Victoria Day (film)

Plot

The film's story takes place 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 Spektor (Mark Rendall), and the conspiring events that sequence to a coming-of-age story.

The film begins on Sunday May 19, 1988. The Victoria Day weekend is fast approaching, initiating the coming end of another high school year. The attention of characters first seems to rest on the Stanley Cup finals, which are in play in Boston with Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers facing the Boston Bruins. Since Ben Spektor's life is mostly centered on hockey, he is portrayed as the star player of his Toronto Red Wings minor hockey league team, resembling the skills of a young Gretzky throughout the film's opening scenes. However, a life-altering event changes the course of Ben's path as he attends a Bob Dylan concert alongside his juvenile close friends: Sammy (John Mavro) and Noah (Scott Beaudin). While there, Ben spots Jordan Chapman (Mitchell Amaral), his classmate, hockey team-mate, and tormentor, taking part in 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. This critical affair seemed hardly significant to Ben at the time— he could not have foreshadowed the life-altering consequences this event would have on his future.

As the days pass, Jordan's whereabouts are a mystery, and the city police organize a search party that is ultimately fruitless. With a guilty conscience and the 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, Cayla (Holly Deveaux). 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 determined path of his promising future.

Cast

Mark Rendall as Ben Spektor, a grade 11 student attending Newtonbrook Secondary School. At first, his interests mainly consist of hockey, his passion for Bob Dylan, and his high school crush on Cayla Chapman. Early on in the film, Ben is indirectly involved with the disappearance of Jordan Chapman which triggers a change in his perception of his life. The disappearance has noticeable effects upon Ben's emotional and mental state which in turn impacts his behavior and hockey performance. Before the disappearance, Ben plays hockey well, scoring two goals and one assist in the beginning of the film, however after his team-mate goes missing, Ben loses motivation and is seen being tripped by an opposing team player, watching as the action rushes away from him. Similarly, Ben is emotionally trapped in the incident as though he is stuck in a particular passage of time while mostly everyone else moves on with their lives. The majority of Ben's discomfort can be attributed to the disconnection he finds with the reactions of his team-mates, friends, and family to the reality of the incident. Ben is emotionally isolated from his community when he sees that the disappearance does not have the same effect upon others as it does on him, such as Ben's offence to the blasé manner when Sammy refers to Jordan as the "dead guy".

While for the most part, everybody carries on as normal, Ben is torn between going forward with his life and remaining tied to Jordan's disappearance. Ben attempts to surpass his sorrow by going on a date with Melanie, but cannot make an emotional connection with her as she is untouched by the events that have recently displaced his life. Instead, Ben seeks an emotional connection with Cayla, seeing as she is more personally affected by her brother's disappearance. While visiting Cayla's house, Ben finally takes the opportunity to tell the Chapmans the detail that he has been omitting from the majority of his community. In spite of his attempts, Ben is yet again rebutted from having closure as Cayla's father unexpectedly orders him out of the house. At home, Ben is confronted by his parents in addition to the overwhelming pressures from his community, to move on from this event. Since he is still incapable of move on, Ben tries to cope with the pressure by engaging in mindless frivolities with Sammy and Noah, leading to the physical impairment that further stops Ben from moving on with life.

In an interview, Mark Rendall said that he embodied some of the director and writer, David Bezmozgis' traits in order to accurately portray the character as the writer/director intended. Mark Rendall also notes that he has had a one- to two-year gap, without a leading role before this movie.

Sergiy Kotelenets as Yuri Spektor, the father of Ben Spektor. Yuri works as a personal masseuse, a job that does not satisfy him nor does he enjoy it very much. Along with his wife Mila, Ben's parents are Russian immigrants to Canada. Yuri still upholds a lot of his Russian identity and maintains his cultural ties to the his native country, the Soviet Union, as demonstrated in the beginning of the film, when Yuri listens to Russian tapes while driving in his car. Yuri also has a lot of pride in Ben's hockey abilities and trusts Ben to make the right decisions when it comes to Ben's behavior. However as the film progresses, Yuri and Mila both express their distaste for their son's seemingly abrupt change in attitude and distance from them. Nevertheless, subsequent to Ben's lost chances at competing in the Toronto Red Wing finals, Yuri is able to accept his son's situation and move on.

Nataliya Alyexeyenko as Mila Spektor, the mother of Ben Spektor. Unlike Yuri, who is willing to overlook the troubles, Mila notices the beginnings of a negative change in Ben and finally is able to pressure Yuri into having a confrontational discussion with their son after his night out.

Mitchell Amaral as Jordan Chapman, one of Ben Spektor's peers and former childhood friend, who disappears after a Bob Dylan concert.

Holly Deveaux as Cayla Chapman, the sister of Jordan Chapman and love interest for Ben Spektor. Despite her young age, Cayla portrays a mature composure and furthermore is protective of her father, striving to eliminate any attempts of false hope about her brother's return.

John Mavro as Sammy Balaban, one of Ben Spektor's friends. Between Sammy and Noah, Sammy is the more exuberant friend. He is more out-going and more willing to make a fool of himself than Noah. Sammy also urges Ben Spektor to start actively pursuing his love interest, Cayla Chapman. When his efforts to prop Ben into action failed, Sammy begins to start setting up situations to allow Ben to interact with Cayla. A clear example is shown in the film when Sammy invites Cayla to a party, purposely breaking her bike as a means of depicting Ben to be a charming hero when he fixes Cayla's bike.

In addition, Sammy places emphasis on being unique, which would explain his frustration at Noah's attempts to mimic his behavior and dress style. Sammy's desire to stand apart from the norm, and his willingness to act bizarre, emphasize his values on individuality.

In an interview, it is revealed that Victoria Day is John Mavro's first role in a feature film.

John Mavro says that David Bezmozgis approached him for a role in this film after seeing Mavro perform at two Earl Haig performances.

Scott Beaudin as Noah Hartsman, one of Ben Spektor's friends. Noah is Ben's less rambunctious friend. In opposition to Sammy, Noah is portrayed as a more rational character. In the film, Noah is seen to be bargaining the fireworks' price with a calm attitude, despite the vendor's temper getting increasingly more irritated. Mila also notes that Noah would make a very good lawyer in the future. Furthermore, later on in the film before the trio's firework fight, Noah complains that the game's rules are too disorganized.

Greta Onieogou as Sara, Ben Spektor's co-host of Newtonbrook Secondary School's morning announcements, NSFM. Even though she is a minor character in the film, Sara is seen to have a light camaraderie with Ben. She also encourages Ben to go out with her friend, Melanie.

Melanie Leishman as Melanie, Sara's friend whose first appearance is at the party. After her date with Ben, Melanie invites him into her home, provocatively initiating physical intimacy which Ben reciprocates.

Duane Murray as Coach Ken, the coach of the Toronto Red Wings.

Jeff Pustil as Jerry Chapman, the father of Jordan and Cayla. Before the disappearance, Jerry appears to be a very active in his fatherly roles; he is portrayed to be supportive and punctual in picking up Jordan from hockey practice. Jerry also seems to hold Ben to a higher esteem than Jordan, but never fully feels disappointed with Jordan until Ben informs him of Jordan's drug deal prior to the concert. Jerry's mannerly order disintegrates as he retreats from the outside world, awaiting news about Jordan in hopes of his reappearance.

Scotty Cook as Tim Wilson.

Brendan Price as Brad McCoulough.

Reception

Victoria Day is a mixture between literary fiction and David Bezmozgis' personal life. His stories are similar to his real-life experiences and often depict the typical challenges of Jewish family immigrants. Bezmozgis is the author of the acclaimed book 'Natasha and Other Stories,' which is why it is not surprising that Victoria Day, appears to be a combination of Bezmozgis' stories.

A lot of suburban Toronto is depicted in the film, including city landmarks like Ontario Place. Since the film is set in Canada and named after a Canadian public holiday, there are definite illustrations of the life of a teenage boy in Canada. Regardless of these distinct references, Bezmozgis states, "I didn't set out to make a film that is distinctly Canadian, I set out to make a movie that reflected my experience of growing up, and it just happened to be in Toronto. It's an experience that could have happened for the most part in Chicago, or New York, Boston or Los Angeles. It happened to take place in Toronto, so there are elements that are specific to Toronto, but the story itself is like any teenage story in North America."

Multiple critics of the film have noted that Bezmozgis' lack of climax had contributed to its lower ratings. It seems like Bezmozgis does not holistically communicate the evolution of a teenager’s life, which may fail to fully illustrate the emotions of a typical North American teenager. However, one can argue that Bezmozgis intended to conclude the film this way, as a means of emphasizing that teenagers are uncertain, before they enter their adult lives.

Finally, the film was featured at the 2009 Sundance film festival, in the World Dramatic Competition category. "In what amounts to a record, the movie was picked up faster for Sundance than any other Canadian film in history - enough to the point that the press kit and other promotional material had to be hastily assembled."