Having made his mark as a writer with the acclaimed Natasha and Other Stories, David Bezmozgis has reinvented himself as a screenwriter and movie director.
Mark Rendall and Holly Deveaux in Victoria Day
His debut feature film, Victoria Day, which opens in Toronto and Montreal on June 19, is a coming-of-age story based on his experiences as the son of Russian Jewish immigrants in Canada.
Set in Toronto in 1988 during the Victoria Day holiday and the launch of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Victoria Day grapples with such universal themes as adolescence and sexual awakening.
The central character, Ben Spektor (Mark Rendall), 16, is an intelligent, well-rounded, level-headed fellow. He’s also unusually sensitive.
Still, boys will be boys. Ben and his wacky friends (John Mavro and Scott Beaudin), all of whom play for the high school hockey team, have begun to explore their curiosity in the opposite sex.
The object of Ben’s desire is Cayla (Holly Deveaux), a remote beauty whose brother, Jordan, a bully and Ben’s nemesis, suddenly goes missing.
The police get involved in Jordan’s disappearance, and not surprisingly, Ben feels a little conflicted about his romantic interest in Cayla. As well, he is torn by guilt, since he grudgingly lent Jordan $5 to buy drugs.
As Bezmozgis fleshes out this theme, he focuses on Ben’s changing relationship with his parents, Yuri and Milla (Sergiy Kotelents and Nataliya Alyexeyenko), who always speak to him in Russian.
Ben is an obedient and respectful son, but as his carnal desires bloom, he spends less and less time at home, much to their disappointment and concern.
Yuri is disappointed that Ben no longer wants to watch professional hockey games on television with him, while Milla is worried that he is going astray.
Yet Ben remains grounded and responsible. When Cayla, unexpectedly, comes on to him one night, he says, “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”
To a certain degree, Victoria Day is adept in portraying Ben’s disorientation as he attempts to chart a path from adolescence to adulthood.
The film, however, is somewhat less than compelling, as it generally fails to connect with the audience on a deeper emotional level.
Still, Bezmozgis’ young, unknown cast tries to please and is quite appealing. Rendall conveys Ben’s sensitivity and vulnerabilities, Mavro keeps jumping out of his skin, and Deveaux is sweetly demure.
