Choice Review

For Pike (American Univ.), Canadian cinema exemplifies "the pitfalls and opportunities of personal film-making in the age of globalization" (as he writes in the introduction). The films made since the 1980s surpass Canada's tax-shelter cinema and art-house late 1960s cinema because the directors balance artistic ambition with commercial considerations and because government funding has grown more liberal. Extremely knowledgeable, the author alternates surveys and close readings. After a historical summary, he offers a chapter on David Cronenberg, then one on Patricia Rozema and Denys Arcand. In the next chapter, he analyzes the iconic actors of the 1980s-90s. Pike returns to auteurs Jean-Claude Lauzon, Robert LePage, and Lea Pool. A chapter on Atom Egoyan's development is sandwiched between one on Canadian popular genres and one on the country's ethnic/marginal communities. Pike concludes with a chapter on the sui generis Winnipeg director Guy Maddin, who, the author writes, "established a global reputation through an aesthetics of deprivation." With his witty and conversational style, Pike proves as insightful an authority on the secondary directors and issues as on the mainstream. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. M. Yacowar emeritus, University of Calgary