In the end there is no better test for the adaption of a memoir to the big screen than to fall in love all over again with the story and the character who drew me to the pages and now to the theatre. The truth is though, we all know there is also no greater fear than the twisted sense of anticipation and skepticism (re: fear) when one of our favourite stories comes to life, let alone one that is the incredible true story, of this incredible little girl, who once up on a time came of age in so many ways too soon in the wild of the Rockies just down the road from right here, a story that Cea Sunrise Person painstakingly dragged to the page and shared with the world herself in her acclaimed memoir North of Normal.
In a room full of strangers at the Calgary International Film Festival Premier of "North of Normal Movie", a show of hands during the introduction reminded me just how very many of us had come after reading Cea's memoirs, her first book being inspiration for the movie. I looked around the room and wondered if any of the other middle aged viewers, so many with sons or daughters like mine, had hippy parents like mine who literally escaped from cities into the wild off the grid in the 1970's, who let them run barefoot and wild, and had come for a 90 minute escape into the past. It didn't take long to escape. From the Ernie and Bert striped shirts, to the cut off jean shorts, to the hair and the glasses and the old pickups and Grey Hound Buses, right down to the pedestal ash tray on the porch, the relentless level of detail and authenticity of the entire film immediately transported us all back in time.
When I first heard of the movie I wondered very seriously if anyone could ever capture the depth of Cea's first hand story and the connections that so many of us share as parents and in reminiscences of our childhood selves? Is it even possible? Truthfully, to be blunt I was doubtful and I mostly just hoped for Cea's sake it wouldn't suck, but from the opening scenes with childhood Cea running in the woods, I was lost with her. I was there in my bare feet crunching leaves and I knew North of Normal Movie was / is more than a trip back in time, it is an immersive journey that takes us back and forth in time and space, from early childhood escapes, to awkward teenaged trials, to the haunting reminders of childhood traumas and lost voices. It is a window and a mirror to an all too recent age where the loss of innocence and bluntly parentless upbringing of our sometimes lost generation actually comes back to life.
The truth is, in media res, I was lost in the story and the characters and completely forgot to remember the book. What better compliment can there be to the screenplay adaptation by Alexandra Weir and the vision of Director Carly Stone. The locations and characters were hauntingly familiar and faithful and in a strikingly tangible pace they pulled us closer to the truth, Cea's truth. From the childhood Cea (River Price-Maenpaa), to the immovable Papa Dick (Robert Carlyle - aka "that's exactly how your grandpa looked" to my kids), to Cea's mom (Sarah Gadon) who we love to death but who unforgivably just can't help be anything but a mom, and finally to the teen Cea played so convincingly by Amanda Fix, who so completely enveloped, embraced and embodied the real life Cea, she will now forever be the teen Cea of the memoirs for so many of us.
In the end, well, I won't spoil the ending, but in the end I loved this movie, just like the first time I read Cea's book, but perhaps I was wrong to say that is the greatest compliment to North of Normal Movie. Maybe, just maybe I think, this is a movie that will make so many more want to pick up Cea's book and read more. That is at least, until Cea's second book, Nearly Normal, comes to the big screen.
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