Sense and sensibility

>> Jeremy Podeswa unleashes The Five Senses

by MATTHEW HAYS

"I like things that work on a lot of different levels," says Jeremy Podeswa, as he sits down to discuss his latest film in a chic Montreal resto. "I like things that are allusive."

No kidding. Podeswa is in town to plug his latest film, The Five Senses, and the title refers to the screenplay's central concept: each of the five main characters in the film represents one of the senses. Daniel MacIvor plays a housecleaner who becomes obsessed with his sense of smell. Gabrielle Rose is a massage therapist who yearns to learn to touch again. Philippe Volter is an optometrist who panics upon learning he's losing his hearing.

Warmly received at Cannes last summer, The Five Senses is a logical evolution for Podeswa. The writer-director's last project, Eclipse, involved an ensemble of characters coping with various emotional dilemmas as a solar eclipse passes.

"I'm fascinated by the senses and their poetic implications," he says. "Things that resonate in different ways. The intellectual underpinning is a bonus, but the main draw is always emotional." It was two primary inspirations which brought Podeswa to the screenplay for Senses. Years ago he watched as his producer and friend, Camelia Frieberg, met and fell in love with the man who would become her husband. This, combined with the two-year travelling binge he went on while screening Eclipse on the international festival circuit, left Podeswa questioning the meaning of friendships and intimacy.

As with Eclipse, Podeswa has earned top marks for his careful mix of characters, an international cast of people straight, gay and bi. "I assume a certain hipness on the part of the audience. If the characters are real and believable, people will go wherever I take them--gay, straight or whatever. I'd be surprised if there's anyone who couldn't relate to MacIvor's character [who's gay]."

While perfectly comfortable with being identified as gay, Podeswa is guarded about questions about his personal life. Though sexuality does colour his world view, he doesn't see himself as a strictly gay director. "Your entire aesthetic sensibility comes from a holistic thing; what gender you are, what ethnicity you are, what your cultural background is. Sexuality is just one part of that--but it's hardly the whole thing."

And Podeswa is aware that some critics have disdained his film, charging it with being clumsy and pretentious. "Sure, there's been the occasional bad review. What can you do? Especially with an independent film, where every major decision is made by the director. It's a product of my sensibility, and some will like that while others not. Is there a movie that everybody loves? Woody Allen gets attacked all the time.

"People like to slag things. In my travels, I've found that the British are often down on British films, the Australians down on Australian films. People are often very critical of their own." :

The Five Senses opens Friday, November 26