It's a C.R.A.Z.Y. sweep at the Genies
Genie voters showed their love for C.R.A.Z.Y. on Monday night, as the hit Quebec coming-of-age story swept Canada's film awards.
"I'm touched. This has been something – a crazy experience," Quebec filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée said as he accepted his trophy for best director.
"I'd like to share this honour with everybody who worked so hard on this film with so much devotion, passion and love."
C.R.A.Z.Y. entered the celebration of the year's best Canadian films as the frontrunner.
It ended up snagging 10 of the 12 categories for which it had been nominated, including best film, best overall sound and best original screenplay, as well as acting honours for Michel Côté (lead actor) and Danielle Proulx (best supporting actress).
The whimsical film, Vallée's third feature, tells the tale of a sexually confused boy growing up in Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s. The music in C.R.A.Z.Y., which features a range of artists from Patsy Cline to David Bowie, "was very important. It was like a character in the film," Vallée said after the Genie ceremony.
Prior to Monday night's festivities, C.R.A.Z.Y. had already won the Golden Reel Award, presented to the homegrown movie that earned the highest domestic box office revenue in 2005.
C.R.A.Z.Y., which grossed more than $6.2 million in Canada during the Genies' qualifying period, was also Quebec's third biggest box office hit last year (after the latest instalments of the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises).
The C.R.A.Z.Y. sweep meant that the evening's second most nominated film, Water, was a distant runner-up.
The film, which revolves around a widows ashram in India, is the third of filmmaker Deepa Mehta's elements trilogy. It won three Genies, including cinematography, original music score and best actress for Seema Biswas.
Perennial Genie favourite Atom Egoyan won best adapted screenplay for Where the Truth Lies. In his pre-taped acceptance speech, the Toronto filmmaker brandished what he claimed were rewrites for the script.
"I could have made it better … this is the proof," Egoyan said. "If it was good enough to win the award, I thank you."
Other winners included ScaredSacred (best documentary); Quebec actor Denis Bernard of L'Audition (best supporting actor); and filmmaker Louise Archambault, who won the Claude Jutra Award for Familia, her debut feature.
Instead of airing the entire gala, broadcaster CHUM showed an edited one-hour package from the "after party" at Toronto's historic Carlu concert hall. The show included pre-taped interviews with the nominated filmmakers, excerpts of the night's winners accepting their awards and post-ceremony chats.
The Genie Awards are administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.