Okay, and I found one (1) article. Sad. It's about and movie production in Saskatchewan and it's here: it's called Interpreting prairie cinema (http://members.shaw.ca/horne/prairiecinema.html). Only a small part of it is about Paris or Somewhere though:
In spite of these odds, one of the strongest feature films to emerge from the prairies in recent years was a made-for-television drama, which succeeds where many have failed because of a well-written script: Paris or Somewhere (1993), directed by Brad Turner, produced by Credo Productions of Manitoba and Reel Eye Media (Gord McLennan and company) of Saskatchewan, is carefully construed and visually interesting. Unfortunately, the acting is uneven: Callum Keith Rennie and Molly Parker are sometimes captivating, but often over-the-top with their characterizations of Christie Mahon, a young drifter, and Peg Kennedy, a girl trying to manage an isolated prairie store owned by her lazy father (played by Francis Damberger). Swift Current, Saskatchewan writer Lee Gowan based the script on the Irish play Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge. Synge's play is about a man who wins immediate respect when he tells people that he murdered his abusive father. Gowan's script succeeds in bringing Synge's mythic characters into the modern prairie landscape, although the use of television newscasts as the private monologue of the lead character's ego comes off as campy. Where Synge employed the cadence of Irish brogue, Gowan tries to utilize prairie vernacular, which is colourful, but lacks the old country charm that makes the Oedipal myth dramatically convincing.
The producers found an isolated coulee in the Qu'Appelle Valley system northeast of Regina as the setting for the farming community that embraces the young protagonist, then rejects him when his father turns out not to be dead, but merely injured, and comes looking for him. The producers are to be admired for attempting to bring a better quality of drama and poetry to the pablum format of made-for-TV movies. To be a successful stand-alone feature, however, the film would have to be re-edited to avoid looking like a TV program, with its use of fadeouts for commercial breaks, which are preceded by "stingers" -- plot points designed to bring the audience back after the commercial.
Thanks to its writer, Paris or Somewhere succeeds in celebrating the people and the discourse of prairie Canada. One interesting point is the contrast between Canadian and American prairie people, with the comic misconceptions each has of the other. The young protagonist hitchhikes to Saskatchewan from Montana, and when he tells the man who gives him a ride about his plan to try Canada, the driver says: "Kid, you wouldn't be heading up to the deep freeze. Of course, there's no murders in Canada. That's the only reason people live there. They only speak French." When he drops the kid off he says "There it is, the Big Empty."
In the end the young drifter decides to stay in Canada, if not for the independence he feels when he escapes his domineering father, then for his love for Peg, the young girl who first gives him refuge. Paris or Somewhere received funding support from SaskFilm, Film Manitoba and Telefilm Canada. This funding was contingent upon broadcast licenses, which provided a portion of the budget. If the film is able to recoup its investment through international sales, it will prove that an indigenous story, set in the Canadian prairie region, is of interest to broadcasters outside of Canada.
Well. It's something, at least?
There also seemed to exist a MacLeans article once, it's mentioned here (http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/hellraiser/261/rwacmrch.htm), but I can't find another trace of it anywhere. :(
no subject
In spite of these odds, one of the strongest feature films to emerge from the prairies in recent years was a made-for-television drama, which succeeds where many have failed because of a well-written script: Paris or Somewhere (1993), directed by Brad Turner, produced by Credo Productions of Manitoba and Reel Eye Media (Gord McLennan and company) of Saskatchewan, is carefully construed and visually interesting. Unfortunately, the acting is uneven: Callum Keith Rennie and Molly Parker are sometimes captivating, but often over-the-top with their characterizations of Christie Mahon, a young drifter, and Peg Kennedy, a girl trying to manage an isolated prairie store owned by her lazy father (played by Francis Damberger). Swift Current, Saskatchewan writer Lee Gowan based the script on the Irish play Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge. Synge's play is about a man who wins immediate respect when he tells people that he murdered his abusive father. Gowan's script succeeds in bringing Synge's mythic characters into the modern prairie landscape, although the use of television newscasts as the private monologue of the lead character's ego comes off as campy. Where Synge employed the cadence of Irish brogue, Gowan tries to utilize prairie vernacular, which is colourful, but lacks the old country charm that makes the Oedipal myth dramatically convincing.
The producers found an isolated coulee in the Qu'Appelle Valley system northeast of Regina as the setting for the farming community that embraces the young protagonist, then rejects him when his father turns out not to be dead, but merely injured, and comes looking for him. The producers are to be admired for attempting to bring a better quality of drama and poetry to the pablum format of made-for-TV movies. To be a successful stand-alone feature, however, the film would have to be re-edited to avoid looking like a TV program, with its use of fadeouts for commercial breaks, which are preceded by "stingers" -- plot points designed to bring the audience back after the commercial.
Thanks to its writer, Paris or Somewhere succeeds in celebrating the people and the discourse of prairie Canada. One interesting point is the contrast between Canadian and American prairie people, with the comic misconceptions each has of the other. The young protagonist hitchhikes to Saskatchewan from Montana, and when he tells the man who gives him a ride about his plan to try Canada, the driver says: "Kid, you wouldn't be heading up to the deep freeze. Of course, there's no murders in Canada. That's the only reason people live there. They only speak French." When he drops the kid off he says "There it is, the Big Empty."
In the end the young drifter decides to stay in Canada, if not for the independence he feels when he escapes his domineering father, then for his love for Peg, the young girl who first gives him refuge. Paris or Somewhere received funding support from SaskFilm, Film Manitoba and Telefilm Canada. This funding was contingent upon broadcast licenses, which provided a portion of the budget. If the film is able to recoup its investment through international sales, it will prove that an indigenous story, set in the Canadian prairie region, is of interest to broadcasters outside of Canada.
Well. It's something, at least?
There also seemed to exist a MacLeans article once, it's mentioned here (http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/hellraiser/261/rwacmrch.htm), but I can't find another trace of it anywhere. :(