Last Night (1998/I)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Don McKellar

Writer:

Don McKellar (written by)

Release Date:

23 October 1998 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's not the end of the world... there's still six hours left

Plot:

A group of very different individuals with different ideas of how to face the end come together as the world is expected to end in six hours at the turn of the century.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide Pact | End Of The World | Interracial Sex | Streetcar | Teaching

Awards:

12 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Don McKellar	...	Patrick Wheeler
Sandra Oh	...	Sandra
Roberta Maxwell	...	Mrs. Wheeler
Robin Gammell	...	Mr. Wheeler
Sarah Polley	...	Jennifer 'Jenny' Wheeler
Trent McMullen	...	Alex
Charmion King	...	Grandmother
Jessica Booker	...	Rose
David Cronenberg	...	Duncan
Tracy Wright	...	Donna
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Craig Zwiller
Karen Glave	...	Lily
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Streetcar Mother
Chandra Muszka	...	Streetcar Daughter
Geneviève Bujold	...	Mrs. Carlton

Also Known As:

Last Night (France)
Minuit (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and brief violence.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Canada | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Taiwan:R-18 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | France:U | Norway:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Trivia:

The "toughs" whom Patrick and Sandra stop to ask for a ride are played by producer Daniel Iron and Canadian filmmakers Bruce McDonald (bearded) and Francois Girard (driving).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the early moments of the movie, when the car in up on it's bumper against the pole. The girl puts her keys in the door to unlock it and when the door opens, the bell goes off, to alert that the keys are in the ignition or that the lights are on. Neither is true.

Quotes:

[Patrick needs one of Craig's cars]
Patrick Wheeler: You have two others!
Craig Zwiller: It's a collection; they're antique cars. Two old cars is not a collection! It's a guy with two old cars.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

First Noel

Apocalypse on a human scale

The world is going to end at midnight; it's six pm now. The impending catastrophe has been known about for months but nothing can be done about it.

Government has been wound down. There's a certain amount of mayhem, looting, and bloodshed in the streets, but most of that ended weeks ago; now people are just quietly resigned. The nature of the disaster is never specified or even mentioned, but cleverly hinted at. Sooner or later you'll suddenly realise what it must be to do with, and when you do it's a breath-catching moment. Once you notice this, the closest thing the film has to a big special effect, it becomes increasingly appalling as time goes on.

There are to be no last-minute attempts to save the earth. They were known to be futile before the film begins. Instead, people calmly make preparations for their last night alive. It's a bit like wanting to do something special for your birthday. Craig (Callum Keith Rennie) is living out the four-letter answer most people would give if asked 'What would you do if the world was about to end' - as he has been, methodically and systematically, for the past few weeks. Sandra (Sandra Oh) is trying to get across the chaotic city to her beloved husband. Patrick (Don McKellar, who also wrote and directed, brilliantly) attends a last family meal and plans a quiet evening alone with a Pete Seeger record. Almost everyone else is heading downtown for the big end of the world party.

Flashes of black humour help make things bearable, but I can't convey how genuinely chilling and terribly moving the film becomes before the end. Pre-millennium there were a handful of end-of-the-world films, most based around big-budget special effects. For a grumpy misanthropist such as myself, who officially couldn't care if the world was to end, even a blockbuster disaster movie like Deep Impact was a salutary experience, making me realise that I really, really don't mean that, and that for all its travails and miseries life is precious. But by excluding special effects and scientific explanations, and precluding the possibility of averting the end, and focusing entirely on the human, Last Night is far, far better and left me drained and devastated.

I almost prefaced these remarks with a 'Don't watch this alone' but decided, nah, other people can be a pain when you're trying to watch a film. But if you watch it alone and late at night as I did, be warned that after the end you may feel a strong urge to make contact with one of those annoying other people, at 2 in the morning, a friend, a relative, your milkman, anyone.

But watch this you must, for it's a great cinematic work of art.