Atom Egoyan

Mm-hmm.

Uh, and that is 1997, the year of Titanic, uh, and it is Atom Egoyan for The Sweet Hereafter.

Ah, love it.

Uh, which is based on a absolutely gorgeous book by Russell Banks, uh, who also wrote, uh, the book for Affliction.

Um, but The Sweet Hereafter, uh, talk about an adaptation of a book that not only honors the book, but it, but improves upon the book.

Um, and Atom Egoyan's direction in that film is so haunting and so beautiful, um, featuring a truly dazzling lead performance by the, uh, great British legend, Ian Holm.

Um, and the first film that exposed me to, uh, Sarah Polley, uh, future Oscar winner Sarah Polley, um, playing a really tricky part.

[laughs] Um, you know, it, it doesn't seem like it would be a whole, be a lot, uh, you know, a movie about, uh, the way a school bus crash impacts an entire community, but it says so much about human relationships, and community, and s- individual survival, and the lies that we tell, uh, for our own preservation.

And The Book of Negroes, which recognized that its sprawling historical narrative required a television miniseries format rather than a compressed feature film.

We also have to mention Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.

It is widely considered one of the greatest Canadian films ever made, yet it is adapted from an American novel by Russell Banks.

Which is why it belongs more to a discussion of Canadian directorial style than a list of Canadian literary adaptations.