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Eat this >> Anne Wheeler flaunts lesbian love in Better than Chocolate
by MATTHEW HAYS
"The fact is, I've lived and worked with gay people all my life. I've made movies about natives, about Japanese Canadians. I'm often interested in those on the outside. So why not?" Wheeler, perhaps best known for her two landmark prairie films Loyalties and Bye Bye Blues, helms Better than Chocolate, a lesbian ensemble romantic comedy--with a touch of melodrama thrown in. As well as being decidedly queer (the screenplay was penned by Peggy Thompson), Better than Chocolate marks Wheeler's first foray into such comic territory. "The humour, more than anything, is what drew me to this script. It feels like going full circle for me, because when I was in university I did a lot of comedy as an actor. It was quite outrageous. I've been waiting to do comedy again for a long time." The film has Karyn Dwyer playing a slightly confused young dyke who's getting her life back together after dropping out of law school. Working in a lesbian bookstore, Dwyer soon learns that her conservative mother (Wendy Crewson) has broken up with her boyfriend and wants to move in with Dwyer. The good daughter obliges, but isn't out to mom. The film includes subplots involving lesbian bookstore owner (author Anne-Marie MacDonald) and a transgendered woman (a stunning performance by Peter Outerbridge, unrecognizable from his turn in Kissed). Better than Chocolate has certainly been winning hearts on the fest circuit. "It has won audience favourite awards wherever it plays," reports Wheeler, who's understandably proud. "Toronto, London, England, Vancouver, Philadelphia... the list keeps getting longer." Part of the film's appeal is undoubtedly Wheeler's frank depiction of sexuality. There are numerous steamy scenes of gal-on-gal boinking. "They are quite beautiful. But I shot them in a very direct way. I thought of them as dances, just to shoot them in a very simple, straightforward way." Wheeler says the filming of the delicate sex scenes was a challenge, having only 15 days to make the movie. Sex is time-consuming to represent, says Wheeler, and Chocolate didn't have the same budget or schedule of, say, Eyes Wide Shut. "We couldn't spend days on it. We didn't have that Hollywood luxury. The actors had to really trust me." Better than Chocolate is captured in a realistic style, but many may find the plot rather outlandish. Wheeler says she sees this as an accurate reflection of queer life. "I spent lots of time watching drag kings and queens in preparation for this movie. They are a bit bigger than life. In the gay community, things are often a bit exaggerated. "I can honestly say that the characters in this film exist in real life."
Better than Chocolate opens Friday, August 6 at the Cinéma du Parc. See repertory listings for showtimes |
"In Europe they never ask that question," responds director Anne Wheeler. She's not affronted--it's just an observation. I've made the obligatory (at least in North America, anyway) inquiry about whether or not the het Wheeler had any reservations about making a movie about queer characters.