''Slim Obsession'' is a 1984 Canadian

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drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television film directed by

Donald Shebib Donald Everett "Don" Shebib (born 27 January 1938) is a Canadian film director. Shebib is a central figure in the development of English Canadian cinema who made several short documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada and CBC Televisi ...

and produced by Bonita Seigel and Sig Gerber, about a small-town school teacher (Susan Wright), who, after moving to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, begins to diet and exercise to excess, almost destroying her marriage and her own physical and mental health. The film was made for the anthology series '' For the Record'' and garnered an award at the

Columbus International Film Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival which is designed to encourage and promote the use of film and video in all forms of education and communication. It is the first and ol ...

. Wright won an ACTRA for her performance in 1985.

Synopsis

Liz (Susan Wright) is a small town school teacher who, after moving to

, begins to feel she must lose weight in order to be accepted by a society that judges women by their figures. She becomes obsessed with dieting and exercise to the detriment of her physical health and emotional well-being.

Themes

Richard Collins describes ''Slim Obsession'' as the depiction of the experience and consequences of a "general social problem", namely the "attempt to conform to the prescribed norm of female beauty", a goal which is not only self-defeating but self-destructive. Collins relates this theme to a more general or universal theme of control, "the general human project of achieving command over the world" and notes that the film "displays a number of Shebib's authorial markings" in that his films are often about loners.

Production

Background

Sig Gerber took over as executive producer of '' For the Record'' in 1983, in its eighth season. Like his predecessors, he emphasised the role of the series as an honest look at problems in Canadian society. Gail Henley remarked in 1985 that ''For the Record'' dramas were "information laden" when compared to their more emotional American counterparts and emphasises the importance of research and documentation for the series. ''Slim Obsession'' was one of twelve dramas made about women by the series, and the second made by

, after '' By Reason of Insanity'' (1982).

Filming

''Slim Obsession'' was filmed in

, which is also, as Richard Collins notes, "unmistakably" the story's setting, as neither flags nor license plates were obscured.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

was scheduled for 20 April through 6 May 1983.

Release and reception

''Slim Obsession'' was first broadcast on 11 March 1984 and was shown the same year at the

Distribution

The film was sold to overseas markets in

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Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Critical response

Richard Collins calls ''Slim Obsession'' a "finely produced, modest drama" that transcends "both naturalistic concentration on an individual history and abstract sociological discourse about a big social problem." Shebib's film perfectly exemplifies the

Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

ian "little subject" where an extensive representation is created out of a relatively modest subject.

Accolades

, Chris Bronze Plaque, 1984 *

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

, Best Actress (Susan Wright), 1985

References

External links

*
Slim Obsession
' on IMDb {{Donald Shebib 1984 drama films 1984 films Canadian drama films Films directed by Donald Shebib Films about eating disorders 1980s Canadian films