[viv]

Link to Career Page on main site.

[Karen K]

No one has posted here yet. I do not plan to give anything away other than to say that The Timekeeper was not what I expected. The director definitely took it in a different direction from the book. The storyline is the same but the atmosphere is not. Roy provided us with his personal DVD so we could see it..........since we are all close, personal friends. When speaking with Roy about it, I mentioned how different the book and the film was as far as atmosphere and he said "You read the book?" and I said yes. He said just from what he had viewed he agreed it was not what he expected but he had not seen much of it. We all assured him his portrayal of Scully was great. He really is in it alot more than I actually expected. Craig what's him name was very good but all of the characters he roamed the woods with really supported his part. They were a very interesting bunch. Surprisingly it was humorous in parts, totally did not expect that!

The animals were great! So beautiful.

Do I plan to buy it when released on DVD? Absolutely! I am very interested in seeing it again.

[marcialouise]

I agree with Karen in that this film was not what I expected. I did not read the book but I was not really interested in seeing the film when I heard what the story was about. I thought: More of a "male-bonding" picture, violent, all male cast, no romance.
I was pleasantly surprised as I got involved in the story right from the start of the film. (I am sure that had something to do with the Director - Kudos to Louis Bélanger!) I really cared what happened to this young orphan who, all on his own, must support himself after he leaves school, and ends up finding work in a remote railroad work camp as the "Timekeeper" (he recorded the hours so the workers could get paid). The main conflict of the story was between good and evil - the young man who had been brought up to be honest and hard-working, against the Evil, unethical, and abusive Boss. He did not buckle under when the Boss tried to get him to short-change the pay for the workers (which, of course, the Boss kept for himself). Stephen McHattie, a veteran Canadian actor who we have seen with Roy before, was exceptionally memorable - he makes a great "Baddie"! I thought Craig Olejnik was excellent as the young protagonist - the camera loves him - he has a sweet boyish face and devastating deep blue eyes, but mostly I was surprised by his acting "chops"! In scenes with all the other more experienced older actors, he held his own. Especially in his scenes with Roy, where Roy could have "blown him out of the water" if he was not self-assured, he did very well and was convincing.
Roy played an outcast from the work camp who had absolutely no redeeming qualities. Scully was just a violent and mean "a Bad Dude", someone you would not want to be caught in a dark alley with! Roy must have had fun playing someone so totally without a conscience or scruples - very liberating, I would think, no rules to follow. Like Karen said, Scully made some very funny comments in the film...funny in a very dark way, mind you! I did not like the way he looked (dirty, scruffy and with the wig and fake beard - hardly recognizable!) ...but I understood why he looked that way for the character.[ and, of course, we know that he had to wear a wig and beard because he came directly from filming "Un Eté", where he was clean-shaven with a very short 60's haircut, and didn't have time to grow his hair or beard back.] I guess if he had looked too good people would not have believed he was so EVIL! I found it a bit wierd that Roy's character just faded away near the end of the story and that there was no satisfactory conclusion to his relationship with the young man (unlike the dramatic climactic scene with Stephen MacHattie's character) - a result of the editing? (or was it the same in the book? I don't know.)
Another actor who was outstanding was Gary Farmer, who is one of the veteran Aboriginal actors in Canada (I have seen him, mostly in character roles, on tv and film for approx 40 yrs!). He played the cook, who had a very pivotal role and was very influencial with the young Timekeeper. He was also the narrator of the story. Gaston Lepage was again sharing the screen with Roy and he was great as the demented old man. (I wonder how many times they have co-starred since "Being At Home With Claude"?) I will be curious to see how many acting nominations are awarded for this film because I think it should get a few.
The scenery of northern Quebec was breath-taking. And one cannot forget the animals. Thanks to Alain, the dogs and wolves were perfect in their roles. (I had to keep telling myself "it's just a movie" when the "bad stuff" happened!) Great job Alain!
Overall, I found the story engaging and I cared about what happened to this young man. I am glad I saw it.

[viv]

Thanks for the detailed analysis of The Timekeeper, Marcia. Please don't forget to vote!

I wonder how many times they have co-starred since "Being At Home With Claude"?

The 2 Arcands - Jesus of Montreal and Barbarian Invasions
The 2 Forciers - Les États-Unis d'Albert and Je me souviens
And 1 Bélanger - The Timekeeper
Plus, before BAHWC, Gaspard et Fil$ (1987) - Lepage's film, with a walk-on part by Roy.

[Nik4sure]

I thought Craig Olejnik was excellent as the young protagonist - the camera loves him - he has a sweet boyish face and devastating deep blue eyes, but mostly I was surprised by his acting "chops"!

Apparently Hollywood loves him too. He is currently starring in The Listener, a weekly TV series on NBC.

[Karen K]

Yes, Marcia, Roy's character did just disappear but there was more of an ending in the book. There was no humor in the book whatsoever and it was much darker than the film. For the public, the director probably made the better choice, but those who have read the book will know the difference. Seems when we get to see Roy's films, he hasn't seen them yet. I would have liked to discuss this one a little more with him. Maybe at the soiree.

[viv]

I was pleasantly surprised by The Timekeeper, having all but walked out of a screening of Louis Bélanger's "masterpiece" Gaz Bar Blues.

Despite a fair amount of "unpleasantness", the body count (2 men and a dog) is a lot less than most primetime TV shows, and the ending a lot more uplifting than you might have expected half-way through. The print is nice and bright, the scenery spectacular, and the many night scenes lit well enough to follow the action.
Although set in 1964, the "period" wasn't laid on with a trowel (a criticism I had of Un été sans point ni coup sûr), so it was authentic without being distracting.

Those of you who have read Trevor Ferguson's book (see the Location Shots pages on the main site for extracts) will know it's written in a very individual style which can't really be emulated in a visual medium. In particular, the dialogue is rolled into the rest of the text without punctuation, making it appear unusually seamless. By contrast, in the film, the dialogue in the camp is paced a tiny bit too slow and precise, which I've noticed in other films where English dialogue is directed by a French speaker. This gives it a stilted, mannered effect which is not so appropriate for that raggedy bunch. However, once the guys run off into the woods things speed up a lot, and it's not noticeable any more. Early in the book Ferguson, in a single sentence, paints an unforgetable description of just how low-life all the members of the construction gang are. Apart from Fisk, Scully and Jeeter, nobody really lives up to the level of depravity conveyed by Ferguson's single sentence.

Craig Olejnik makes a great job of the super-smart farmboy who easily assumes leadership of the garbage-eaters, and who holds his own well even against Stephen McHattie.

I was most interested in whether Roy could make a convincing baddie with absolutely no redeeming features. In the event I think he succeeded, because I was hardly aware that it was him. The make-up helped, of course, but he did underplay it quite a lot. He had some horrible lines, but they were delivered with more dispassion than relish. He certainly didn't eclipse Julian Richings (Grease) or Gaston Lepage (Herm) ... or Craig Olejnik of course.

I've scored it a 4.