Rip-Off (film)

''Rip-Off: Trying To Find Your Own Thing'' (better known simply as ''Rip-Off''; French: ''Rêver en couleur''; , language=French; available in English U.S.: ''Virgin Territory'') is a 1971 Canadian slice of life teen comedy film directed and co-edited by Don (Donald) Shebib, written by William Fruet, and produced by Bennett Fode, about the misadventures of four high school friends in their graduating year who make valiant but unsuccessful attempts to impress their school friends, especially the girls, trying filmmaking, forming a rock band, and starting a commune on a piece of land inherited by Michael (Don Scardino). The film features a score by Gene Martynec and Murray McLauchlan.

Synopsis

Four seniors at a large Toronto high school talk about what they are going to do next summer and beyond, not wanting to "waste" it like they did the year before. Mike is being pressured by his parents to go to university following graduation from high school, although Mike himself is unsure if that is what he wants to do. They try their hand at filmmaking, with mixed results. They talk about touring with their band, Arctic Madness, but eventually pack it in as they are not very good. They try setting up a commune near Timmins on a five-hundred-acre parcel of wilderness property which Mike has inherited for about four days. As the end of the school year approaches, their best ideas having been tried and rejected, the four come to a realization of what their future together actually holds.

Cast

In addition, the cast includes Guy Sanvido, Petunia Cameron-Swayze, Buddy Sault, Ann Lantuch, Andy Melzer, Dan Evered, Clara Sarkozi, Ed McNamara, Diane Dewey, Linda Houston, Susan Conway, Carman Gallo, and David Yorston. This was the first film appearance for three of the leads, Mike Kukulewich, Peter Gross, and Susan Petrie.

Themes

Focusing on the trip to the country, Ralph Lucas considers disillusionment to be the "overriding theme" as, "somewhat predictably, in the end the young people are dismayed to discover they are not as different as they would like to be." Geoff Pevere also focuses on that aspect of the story, the characters leaving the city for the "vast landscape, only to inevitably collide with their own delusions". John Hofsess shifted focus:

By the time one reaches ''The Panic in Needle Park'', ''Dusty and Sweets McGee'', '' Bless the Beasts and Children'', and, in particular, Don Shebib's ''Rip-Off'', Clarke Mackey's ''The Only Thing You Know'', it is clear that directors recognize that youth culture has curdled. For years everything shoddy, hypocritical and evil has been blamed on other (older) people. Now it's youth's turn to accept responsibility for the dreary mess of its own subculture.

Production

Background and writing

Director Donald Shebib recounted in a 2013 interview how the distributor of his first feature, ''Goin' Down the Road'', "wanted to make a film about teenagers, so I just sat down and started to write it. It was very rushed."

The film's working title was ''Mike and Sue''. In an interview which took place prior to the release of his later film, '' Between Friends'', Shebib was asked if he was consciously posing "socially-loaded questions", Shebib answered: "Partially, yeah. ''Rip-Off'' was one case where it was stronger." In the same interview, Shebib remarked: "Bill Fruet writes dreadful women", and that he had to "fight" with him to make Sue more "sensitive".

Filming

Wyndham Wise says the film was made on a strict budget with a "skeleton crew" of nine. Cinematographer Richard Leiterman said the film was a little over budget, but stayed on schedule. Leiterman originally made documentary films. He made the switch to dramatic films when he shot Shebib's previous film, the seminal ''Goin' Down the Road''; dramatic films were now his "primary professional domain", though since both he and Shebib had documentary backgrounds, this was reflected in how their first two feature films were made, more so with ''Goin' Down the Road'' than ''Rip-Off'', a film where they were both trying to do something neither of them had much experience with: a formal feature set-up: "I think we both learned a lot, I certainly did. And I'm anxious to correct the mistakes I made on that one."

The film was shot on 35mm (Kodak 5254), mainly in Toronto. Michael (Dunky)'s home is in the North York suburb of Don Mills, while the plot of land left him by his grandfather is near Timmins. All the locations were real, something Leiterman did not care for because of the tendency to want to rush. Technical problems associated with location shooting involved whether and how to light scenes, particularly for those filmed with a high speed camera for slow motion in a gymnasium: "There just wasn't enough light to shoot high speed, without putting in some fill light." Leiterman said he learned a lot making ''Rip-Off'' and he would never do it all the way he had done it again.

Music

Around the time of composing the score for ''Rip-Off'' with Gene Martynec, composer Murray McLauchlan released his first album, ''Songs from the Street'' (True North Records) in the summer of 1971.

Release

''Rip-Off'' was released on 30 September 1971, and in October 1972 in the United States.

Home media

''Rip-Off'' was released on VHS in the United States under the title ''Virgin Territory''.

Reception

Commercial performance

The film was a commercial failure.

Critical response

Contemporary

John Hofsess

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