''Picture Claire'' is a 2001

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Bruce McDonald of a screenplay by

Semi Chellas Semi Chellas is a director, writer, producer who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is known for her work on the television series ''Mad Men'' and her film ...

. The film stars

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail (1988 film), Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat (1988 film), Red Heat'' (1988), ''Showgirls'' (1995), ''Bound (1996 film), Bound'' (1996), ''Face/ ...

Callum Keith Rennie Callum Keith Rennie (born 14 September 1960) is a British-born Canadian actor who started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski on the television series '' Due South'' was his firs ...

, Kelly Harms,

Camilla Rutherford Camilla Rutherford (born 20 September 1976) is an English actress and fashion model. Early life Camilla Rutherford was born to (Gordon) Malcolm Rutherford (1939-1999), a financial journalist for the ''Financial Times'' and sometime advisor to ...

Peter Stebbings Peter Stebbings is a Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter best known for portraying Kevin Sharp in the drama series ''Madison (TV series), Madison'', Paul Deeds in the series ''Traders (TV series), Traders'', and for writing an ...

, and

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

. The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, and also appeared at Cinéfest in Sudbury, where the film received Best Ontario Feature Award. Lewis stars as Claire Beaucage, who gets in way over her head when she's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Plot

Claire (

) is a woman from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

who gets in trouble with the vengeful

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

dealers she helped finger. They retaliate by burning her out of her apartment. Frightened and in need of refuge, she heads 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 ...

for to stay with ex-lover photographer Billy Stuart (Kelly Harms). She speaks only French, she understands little

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and speaks even less, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time all too often. Claire has difficulties finding Billy but continues her search for him as the cops continue to search for her. She finally finds his gallery along with some photographs that he had taken of her in her sleep, he knew she hated having her picture taken. The exhibition of his work is opening and it seems to consist mostly of pictures of her.

played sleazy gangster Eddie and

portrays his tough-as-nails moll Lily Warden.

Cast

Production

Mostly filmed in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, Canada. During location filming on a Toronto street, a woman was arrested for causing a disturbance after the filmmakers called for silence and she refused to stop blowing a whistle. Segments of the film were shot in Kensington Market, including inside Shampoo Hair Studio on St. Andrew St., which was rented and converted to look like a donut shop. Reflecting this locale, the film was marketed in Germany under the title ''Lost in Toronto''. The film contains extensive use of multi-dynamic image technique montage sequences, accordingly subdividing, connecting and multiplying film elements in demarcated panes.

Reception

Intended to be released to theaters, the film never found a distributor, so ''Picture Claire'' was ultimately released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

or premiered on

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

like in

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Reviews for Picture Claire were mixed, but mostly negative. Jason Gorber from ''Filmfest.ca'' stated that "Bruce McDonald directs a mostly American cast in a staunch Toronto film" and gave it "Fresh" rating. The film was Rated R for violence, language and nudity by

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

. Some critics speculated that based on its failure to find a distributor and its content, that it had potential to be a cult classic.

''Claire's Hat''

Named after the original title of the film, McDonald created a documentary film about how he thought the film was a failure, where he said "I fucked up my own movie". Using stolen footage and outtakes from the film, he presented a DVD commentary style description of the shooting process, his arguments with his producer and his disappointment with himself to allow others to convince him to influence the film. The documentary has had rare screenings and was passed along to friends and some independent rental houses in Toronto.

References

External links

* * {{Bruce McDonald 2001 films 2001 crime thriller films English-language Canadian films Canadian independent films American neo-noir films Canadian multilingual films American multilingual films Films directed by Bruce McDonald Films set in Toronto Canadian drama films Films scored by Paul Haslinger French-language Canadian films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films