Emile is one of the best Canadian films that I have ever seen. Ian McKellen is superb as Emile, a loner who abandoned his family many years ago and finds himself visiting his few remaining relatives.
Emile lived with his two brothers on a Saskatchewan farm. Karl, the eldest, was an insensitive controller. Emile, the educated one, left to be a professor in England, leaving Karl and the youngest, depressed brother on their own, with tragic consequences. Karl married and had a daughter, Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger). When Karl and his wife died in an accident, Emile was sent for to get his niece, Maria (Theo Crane), who was in an orphanage. Emile returned to look into business about the farm but made up an excuse why he could not take the niece back with him. These details from the past all appear in flashbacks, as seen in Emile's own mind. He remembers everyone as he last saw them: his brothers as they were when he left them but himself as he is now. Remembrances of things that he never witnessed are all portrayed as he imagined them or as he would like to imagine them.
In the present, his Alma Mater, a university in Victoria B.C. is bestowing an honorary degree upon him. His niece, Nadia, invites him to stay with her and her daughter, Maria. Everything is in turmoil; Nadia has just left her husband and taken Maria with her. They have just moved into a new home and Maria is quite distraught and taciturn; everything in her life has just been changed. Now, a great uncle, whom she has never seen, appears. At first Maria is aloof but soon they become the best of friends and all relationships reconfigure.
Deborah Kara Unger and Theo Crane both played their roles convincingly. McKellen's performance could very well be his best ever. His portrayal of a personality in flux is subtle and clear. He must come to terms with the suffering that his decisions have caused others and whether to stay a loner or become involved.
Emile lived with his two brothers on a Saskatchewan farm. Karl, the eldest, was an insensitive controller. Emile, the educated one, left to be a professor in England, leaving Karl and the youngest, depressed brother on their own, with tragic consequences. Karl married and had a daughter, Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger). When Karl and his wife died in an accident, Emile was sent for to get his niece, Maria (Theo Crane), who was in an orphanage. Emile returned to look into business about the farm but made up an excuse why he could not take the niece back with him. These details from the past all appear in flashbacks, as seen in Emile's own mind. He remembers everyone as he last saw them: his brothers as they were when he left them but himself as he is now. Remembrances of things that he never witnessed are all portrayed as he imagined them or as he would like to imagine them.
In the present, his Alma Mater, a university in Victoria B.C. is bestowing an honorary degree upon him. His niece, Nadia, invites him to stay with her and her daughter, Maria. Everything is in turmoil; Nadia has just left her husband and taken Maria with her. They have just moved into a new home and Maria is quite distraught and taciturn; everything in her life has just been changed. Now, a great uncle, whom she has never seen, appears. At first Maria is aloof but soon they become the best of friends and all relationships reconfigure.
Deborah Kara Unger and Theo Crane both played their roles convincingly. McKellen's performance could very well be his best ever. His portrayal of a personality in flux is subtle and clear. He must come to terms with the suffering that his decisions have caused others and whether to stay a loner or become involved.