''Surfacing'' is a 1981 Canadian drama film directed by

Claude Jutra Claude Jutra (; March 11, 1930 – November 5, 1986) was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

Kathleen Beller Kathleen Jennifer Beller (born February 19, 1956) is an American actress who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in ''Promises in the Dark (film), Promises in the Dark'' (1979) a ...

, R. H. Thomson, Joseph Bottoms,

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known professionally as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has ...

and Margaret Dragu.Claude Jutra
at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

's Canadian Film Encyclopedia. The film was written by Bernard Gordon as an adaptation of

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

's novel '' Surfacing'' (1972). The film received mixed reviews, with criticism of Bottoms' performance, and praise for Dragu’s. The film garnered one

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nomination at the

3rd Genie Awards The 3rd Genie Awards were presented on March 3, 1982, to honour Canadian films released in 1981. The film ''Les Plouffe'' ''( The Plouffe Family)'' won the most awards overall, although ''Ticket to Heaven'' won Best Picture. Those two films wer ...

, for songwriter Ann Mortifee in the Best Original Song category. Atwood's novel was widely considered " unfilmable", and Jutra's adaptation was not considered successful. He had been brought in as director only at the last minute, after original director

Eric Till Eric Till (born 24 November 1929) is an English people, English film and television film director, director working in Canada, the United States, and Europe since the 1960s. His 1977 film ''It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet'' was entered into the 10t ...

dropped out;Jim Leach, ''Claude Jutra: Filmmaker''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999. . it was also the first narrative feature film ever produced by Beryl Fox, who was primarily known as a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

filmmaker. In addition, the film was criticized for casting Beller and Bottoms, actors from the United States, in a film adaptation of a novel with themes of

Canadian nationalism Canadian nationalism () has been a significant political force since the 19th century and has typically manifested itself as seeking to advance Canada's independence from the influence of the United Kingdom and United States. Since the 1960s, m ...

, as well as for giving Bottoms top billing even though Beller's character was the novel's primary protagonist. Jutra rebounded the following year with the more successful and better-received '' By Design''.

Filming locations

The final diving scene was filmed in the Bon Echo Provincial Park area on Mazinaw Lake at Mazinaw Rock in south-eastern Ontario. Nearby, the former Pethicks store/gas station was also used. The river scenes were shot on the Madawaska River near

Algonquin Park Algonquin Provincial Park is an Ontario provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Addit ...

Cast

* Joseph Bottoms as Joe *

as Kate * R.H. Thomson as David *

as Wayne

References

External links

* 1981 films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Claude Jutra Films based on works by Margaret Atwood Films set in Quebec Films based on Canadian novels Films shot in Ontario 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films {{1980s-Canada-film-stub