Adoration tells the very complex story of Simon (Devon Bostick), a young orphan living with his uncle, Tom (Scott Speedman), who explores his family history through a class exercise assigned by Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian). Simon further explores his assignment as he begins looking for answers to his own questions about his deceased parents, Rachel (Rachel Blanchard) and Sami (Noem Jenkins).
Atom Egoyan carefully constructs this screenplay and resorts to familiar themes, many of which he has explored in the past. The subject matter of the film allows for an intriguing story. As Simon develops his assignment, we touch on familiar subjects of terrorism. His story goes on to spark an Internet audience and results in extreme controversy. Surprisingly, technology is a character of its own in this film, and is used as a tool which allows Simon to explore his family history.
Adoration is told in non-chronological order, much like the rest of Egoyan's films. The complexity of the film adds to the intensity, and using this technique allows Egoyan to effectively reveal a certain piece of information at a time, allowing the audience to piece together the overall story. As usual, we are left with a profound and powerful story in the conclusion of the film.
Scott Speedman's performance as Simon's uncle was simply breathtaking. His range of emotion as he personally deals with anger and frustration becomes mesmerizing. As an audience, you're able to feel his words as they pierce through and touch you; however, you're also able to see the pain in his eyes. His sad eyes also tell a complex story, one which we begin to explore in the third act of the film. Also noteworthy is Rachel Blanchard who beautifully plays Simon's deceased mother. Kenneth Welsh, Simon's grandfather, describes her as an angel in the film. Throughout the film, her presence resembles that of an angel's. Egoyan also cleverly explores Rachel's past, which gives the necessary depth to her character, in the third act of the film. The young and clearly very talented Devon Bostick does a superb job alongside these talents.
Although Bostick is not as experienced, this only adds the necessary innocence to his character.
Atom Egoyan tells a powerful story, as always, which provides multiple viewings. In a surprise attempt, the film flirts with the possibility of being a thriller as well explore the complexity of the story. Adoration is beautifully crafted and sets a meaningful story in the rapidly evolving age of technology. Adoration deservedly won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes in 2008 and is written, directed and produced by Atom Egoyan.
----------
The Experience
American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica held an early screening for Atom Egoyan's film Adoration. Atom Egoyan, Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard and Devon Bostick were also present for a panel discussion following the film. As you would expect, I was extremely excited to finally meet Atom Egoyan who has been very inspirational as an Armenian filmmaker.
Atom Egoyan and his actors were asked several questions by the moderator, who then searched the audience for questions. An Armenian man stood up and claimed he had only seen two of Egoyan's films, Ararat and Adoration. He admittedly said both films left him scratching his head and he wanted to know why Egoyan took this particular approach to filmmaking. I quickly raised my hand after Egoyan answered the man and proudly stood up.
I told Atom Egoyan directly how proud I was, as an Armenian film student, because his films are inspirational. I also went on to talk about his passion for writing and the fact that he is a risk taker. I thanked him for making films this particular way, and not necessarily making everything so clear for the audience. I sat down and, surprisingly, the audience gave me a round of applause. As Egoyan thanked me, he went on to talk why he turned to filmmaking in the first place. He simply views films as an art form and the ability to express yourself allows him to be creative at all times, through the many stages of the production. He also went on to say his son wanted to screen Pulp Fiction on his 14th birthday, which left most of his friends confused, because of the structure of the film. Egoyan was surprised these young adults weren't able to comprehend a story that took risks and presented it in a non-chronological order. Egoyan also explained how film is similar to literature and requires multiple readings/viewings.
I never asked Atom Egoyan a question, I simply felt like I had to make a comment and I received an amazing response. As soon as the discussion was finished, Mary and I rushed down and had the chance to meet him in person. Luckily, Egoyan was kind enough to sign my copy of Ararat's screenplay as well as pose for a picture.
