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Termini Station (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Termini Station' is a 1989 Canadian drama film directed by Allan King and written by Colleen Murphy."Film liberation folly for Follows". 'Vancouver Sun', November 1, 1989.
The film stars Colleen Dewhurst and Megan Follows as Molly and Micheline Dushane, a mother and daughter living in a small Northern Ontario town."Follows plays hustler in new Allan King film: Termini Station is a 'cross between grand opera and the Marx Brothers'". 'The Globe and Mail', November 4, 1988. Molly is an alcoholic, which creates tension between her and Micheline, while Micheline is a retail clerk and part-time prostitute who dreams of escaping her stifling small-town existence."Film Review: Termini Station". 'The Globe and Mail', September 29, 1989. The film's cast also includes Gordon Clapp and Debra McGrath as Molly's son and daughter-in-law, as well as Gordon Pinsent in flashbacks as Molly's deceased husband and Micheline's father, who unsuccessfully attempted to kill Micheline before committing suicide.
The film premiered at the 1989 Toronto International Film Festival in September 1989."Megan Follows as hooker; Anne of Green Gables star takes different role in film series". 'Ottawa Citizen', September 13, 1989. Its second screening was at the inaugural Cinfest Sudbury International Film Festival two weeks later."Extra seats needed at Cinefest". 'The Globe and Mail', September 27, 1989.
The film was nominated for six awards at the 11th Genie Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress (Dewhurst, Follows), Best Original Screenplay (Murphy), Best Overall Sound (Sal Grimaldi, Joe Grimaldi, Dino Pigat and Peter Shewchuk) and Best Sound Editing (Terry Burke, David Templeton, Ralph Brunjes, and Brian Ravok)."Rundown on the Genie hopefuls". 'Edmonton Journal', February 14, 1990.
'Termini Station' was filmed on location in Kirkland Lake, Ontario."Dewhurst a hot act in deep freeze". 'Toronto Star', December 17, 1988.
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rick Groen of 'The Globe and Mail' praised the ways in which King's background in documentary filmmaking had influenced the film's depiction of the "permanently half-finished look of the mid-North", but criticized the screenplay as melodramatic, while Peter Goddard of the 'Toronto Star' called the cast talented but wasted, and concluded that "Canadiana any more Gothic than this and you could put an Elmira stove in it and sell it in 'Harrowsmith'.""Talented cast wasted in boozy, passionless look at our identity". 'Toronto Star', September 29, 1989.
Marke Andrews of the 'Vancouver Sun' wrote that the film's only redeeming quality was that it liberated Follows from her wholesome 'Anne of Green Gables' image,"Follows film just dumb". 'Vancouver Sun', November 1, 1989. while Wendy Dudley of the 'Calgary Herald' suggested that King's choice to cast Dewhurst and Follows together as a mother and daughter, so soon after the 'Anne of Green Gables' films, was one of the film's biggest problems, concluding that "it's hard to accept Marilla as a drunk and Anne as a whore.""You won't want to wait at the station". 'Calgary Herald', March 12, 1990.
The 'Los Angeles Times', conversely, acknowledged that the film "is stuck in the usual kitchen-sink realism that makes the Anglo-Canadian--as opposed to the often exciting Quebecois--cinema so often dull", but praised the cast, and Dewhurst in particular, for their performances.[http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-13/entertainment/ca-273_1_termini-station "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Termini Station,' Dewhurst's Last Film, Her Best"]. 'Los Angeles Times', December 13, 1991.
References
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