''Chaindance'' is a 1991
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
. The film stars
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
,
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...
,
Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film ''Stony Island (film), Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film ''Quest for Fire (film), ...
, and
Don S. Davis
Donald Sinclair "Don" Davis (August 4, 1942 – June 29, 2008) was an American character actor best known for playing General Hammond in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007), and earlier for playing Major Garland Briggs on t ...
as "Sergeant".
Background
The film is based on Alan Aylward's work with physically disabled children as a recreational therapist at a residential chronic care centre in Toronto from 1974 to 1980. The original script suggested
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
as Blake and
John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
as Johnnie, but both passed on the roles which went to Michael Ironside and Brad Dourif, respectively. Hurt, who had previously worked with Aylward during a documentary series ''The Disability Myth'', was initially interested in the role of Johnnie; Nolte's agent reportedly required a few million dollars for a retainer which Aylward was unable to raise.
Ironside was on set with Nick Nolte and Powers Boothe in New Mexico making a film called
Extreme Prejudice when he was presented a draft of the script for Chaindance by his Toronto agent, Lori Rotenberg. Ironside had just finished reading the script when Nolte emerged from his trailer to announce that he had just secured the rights to produce ''
Weeds'', based on the book by the same name, and also "a prison story". Inspired by what he interpreted as serendipity, Ironside optioned the script from Aylward in 1987/88, began production in Vancouver, and released the film in 1991. A few years later, the British Columbia Corrections Ministry started a program between prisoners and institutionalized handicapped patients based on the fictitious rehabilitation program in Chaindance.
Recognition
* 1991
**
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Phil Schmidt
Phil may refer to:
* Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names
* Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil"
* Phil, Kentucky, United States
* Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film
* -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
- Nominated
**
Genie Award for Best Achievement in Editing
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...
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Allan Lee
Allan Lee (born in Hamilton, Scotland) is a film editor who lives in Vancouver, Canada and works regularly in Europe, UK and Canada.
Selected filmography
*1993 – '' Highlander''
*1995 – ''Magic in the Water''
*1997 – ''Bliss''
*1997 ...
- Nominated
**
Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishin ...
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Richard Davis - Nominated
**
Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actor in a Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years o ...
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Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...
- Nominated
References
External links
Yahoo! Movies plot summary*
1991 films
Canadian drama films
1991 drama films
English-language Canadian films
Films shot in Vancouver
Films directed by Allan A. Goldstein
1990s Canadian films
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