When you think 'end of the world' film, it's probably some special effects-filled multiplex extravaganza that pops into your head, no doubt with a certain guy named Roland involved somewhere along the way. Or maybe a pre-drunken ranting Mel Gibson decked out in leathers? [shudder] Either way, chances are an independent, low-budget Canadian flick from the dawn of the millennium isn't top of mind. I'll make no bones about it, Don McKellar's Last Night had fallen completely under my radar until now, despite some not inconsiderable attention around its original release back in 1998.
The film poses the question of how you would spend your last hours on earth if the world was going to end. The crucial thing here is that the world absolutely is going to end, at midnight. There's only the vaguest of hints at why this will happen, or what will cause it, and rescue missions of the Armageddon variety aren't on the agenda. All we know is that everyone is resigned to the fact that the world will end at this specific point. The unusual certainty is what ultimately drives McKellar's drama and allows the film to squarely focus on some insightful comments on human behaviour, rather than on a fight for survival. If it was addressed at some point in the film's universe, it was long before the final six hours of earth's existence charted on screen.
McKellar focuses the ensemble narrative on Patrick (played by McKellar), and maps the interlinked relationships that affect his (and everyone's) final day. Amongst these are a woman (Sandra Oh) desperately racing to get home and see her husband, a diligent gas company boss (David Cronenberg), Patrick's old friend Craig (Callum Keith Rennie) who's on a mission of sexual fulfilment and Patrick's assorted family members. They all have very different ideas of how best to spend their final hours, and needless to say, not everything goes to plan. Whilst it may sound like a relentlessly depressing film, it's actually a remarkably funny and poignant piece. Sad, yes, but also with a healthy dose of black humour and some sharp observations.
It's clearly low budget but McKellar wisely uses the external shots of how Toronto might look on its last night sparingly, but effectively. The pointlessness of mobs turning vehicles on their sides becomes almost a running gag - a nihilistic activity done simply because they can, and that's what people do in riots, right? But what is there to riot against with such an inescapable fate lined up? Patrick himself finds his own consequence-free (though altruistic) actions met with blunt impotence when he tries to steal a car, and realises upon breaking in that he has no idea of how to start it.
Whilst it's tough to call Last Night a realistic film as such, it does eschew the typically sensational positing of what people would do if the world was going to end (Go crazy! Steal all the stuff you could never afford! Party 'til you drop!). Sure there're some bad seeds in this vision, but mostly people are content with simple pleasures or just plugging along as normal. Old habits die hard.
Carried through with a low-fi aesthetic and an off-kilter feel that reflects the unbelievable, almost dreamlike nature of the whole situation, Last Night is a uniquely intriguing gem. Surprisingly affecting, it's well worth hunting down.
Last Night is out on UK DVD on 20th September 2010 through Park Circus.
The film poses the question of how you would spend your last hours on earth if the world was going to end. The crucial thing here is that the world absolutely is going to end, at midnight. There's only the vaguest of hints at why this will happen, or what will cause it, and rescue missions of the Armageddon variety aren't on the agenda. All we know is that everyone is resigned to the fact that the world will end at this specific point. The unusual certainty is what ultimately drives McKellar's drama and allows the film to squarely focus on some insightful comments on human behaviour, rather than on a fight for survival. If it was addressed at some point in the film's universe, it was long before the final six hours of earth's existence charted on screen.
McKellar focuses the ensemble narrative on Patrick (played by McKellar), and maps the interlinked relationships that affect his (and everyone's) final day. Amongst these are a woman (Sandra Oh) desperately racing to get home and see her husband, a diligent gas company boss (David Cronenberg), Patrick's old friend Craig (Callum Keith Rennie) who's on a mission of sexual fulfilment and Patrick's assorted family members. They all have very different ideas of how best to spend their final hours, and needless to say, not everything goes to plan. Whilst it may sound like a relentlessly depressing film, it's actually a remarkably funny and poignant piece. Sad, yes, but also with a healthy dose of black humour and some sharp observations.
It's clearly low budget but McKellar wisely uses the external shots of how Toronto might look on its last night sparingly, but effectively. The pointlessness of mobs turning vehicles on their sides becomes almost a running gag - a nihilistic activity done simply because they can, and that's what people do in riots, right? But what is there to riot against with such an inescapable fate lined up? Patrick himself finds his own consequence-free (though altruistic) actions met with blunt impotence when he tries to steal a car, and realises upon breaking in that he has no idea of how to start it.
Whilst it's tough to call Last Night a realistic film as such, it does eschew the typically sensational positing of what people would do if the world was going to end (Go crazy! Steal all the stuff you could never afford! Party 'til you drop!). Sure there're some bad seeds in this vision, but mostly people are content with simple pleasures or just plugging along as normal. Old habits die hard.
Carried through with a low-fi aesthetic and an off-kilter feel that reflects the unbelievable, almost dreamlike nature of the whole situation, Last Night is a uniquely intriguing gem. Surprisingly affecting, it's well worth hunting down.
Last Night is out on UK DVD on 20th September 2010 through Park Circus.
DVD Details
DVD Extras: Theatrical Trailer & Stills Gallery
This film is worth seeing for Sandra Oh's performance alone. Everybody else has a moment, but she's got a lot of them. If it weren't for her the whole thing might have felt a little talky and written. You gotta have chops to take it beyond that.
One of my favorites. Canadian and Awesome at the same time (this is rarer than it should be!)
The basic idea and DVD cover are enough to make me want to watch. It appears to be on Netflix instant watch, but the region 1 seems to be a hackneyed Lionsgate release. This is probably what is streaming so I'm not sure if I should give in and watch it or just wait.
I saw this film on the BBC (I think) a few years ago and was very impressed with how it handled itself. Some things didn't ring true, such as how the world seems to still be running somewhat efficently, whereas in reality, who would bother staying around to make sure the lights worked, the trains ran and the newscaster was able to inform the nation? As a post-apocalyptic obsessive, this felt a little ridiculous, but at the same time it was refreshing to see a film about the end of the world that was both completely nihilistic (they're all fucked and they don't stop it) and one that focussed on character over spectacle. That last shot is beautiful and heartbreaking and I loved it.
Actually, when I think of films about the end of the world, I usually think of DR. STRANGELOVE, LAST NIGHT and MIRACLE MILE. Roland Emmerich's movies don't count; he never has the stones to actually end the world, preferring to beat the living crap out of it while allowing it and its inhabitants to survive, bloodied but wiser for the experience.
The lousy Lionsgate DVD is a regurgitation of the lousy Universal Pictures DVD - both are pan & scan garbage. I don't like the higher-pitched audio on 25fps PAL releases (is there a UK Blu-ray coming?), but in this case there's really no acceptable release that runs at the proper 24fps.