By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin Contributor
Jeremy Podeswa is not a writer. In fact, he finds writing
difficult. His medium is visual storytelling, swiveling the camera,
playing with light and space, propelling the viewer into
revelation.
“I always came into filmmaking as a director, not a
writer,” said Podeswa in a phone interview. “I became a
writer by default, because no one gave me anything I wanted to
direct.”
“The Five Senses” is Podeswa’s latest effort
both as a writer and director. Playing in select theaters
throughout Los Angeles, it is about five people looking for sensual
meaning in their lives.
Though writing may be difficult for the Canadian, it is
certainly not due to a lack of ideas. There is the house cleaner
(Daniel MacIvor) who believes he can smell love, the baker
(Mary-Louise Parker) whose cakes look better than they taste, and
the lonely eye doctor (Philippe Volter) who is slowly becoming
deaf. There is the masseuse (Gabrielle Rose) who is out of touch
with her daughter, and the daughter (Naadia Litz) who enjoys
voyeurism. These five characters are tied together by a missing
young girl and the resulting media frenzy.
“This film is about the universality of experience, which
you only get out of all the characters together,” Podeswa
said.
“It is so varied tonally that there are many entry points.
Everyone would have their own character to respond to.”
Podeswa, indeed, has been getting responses to the film, which
has made its way from the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes
Film Festival to the Toronto Film Festival, where it won Best
Picture. It was then acquired by Fine Line Features.
Not bad for his second full-length film (his first was
1994’s “Eclipse”). While not having the weight of
a summer blockbuster, “The Five Senses” is making
respectable business in international arthouses, opening to over 20
countries.
“There is not enough (patronage) in the U.S. to support
arthouse films,” said Podeswa.
Though he studied here at the American Film Institute, Podeswa
has tried to keep his Canadian roots. In fact, “The Five
Senses” takes place in his native Toronto.
“In America, filmmaking is an industry. People could be
making cars but they’re making movies,” said Podeswa,
referring to how Hollywood blockbusters are designed to appeal to
the masses instead of to an artistic standard or goal.
“In Canada, people make films like writers write novels
and poets write poems.”
Though he was influenced by Americans such as Woody Allen and
Martin Scorsese, he leans toward the influences of Europeans, such
as Federico Fellini, who are less interested in the bottom line
than they are with creating masterpieces. Podeswa avoids the
mainstream in search of a more personal, intimate sphere.
“I wouldn’t want to work with the cinematographer
from “˜The Patriot.’ Even though I’m sure
he’s a good cinematographer, he won’t be interested in
the same things I am necessarily,” Podeswa said.
Podeswa looks at his films as a canvas of sorts. This should not
be surprising since his father and grandfather were painters.
“There is a whole other world (in film) where you can make
a body of works that express who you are,” Podeswa said.
“The Five Senses” is Podeswa’s personal
dialogue on the senses. After reading Diane Ackerman’s
“The Natural History of the Senses,” Podeswa started
his screenplay about how the senses connect us to the world and to
others.
“There’s too many people around us all the time, but
there are only a few real friendships,” Podeswa said.
Despite his aversion toward writing, Podeswa is currently
adapting a novel to the screen as well as directing a Canadian TV
movie called “Wild Geese.”
He still emanates a boyish love of great directors, and one can
see the twinkle in his eye, behind his oval glasses, when he speaks
of Scorsese’s directorial flair.
“His use of off-screen space is very evocative,”
Podeswa said. “It’s as if there’s a whole world
beyond the screen.”