The Company of Strangers explained

The Company of Strangers
Director:Cynthia Scott
Producer:David Wilson
Starring:Alice Diabo
Constance Garneau
Music:Marie Bernard
Cinematography:David De Volpi
Editing:David Wilson
Studio:National Film Board of Canada[1]
Distributor:First Run Features
Castle Hill Productions
National Film Board of Canada
Runtime:101 min.
Country:Canada
Language:English

The Company of Strangers (US release title: Strangers in Good Company; French title: Le Fabuleux gang des sept[2]) is a 1990 Canadian film directed by Cynthia Scott and written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wilson and Gloria Demers. The film depicts eight women on a bus tour, who are stranded at an isolated cottage when the bus breaks down.

Created in a genre defined as docufiction, semi-documentary/semi-fiction,[3] the film is not tightly scripted. The writers wrote a basic story outline but allowed the eight women to improvise their dialogue. Each of the women, all but one of whom were senior citizens, told stories from her own life. A major theme of the film is how the elderly women each face aging and mortality in their own way, and find the courage together to persevere.

At various points throughout the film, a montage of photos from each woman's life is shown.

Cast

Release

Home media

The DVD was released on December 7, 1999, by First Run Features as Strangers in Good Company.[4] [5] The back of the DVD cover states: "The original Canadian title, "The Company of Strangers" is on the DVD. In every other way it is the exact same film."

Release

The film was distributed by Alliance Distributing in Canada and First Run Features in the United States. It earned $450,000 during its theatrical release in Canada and $1 million in the United States. The Company of Strangers was renamed Strangers in Good Company in the United States to avoid confusion with The Comfort of Strangers.[6]

Accolades

The film won the Best Canadian Film award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Grand Prize and Interfilm awards at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in 1990.[7]

At the 12th Genie Awards in 1991, Diabo and Meddings were nominated for Best Actress, Holden and Roche were nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and the film was nominated for Best Picture. The film won the Genie Award for Best Film Editing.

Popularity

Mary Meigs wrote a book about her experience in making the film, In the Company of Strangers (1991).[8] [9]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Strangers in Good Company . October 11, 1991 . July 22, 2022 . Austin Chronicle.
  2. Encyclopedia: The Company of Strangers. Angela Stukator. The Canadian Encyclopedia. October 7, 2019.
  3. Diana, George. Semi-Documentary/Semi-Fiction: An Examination of Genre in "Strangers in Good Company". Journal of Film and Video, v46 n4 p24-30 Win 1995
  4. News: Olson . Karen Torme . November 25, 1999 . Nov. 30 Releases: (Dates Subject to Change) . . dead . 26 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200226111302/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-25-9911250061-story.html . 26 February 2020.
  5. Web site: Strangers in Good Company – DVD . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200226111305/https://shop.tcm.com/strangers-in-good-company/720229909167 . 26 February 2020 . 26 February 2020 . Turner Classic Movies.
  6. News: 2 October 2013 . Ohayon . Albert . The NFB's 5 Biggest Box Office Successes . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240129011518/https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2013/10/02/nfb-biggest-box-office-successes/ . 29 January 2024.
  7. Web site: Canadian Film Encyclopedia - The Company of Strangers . July 22, 2022 . Canadian Film Encyclopedia . TIFF.
  8. Book: Meigs. Mary. In the Company of Strangers. 1991. 1st. Talonbooks. Vancouver, B.C., Canada. 0889222940 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140830073036/https://talonbooks.com/books/in-the-company-of-strangers. August 30, 2014. live.
  9. Web site: Mary Meigs . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200423183641/http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibits/mawrtyrs/meigs.html . April 23, 2020 . August 30, 2012 . mAwRTyrS . Bryn Mawr College.