The Five Senses

Jeremy Podeswa

 

He caused ripples on the international circuit with his debut film Eclipse in 1996, and Jeremy Podeswa may soon find himself elevated to the status of fellow Canadians David Cronenberg and - more specifically - Atom Egoyan. Taking place over a three-day period, The Five Senses is about five characters who live or work in a multi-purpose building across the road from a park where a young child disappears. While the city is galvanised by the drama, some of the characters are more absorbed in their own problems.

The five characters correspond to the five human senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. Robert (Daniel Maclvor) is a professional house cleaner, who sets out to examine his romantic past through an interrogation of his former lovers, both male and female. Rona (Mary Louise Parker), Robert's best friend, is a cake decorator who makes beautiful confections with no flavour. Rona is followed back to Canada by Roberto (Marco Leonardi), an Italian lover she met on vacation. Roberto, a chef, does not speak English, but is determined to win Rona's love in spite of her reluctance.

Richard (Philippe Volter) is a French eye-doctor who is going deaf and needs to find a new way of hearing.

Alone, he attempts to build a "so library" in his mind but only breaks through his sense of loneliness isolation when he meets a woman. Ruth is a widowed massage therapist (Gabrielle Rose) who feels terribly sorry for the little girl's mother and attempts to befriend her.

Through this experience Ruth is able to move a step closer to her own alienated daughter, Rachel (Nadia Liz), who has a guilty secret that teaches her a valuable lesson.

"It's narratively more complex than the first film," explains Podeswa. "The Five Senses has always been for me a film about the difficulties we encounter when we venture outside ourselves and attempt to make meaningful relationships with others.