If it hadn’t been for the rave reviews and the award nominations, I probably would have given this movie a pass. I’m so glad I didn’t.

Although it isn’t until the end that we see any actual footage of Tonya Harding, the movie portrays her life from the time she first started skating until after her Olympic performance and a short insight into her boxing career. Although funny in many places, I came away feeling very sorry for the way she was treated – by her mother, her husband, the legal system and the figure skating world in general.

It was quite an adventure getting to this movie. I was in my usual seat (yes, folks tend to navigate to the same seat each week) with popcorn in hand. At the point I thought the movie should be starting (7 PM) the projectionist announced there would be a ten minute delay. The files for the movie were corrupted so had to be reloaded and decoded before we could begin. After what seemed like more than ten minutes (I don’t wear a watch) there was a further announcement that it would be about fifteen more minutes but they would show a couple of shorts while we waited.

They showed two short films – both about the Patricia Theatre. I had seen either all or parts of them on the computer but it was nice to see them on the big screen. After the films were over we were told that running the two films slowed down the progress on the “real film” so it would be another ten minute wait. We got a brief lesson on how the theatre gets their movies and the process they have to go through to download and decode them.

Finally at 8:30, with only five of us left in the theatre, the movie started.

The show was worth the wait, if only because I wouldn’t have been able to come back another time. It wasn’t fun to watch as two separating parents get on with their individual lives. They fight constantly and their young 12-year old son is most affected. There is no happy ending here – in fact the ending is left pretty much in the viewer’s control.

On my last trip to Texada I heard a CBC Radio interview with the director of this film. I was interested, but didn’t realize it was coming to our Cinematheque series.

Marina, a transgender woman, is involved with Orlando, an older and separated man. When he dies suddenly in their apartment Marina has to sort her way not only through her grief but also through the many ways in which her rights are violated.

The film won the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film.

It is often that I question the films in our Cinematheque series but the reason this one was included escapes me. I really really didn’t like it, although it is a true portrait of two individuals struggling with mental disabilities. When I got home I checked the online reviews and they all seemed to love it; I found very little humour in it and many of the things described in the reviews seemed to be only a very small part of the film. Dina’s fiancé is a Walmart greeter but there are only a couple of scenes where he is in Walmart and he appears to be working, not greeting. The reviews talk about Dina and Scott preparing for their wedding but, again, that theme certainly doesn’t take up much of the storyline.