Calendar (1993)

A photographer and his wife take photographs of Armenian churches for use in a calendar. Their driver, a local resident, expounds on the history of the churches while the wife translates. ... See full summary »

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writer:

Atom Egoyan

Stars:

Arsinée Khanjian, Ashot Adamyan, Atom Egoyan

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Translator
Ashot Adamyan	...	Driver (as Ashot Adamian)
Atom Egoyan	...	Photographer
Michelle Bellerose	...	Guest
Natalia Jasen	...	Guest
Susan Hamann	...	Guest
Sveta Kohli	...	Guest
Viva Tsvetnova	...	Guest
Roula Said	...	Guest (as Rula Said)
Annie Szamosi	...	Guest
Anna Pappas	...	Guest
Amanda Martínez	...	Guest (as Amanda Martinez)
Diane Kofri	...	Guest

Storyline

A photographer and his wife take photographs of Armenian churches for use in a calendar. Their driver, a local resident, expounds on the history of the churches while the wife translates. The photographer becomes jealous of his wife's bonding with the driver. In a series of flash-forwards, the photographer stages identical dinners with several women, who pretend to talk on the phone while he writes. His wife, now estranged from him, leaves repeated messages on his answering machine, asking why he never contacts her. Yet another thought-provoking look into strange, intertwined relationships from the always enigmatic Egoyan.

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Plot Keywords:

armenian | armenian churches | armenian culture | armenian history | armenia | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Film was mostly improvised, and made for barely $80,000.

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Connections

Referenced in Somewhere Beautiful (2014)

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Soundtracks

Without You
Written and Arranged by John Grimaldi
Performed by Studebaker John and the Hawks

User Reviews

Perhaps not entirely successful, but definitely good and well worth seeing

A small project wedged between his first two more mainstream products, The Adjuster and Exotica, Calendar stars the director and his wife, Arsinée Khanjian as a photographer and his wife. They are traveling to different Armenian churches in order to photograph them for a calendar. Both of them are Armenian by heritage, but he is disconnected from it, while she speaks the language (and acts as translator). During the trip, their Armenian guide begins to grow closer to the wife. The film actually takes place much later, as Egoyan, now no longer with his wife, is trying to duplicate her by holding "auditions" with women, presumably re-enacting the first meeting with his ex. It's all rather confusing. I never quite figured it all out. I'm not sure the film works. I liked all the stuff about the Armenian churches (some beautiful images here, and the film's style in these scenes is great), but the whole narrative about the dates never seemed to come to fruition. However, it is an extremely interesting film, and it's rather haunting at the end. Calendar itself may feel somewhat incomplete, but Egoyan is definitely a fully-fledged artist here. The only earlier film of his I've seen, Speaking Parts, did not communicate his talent. This is definitely worth seeing, especially as it only runs at 75 minutes.

Details

Country:

Armenia Canada Germany

Language:

English German Russian Armenian Hebrew

Release Date:

3 June 1993 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Calendario

Filming Locations:

Armenia

Box Office

Budget:

CAD80,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ego Film Arts, The Armenian National Cinematheque, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1