| Lost and Delirious | |
|---|---|
The promotional poster for the film. |
|
| Directed by | Léa Pool |
| Produced by | Greg Dummett Lorraine Richard Louis-Philippe Rochon |
| Screenplay by | Judith Thompson |
| Based on | The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan |
| Starring | Piper Perabo Jessica Paré Mischa Barton |
| Music by | Yves Chamberland |
| Cinematography | Pierre Gill |
| Editing by | Gaétan Huot |
| Studio | Greg Dummett Films Cite-Amerique |
| Distributed by | Seville Pictures (Canada) Lions Gate Entertainment (USA) |
| Release date(s) | January 21, 2001 (Sundance Film Festival) June 20, 2001 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $307,233[1] |
Lost and Delirious is a 2001 Canadian drama film directed by Léa Pool and loosely based on the novel The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan. Lost and Delirious is filmed from the perspective of Mary (Mischa Barton), who observes the changing love between her two teenage friends, Pauline (Piper Perabo) and Victoria (Jessica Paré). The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.[2]
Contents |
Mary is a new student at an all-girls boarding school and dorms with Paulie and Victoria (nicknamed Tori). In an effort to get the shy Mary to break out of her shell, Paulie and Tori involve her in their activities, such as running in the morning. When they hear that Mary's mother has died, Paulie nicknames her "Mary Brave."
Mary observes the intimacy between her two roommates. Peering out a window at night, she sees them kissing on a roof. Paulie and Tori's relationship is close and Paulie is full of life. At one point she turns a quiet afternoon on the campus into a music-blasting dance party and spikes the punch. In another moment, she defends Victoria from a frustrated math teacher who humiliates her when she does not understand basic math.
Over time, Paulie and Tori become more comfortable showing affection in front of Mary. It progresses from a quick kiss on the lips in front of her to the two sharing a bed while Mary is sleeping.
When the three are running one day, Paulie comes across a hurt falcon, which she befriends. After reading up on falcons, she trains the animal. While she is tending to the falcon, Mary and Tori meet some boys from the nearby boys school. One, Jake, flirts with Tori, asking if she will be attending her brother's 18th birthday party and making it clear that he likes her. When Mary and Tori are alone, Tori expresses disgust at the boy's interest in her, saying, "He liked my tits." When Mary asks if she'll go to the party, Tori says, "And have all those gross guys groping me? No, thanks. I'd rather stay home and do math."
One morning, Victoria's sister, Allison (Emily VanCamp), and her friends rush into the room to wake up the older girls. Paulie is lying in Tori's bed, both naked. Horrified silence falls over everyone.
Mary pushes Tori's sister out of the room and closes the door. After the girls leave, Tori, her head in her hands, decides at that moment to end whatever intimate relationship she had with Paulie, who claims that she loves her. Tori refuses outright, saying, 'No! You don't know Allison. She'll get hysterical and tell my dad.' Tori then angrily tells Paulie to get out of her bed. Paulie tries to downplay the situation, and Tori tells her she doesn't understand, explaining that her sister will tell her parents about it. When confronted by Allison, Tori tries to extinguish her sister's suspicions by telling her Paulie has an unrequited crush on her and crawled into her bed. Her sister promises to "fix" the rumors about Tori and not tell their parents anything. As she walks away from this conversation, Victoria collapses into tears.
In the library, Victoria explains to Mary that her family, her parents and her sister, are strongly opposed to homosexuality, and she must stop the relationship to prevent their rejection. Mary sympathizes with both of her friends, as she too feels rejected by her father, who does not bother to show up to a father/daughter dance. In the forest at night, Tori and Jake have sex against a tree. Both Mary and Paulie accidentally witness this scene and run back to their room before Tori returns.
When Tori returns to the room, Paulie asks her where she's been and Tori says she was with a friend. Paulie lashes out at her by telling her that she saw what Tori and Jake were doing in the woods. In a very poignant moment, Tori tells Paulie that the intimacy that they had shared will never happen again but she (Tori) would always love her.
Paulie degenerates into psychotic behavior over Tori's withdrawal from the relationship. She smashes a mirror and hurls a dish cart to the ground and begins to act out in other ways. A rejection letter from the agency that handled Paulie's adoption, which informs her that her birth mother denied a request from Paulie to get in touch, further sends her over the edge. Meanwhile, Victoria creates an image of heterosexuality to her friends and her sister, dating Jake Hollander (Luke Kirby) from a nearby all boys' school and avoiding Paulie.
Paulie declares a duel to the death with Jake. Jake is not taking her seriously until he ends up on the ground, with Paulie brandishing a sword above him. She demands that he give up Tori. When he refuses, she stabs him in the leg. Mary rushes to stop her and Paulie runs off. Mary runs to Victoria's soccer match, where the headmistress, math teacher and fellow students are congregated. Upon reaching the group, Mary sees Paulie, sobbing from the top of a building while holding her falcon. Whispering "I rush into the secret house," a reference to Shakespeare on suicide, Paulie jumps to her death and the movie ends with the falcon flying in the background.
The film garnered a mixed reaction from critics, based on 62 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 50% "Certified Fresh" overall approval rating.[3]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars, writing that the film "stirred within me memories of that season in adolescence when the heart leaps up in passionate idealism--and inevitably mingles it with sexual desire." Ebert praised Pool as she "creates a lush, thoughtfully framed, and composed film; her classical visual style lends gravitas to this romantic story."[4]
| Year | Award | Category | Result[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mar del Plata Film Festival | "ADF Cinematography Award" | Won |
| Stockholm Film Festival | "Audience Award" | Won | |
| Valladolid International Film Festival | "Golden Spike" | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Verona Love Screens Film Festival | "Best Film" | Nominated |
| Directors Guild of Canada | "DCT Team Award - Outstanding Achievement in a Feature Film" | Nominated | |
| Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards | "Best Cinematography in Theatrical Feature" - Pierre Gill | Won | |
| Genie Awards | "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role" - Mimi Kuzyk | Nominated | |
| "Best Screenplay" - Judith Thompson | Nominated | ||
| "Best Achievement in Cinematography" - Pierre Gill | Won |
The movie was filmed in Lennoxville, Quebec on the Bishop's University Campus and across the Massawippi River at Bishop's College School. Students attending summer classes there during filming were used as extras.