Canadian Epics of Passion: The Red Violin and Sunshine‪.‬

Two masterful epic films that are passionate about passion have found a noble way to be Canadian despite not seeming to be Canadian. The Red Violin and Sunshine eschew the small "our story" characteristic of the purest Canadian cinema for the sweep of an international and historical canvas. Each surveys history with a wide range of characters tied together in myriad ways. But neither film is as intimidating as it sounds; at the root of both stories is a simple desire to rediscover and restore passion and purity in a world of deceit and compromise. THIS strategy should not be mistaken for the black sell-out days of Meatballs and Porky's, when Canadian films obsessively tried to "pass" as American. Back then, the surest way to identify a film as "Canadian" was the gratuitous shot of the American flag or a reference to "the President" in the first 90 seconds. Our red mailboxes had to be replaced by American blue so as not to alienate the "domestic" (i.e., the us) audience. At one point the blue-eyed American "star" Rabble Benson was cast as a famous Canadian aboriginal to give the "project" -- Running Brave -- commercial credibility. But in The Red Violin and Sunshine the internationalism derives from strength not insecurity, from the passion of a compelling vision, not commercial expediency. In their post-colonized position the films transcend their national particularity instead of hiding it. The telling difference is between project and passion.