Canada Now: Hello Destroyer
Hello Destroyer
Directed by Kevan Funk
Starring Jared Abrahamson, Kurt Max Runte, Joe Buffalo, Paul McGillion and Sara Canning
Screening as part of Canada Now Film Festival
by Bernie C Byrnes
A junior hockey player’s life is shattered by an in-game act of violence. Desperate to find a means of reconciliation and a sense of identity, his personal journey ends up illuminating troubling systemic issues around violence.
Suicide is now the biggest killer of young men, and this film makes it easy to understand why. This is a definite ‘show don’t tell’ piece. It certainly challenged my long held suspicion that guys have it easier.
We learn early on that Tyson Burr (Jared Abrahamson) is afraid of nothing except silence. Unfortunately for him, life conspires to return him to his family who are locked in a malignant muteness, while his hockey coach conspires to scapegoat him. Everyone who should be looking out for this boy is either looking the other way or entirely complicit in taking him down.
The characters are so unable to speak to each other that this is practically a silent film and that makes it brilliant. It is powerful, disturbing and genuinely tragic. If you don’t think that sounds brilliant, here are all the awards it won!
The film was nominated for four Canadian Screen Awards: Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay.
It won Vancouver Film Critics Circle: Best Canadian Film, Best British Columbia Film, Best Canadian Director, Best Actor in a Canadian Film, Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film.
In Vancouver International Film Festival it won the BC Emerging Filmmaker Award. And in the Leo Awards: Best Motion Picture, Best Direction in a Motion Picture, Best Screenwriting in a Motion Picture, Best Cinematography in a Motion Picture, Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Motion Picture.
