Stardom
French Canadian director Denys Arcand pushes the boundaries of the mockumentary with Stardom, the tale of a fictional neophyte supermodel (Jessica Pare) told entirely through clips of her appearances on talk shows, television interviews, and documentaries. Originally titled 15 Moments, Stardom begins its portrait at a women's hockey game in the nether regions of Ontario, Canada. When the team's formidable teenage forward Tina (Pare) pulls her helmet off, letting her brunette tresses fly, a bystander snaps a photo, and Tina soon becomes the buzz at the country's hottest fashion houses. Her rise through the industry, however, is plagued by advances from older men with sundry motives: a smitten French photographer (Charles Berling), a smarmy entrepreneur (Dan Aykroyd), the Canadian Ambassador to the U.N. (Frank Langella), and a slick promoter (Thomas Gibson, the latter half of TV's Dharma and Greg). Stardom was the closing film at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time in over 50 years that a Canadian production was chosen for such an honor; it would go on to open the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical premiere. more..
Director: Denys Arcand
Starring: Jessica Pare,Dan Aykroyd, Charles Berling,Robert Lepage,Thomas Gibson
It may be the first movie that mirrors, in its very syntax, the ''snap crackle and pop'' narcotic superficiality of the E! channel. I mean that as a compliment.
What makes it interesting is the story that the viewer must put together, of a model who lives her entire life -- or at least what we see of it -- in front of the camera.
Denys Arcand has satiric fun with the media's way of taking celebrity culture at face value and nothing but. Eventually, though, the film becomes what it's ridiculing.
For all the film's cleverness -- and it's often very clever -- it's as thin as its heroine.
This film has so many good ideas, it tends to seem better after you've left the theater. But the mock TV stuff is just too faux to be funny.
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Genie Awards (2001)
Golden Trailer Awards (2001)
Best Art Direction (Meilleure Direction Artistique)
Jutra Awards (2001)
Denys Arcand
Writers Guild of Canada (2001)
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