''Tectonic Plates'' is a 1992 independent Canadian film directed by

Peter Mettler Peter Mettler (born September 7, 1958) is a Swiss-Canadian film director and cinematographer. He is best known for his unique, intuitive approach to documentary, evinced by such films as ''Picture of Light'' (1994), ''Gambling, Gods and LSD'' (20 ...

. Mettler also wrote the screenplay based on the play by

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...

. The film stars

Marie Gignac Marie Gignac is a two-time Genie Award–nominated actress. Gignac has been nominated twice in the category of Best Supporting Actress each for '' The Confessional'' (''Le Confessionnal'') and '' The Secret Life of Happy People'' (''La Vie secrè ...

Céline Bonnier Céline Bonnier (; born 31 August 1965) is a French Canadian actress from Quebec. She has been nominated for four awards including Genie Awards and Gemini Awards. Filmography * 1992: ''Tectonic Plates'' * 1994: '' The Wind from Wyoming (Le Vent ...

and Robert Lepage. The title of this film was created in terms of a metaphor, as it signifies the evolution of human life and "the geology of human behavior".

Plot summary

Madeleine (played by Marie Gignac) is studying art in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. When her beloved professor (played by Robert Lepage) disappears, Madeleine decides to kill herself in the romantic setting of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. However, drug addict Constance (played by Céline Bonnier) dissuades her. Meanwhile, the professor has moved to New York, where he becomes a successful

transvestite Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

talk show host under the name of Jennifer.

Cast

* Celine Bonnier as Constance *

Boyd Clack Boyd Daniel Clack (born 7 March 1951) is a Canadian-born Welsh writer, actor, and musician. He was born in Vancouver, Canada to Welsh parents. At a young age, he emigrated with his family to Wales, where he grew up in Tonyrefail, where his fam ...

as Rhys *

as Jacques/Jennifer *Micheal Benson as Waiter *Normand Bissonnette as Kevin/Chopin *Richard Frechette as Antoine *

as Madeleine

Awards

* Nominated for two

Genie Awards 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 sculpt ...

, for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

( Celine Bonnier) and Best Art Direction/Production Design ( Curtis Wehrfritz) at the

14th Genie Awards The 14th Genie Awards were held on December 12, 1993 to honour Canadian films release in 1992. This year's event was dominated by two Vancouver productions: Paul Shapiro (director), Paul Shapiro's ''The Lotus Eaters (film), The Lotus Eaters'', and ...

in 1993 *

Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...

- won the Catholic Film Jury Prize for, "the best film of the festival." Germany, November 1993 *

Columbus International Film and Video Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and o ...

. The Chris (Statuette) Award of Excellence and the Christopher Columbus Award (Grand Prize). Columbus, Ohio, USA, October 1993. * Festival International De Cinema De Figuera Da Foz. Won the award for, "The Most Innovative Film of the Festival." Portugal, September 1993.

References

External links

*
Review by James BerardinelliPeter Mettler home page
Canadian drama films Canadian independent films Films directed by Peter Mettler 1992 films 1992 drama films Canadian films based on plays English-language Canadian films French-language Canadian films 1990s Canadian films Cross-dressing in Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub