments of others and the truest mark of respect may be to trust that William knows best how to conduct his affairs, even if they include ending his life.
One men's American dream is just beginning, while the other's is quickly winding down. But despite their differences, both men soon realize they need each other more than either is willing to admit.
This film was an audience favourite at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. It was called "a rare gem". The freshness and candour of the dialogue delves deep into the lives of the characters and with this, he shows us ourselves.
It is hoped that this fine offering, better weather, (and the new seats at the Century Theatre) will entice our biggest audience of the season.
We have braved some very cold evenings for film and coffee chat. The committee would like to thank Derek and Eva Austin for making the theatre affordable and attractive with all the recent improvements to this treasured historic building. We are privileged to be in this excellent venue.
"See you at the movies". Start again in September.
