Edge of Madness (2002)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Anne Wheeler

Writers:

Alice Munro (short story)
Charles K. Pitts (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

1851, Manitoba's Red River Valley. As winter sets in, a young woman on the edge of madness arrives exhausted at the fort...

Plot Keywords:

Arranged Marriage | Manitoba | Madness | 1850s | Rape Scene

Cast

Brendan Fehr	...	Simon Herron
Paul Johansson	...	Henry Mullen
Corey Sevier	...	George Herron
Jonas Chernick	...	William Sellor
Caroline Dhavernas	...	Annie Herron
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Adamson	...	Donnlly
Nicole Bremault	...	Marie
Tantoo Cardinal	...	Ruth
Hilary Carroll	...	Jenny Treece
Terri Cherniak	...	Matron La Roche
Francis Damberger	...	Mr. Treece
Ruth De Graves	...	Nervous Woman
Currie Graham	...	Dr. Jenkins
Wayne Nicklas	...	Inmate
Jennifer Pelser	...	Mrs. Treece
Anne Ross	...	Sadie Johnson
Peter Wingfield	...	Reverend Walter McBain

Also Known As:

A Wilderness Station (Canada: English title) (working title)
Station sauvage (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong sexuality and violence including rape.

Runtime:

Brazil:99 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | USA:R | Singapore:R21

Filming Locations:

Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Gregorian Films

Trivia:

Dr. Jenkins gives Annie regular doses of laudanum to help her maintain a less adversarial demeanor. Laudanum contains alcohol and opium.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The girls at the school sing the hymn "What A Friend We Have in Jesus", supposedly in the year 1851. The song was not written until 1855.

Soundtrack:

The Lord's My Shepherd

A Surprisingly Compelling Mystery

Call me unpatriotic, but I have never been much of an enthusiast for Canadian films. Too many of them are either lame sex comedies or "ethnic" stories about social issues. Nothing wrong with either of those genres if you're interested, but they're just not my cup of tea. This movie, however (the version I saw was entitled "Edge of Madness"), gave me hope that Canadian films can achieve some real heights.

Set in Manitoba in 1851, the story is a truly compelling mystery. Annie (Caroline Dhavernas) plays a young woman who staggers out of the bush and admits to having killed her abusive husband Simon (Brendan Fehr). Something about her story doesn't ring true to Henry Mullen (Paul Johansson) - the closest thing there is to law enforcement in this village. The movie is then primarily a flashback as Mullen pieces together what actually happened to Simon.

The lead actors (Dhavernas, Fehr, Johansson and Corey Sevier as Simon's brother George) all put on excellent performances, and the story moves along crisply. Never once did I find my attention wandering. The sets had a realistic feel to them, as did the characters (the Scottish accents were at times a bit thick and difficult to follow).

There were a couple of problems. A bit more research should have been done before the scene in which the girls in the church-run school were singing "What A Friend We Have In Jesus." It's a lovely hymn (and a Canadian hymn, written in Port Hope, Ontario by Joseph Scriven,) but the movie is set in 1851, and this scene was a flashback to Annie as a younger girl (which would put it in the 1840's.) The problem is that Scriven didn't write the hymn until 1855 (and he actually wrote it as a poem) and it would have taken some time before it was set to music and became a popular church hymn. I also thought the ending was a little weak. There was a clear effort by Director Anne Wheeler to keep the viewer guessing about Annie's ultimate fate, but somehow the ending seemed far too contrived for my liking and a bit of a letdown after what had been a very good movie. Still, I liked this very much.

7/10