Comox Valley Art Gallery’s TIFF Winter 2016 Film Series kicks off at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10 with Remember, a thriller/drama by acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan.
In Remember, Egoyan tackles one of the darkest chapters of 20th-century history, giving legendary actor Christopher Plummer (Elsa & Fred, Beginners) a majestic role as an elderly Holocaust survivor seeking revenge on the man responsible for the deaths of his family.
Plummer plays Zev, a recent widower whose deteriorating mental state forces him to be placed under permanent care.
When he discovers that the concentration-camp guard who murdered his relatives is now living in America under an assumed identity, Zev resolves to fulfil his final vow to his wife by exacting vengeance on the escaped war criminal. With the support of his friend Max (Martin Landau, Lovely, Still, Ed Wood), Zev sets out on his mission with grim purpose — but his quest for retribution leads to unexpected results.
Working from an original script by first-time screenwriter Benjamin August, Egoyan generates nerve-shredding suspense as the unlikely avenger pursues the demon from his past. Plummer is remarkable as the driven Zev, and the stellar supporting cast — which also includes Henry Czerny (TV’s The Tudors, Fido), Jürgen Prochnow (TV’s 24, Das Boot), Bruno Ganz (The Reader, Downfall) and Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris as a neo-Nazi state trooper — help make Remember one of the most compelling thrillers in recent memory.
The Globe and Mail’s Kate Taylor states, “Plummer’s performance is quietly magnificent, turning the heavy breathing, shaking hands and slow responses of the elderly into a heart-rending vulnerability while also capturing his character’s enduring intelligence and psychic pain.”
Tickets are $13, $12 for CVAG members, and are available at the CVAG Gift Shop, 580 Duncan Ave, in Downtown Courtenay. To purchase tickets by phone, call 250-338-6211. All films are screened at the Rialto Theatre, Driftwood Mall, 2665 Cliffe Ave, Courtenay. For complete film series information visit www.comoxvalleyartgallery.com