''Collaborator'' is a 2011 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as '' Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (1 ...

. The film had its world premiere on July 4, 2011, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film stars Donovan and the two-time

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

-nominee David Morse, with

Olivia Williams Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who appears in British and American films and television. Williams studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare ...

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

Katherine Helmond Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) was an American actress. Over an acting career spanning six decades, she was best known for her starring role as Jessica Tate on the sitcom ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and her co-starring ro ...

and

Eileen Ryan Eileen Ryan (; October 16, 1927 – October 9, 2022) was an American actress. The wife of actor and director Leo Penn, she was the mother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn, and of singer Michael Penn. Life and career Ryan was born in the Br ...

in supporting roles

Plot

Robert Longfellow, a once-successful playwright, is taken hostage at gunpoint by an

ex-con A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

neighbor, Gus, while on a routine visit to his childhood home. Longfellow has avoided Gus since he was a boy. As the drama unfolds, social status, celebrity, politics, and the threat of violence converge, leaving the playwright simultaneously shattered and inspired.

Cast

as Robert Longfellow * David Morse as Gus *

as Emma Stiles *

as Alice Longfellow *

as Irene Longfellow *

as Betty *

Julian Richings Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at Ancestry.com is a British-Canadian character actor, having appeared in over 225 films and television series. He is best known for hi ...

as Maurice LeFont

Awards and nominations

* 46th

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

(2011) ** Best Actor — David Morse ** Award of International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) * 1st Canadian Screen Awards (2013) ** Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role — David Morse

Production

DViant Films and

This Is That Productions This Is That Productions (also known as This is that corporation) was one of the leading independent feature film production companies. Established in 2002, and based in New York City, the company was founded and fully owned by Ted Hope, Anne C ...

produced ''Collaborator''. The film's score was composed by Manels Favre. The soundtrack also includes a Brahms cover performed by

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

. Filming took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in northern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of the St. Mary's River directly across from its "twin city," Sault Ste. Marie, in the state of Michigan. The city's population was 72,051 at the 2021 census, makin ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Reception

, the film has a 73% rating on ''Rotten Tomatoes'' from 26 reviews. The ''New York Times'' found it "earnest" and "wooden", like a one-act play "in which any visceral tension is secondary to topical debates by a captor and his prisoner". The ''Los Angeles Times'' found it "disappointing" and "somber", failing to generate any tension from its thriller elements. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' awarded it 2.5/5 and Adam Litovitz criticised some stagy elements but praised the film as a study of character. The ''New York Post'' praised the performances, saying "both characters are riveting".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collaborator 2011 films American comedy-drama films 2011 comedy-drama films American satirical films American independent films Films set in California Films set in the 2010s Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 2011 directorial debut films 2011 independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films