User:Michellewa

Here is my piece on the PLOT:

Victoria Day is a 2009 Canadian indie-film, directed by award-winning writer and filmmaker, David Bezmozgis. It is a story that dates back to the week preceding the Victoria Day long weekend in Toronto, the year of 1988. The story line depicts the weeklong journey of a sixteen year old ordinary teenage boy, Ben Spector, and the conspiring events that sequence to a coming of age story.

It is the year 1988 on Sunday May 19th. The Victoria Day weekend is fast approaching, initiating the coming end of another high school year; while in Boston, the notorious Stanley Cup finals are in play with Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers facing the Boston Bruins. After his hockey game, Ben Spector, the star player of the Toronto Red Wings minor league hockey team, attends the Bob Dylan concert alongside his juvenile close friends: Sammy and Noah. While there, Ben spots Jordan Chapman, his classmate and hockey teammate tormentor, taking apart of what appears to be a routine drug deal. Being short of five dollars to purchase the drugs, Jordan provokes Ben into reluctantly spotting him the remainder, never foreshadowing the life altering consequences this event will have.

As the days pass, Jordan's whereabouts are a mystery, and the city police organize a search party that is unfortunately hopeless. With the guilt and fear of Jordan's disappearance, the days drag on for Ben. However, the sequence of events, initiate a budding romance for Ben and Jordan's fifteen-year-old sister. From love and romance, to the future of Ben's hockey career, Ben's adolescent life appears to be promising. Yet, the continuous discomfort of his teammate's disappearance preoccupies Ben's life, drastically altering the path of his promising future.

Hey guys! I started editing the sandbox (hopefully it works), so everyone can start writing and editing each other's texts. I wasn't sure of everyone's exact sections, so I just wrote out a rough outline. Feel free to change it up or add more sectors!

-Michelle

Hi Ashley, the more you can add the better! I'm not sure if you received our e-mails with each persons' roles, but aside from the plot and character sectors, you are able to add information to the trivia section such as the films status at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival or the Genie Award nomination it received for Best Original Screenplay since it is a Canadian film, you could talk about its achievements. If you have any more questions please ask and I'll try and answer it asap!

-Alex Hello Michelle, I was wondering if the trivia section of the "Victoria Day" article was solely based on the content of the film or if it could contain interesting facts about the film itself. Things like it's status at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Ashley

Themes

Maturation
 * In the beginning of the film, Ben Spektor is completely dedicated to his hockey team. He refuses to miss hockey practice despite the fact that his friends are going to a party and that they invited Cayla, the sister of one of Ben's teammates, who he has a crush on. Yuri Spektor, Ben's father, is enthusiatic about his sons pursuit of hockey and encourages the boy to watch Wayne Gretzky's games. At times, it seems that it is Yuri's goal to have a member of his family be a great hockey player rather than his son's. Nonetheless Ben continues to play to avoid disappointing Yuri.


 * Also, Ben and his two friends, Noah and Sammy, engage in reckless and immature behaviour such as buying fireworks from a strange man who is selling them on the side of the road and aiming them at peple, while lit, outside the window of a moving car despite the obvious dangers of doing so. Ben shows an additional lack of maturity when he gives a fellow teammate, Jordan Chapman, five dollars to buy drugs with the intent of getting Chapman to leave him alone.


 * As the story progresses, Ben is able to realize that he had made the wrong decision by providing Chapman with the money he needed for the drugs. As a form of attonement, he volunteers to join the search parties looking for Cayla's brother. Eventually, Spektor confesses to Chapman's father that he gave Jordan the money giving Ben the confidence to confront his own father about how he doesn't feel right playing hockey while a member of the team is missing. At the end of the film, Spektor's maturity is witnessed when he is able do decline Cayla's advances despite his ability to take advantage of her emotional vulnerability.

Hi Ashley, the trivia section would mostly be dealing with interesting facts about the film itself but if there are things such as references to other films made in the film itself, that would also be classified as trivia. Also - do you think that character development would involve some parts of the themes? I will probably put up my roughs for character description/analysis early tomorrow or mid-afternoon tomorrow. Good job with Maturation though, I am just not sure if that is a theme that could stand on its own (it seems broad). Seems more like there are themes of drug use, and family relations. -Tihmily

Thank you all very much for your feedback. I am aware that there are several other themes in the film such as love, familial relatiobships (especially between parents and their children) and drug use. The reason I only posted one theme was to see if my work was on the right track. I am very sorry for the delay posting my work, but I assure you that it will be on this sandbox as soon as I have completed the rest. -Ashley

Hello, Sorry ot bother you again. I had a skeletal outline of some information as well as a few links that you all may find helpful. Please feel free to check out some of them. I found the Youtube interview quite interesting. Thanks for your time!

Wikipedia Assignment: Victoria Day Film (2009)

Themes:
 * Growing up
 * Love
 * Relationship between parents and children
 * Conflicting interests

Background:
 * David Bezmozgis “was a teenager in Toronto in the 1980s”
 * Filmed in Toronto & New York
 * Set in 1988
 * before the Victoria day weekend
 * Bezmozgis was born in Russian immigrant family

Trivia:
 * 1) At the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, “Victoria Day” was one of the 16 drama entries selected from a total of __________?
 * 2) True or false, some of the films content is based on the personal experiences of David Bezmozgis?

Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C_sS-R2Wlwhttp://www.tribute.ca/movies/victoria-day/19266http://www.blogto.com/film/2009/06/victoria_day_the_best_canadian_film_of_09/http://www.sundance.org/pdf/press-releases/20081203_Competition%20Release_Web5.pdf