At the Festival: Before Tomorrow
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Before Tomorrow’s cast chills out on set
My first day at Sundance is extremely incomparable to my first day doing anything else. It wasn’t as drug-induced as getting my wisdom teeth taken out, nor was it as fun as my first race in alpine skiing. It was, despite the overuse of the word, unique. I have the largest collection of tickets, one of which was to the most beautiful movie Before Tomorrow.
Detailing the story of this family, Before Tomorrow goes into the lives of Inuits in the mid 19th century, following their every move from underwater shots up to their sea kayaks to shots following the two main characters, a grandmother and her courageous grandson, in caves and the great white north. The shots were unbelievably beautiful, the music (while redundant) fit extremely well with the emotion of the film, as the singer kept asking why do we have to die (paraphrased). The story line was actually put together using inspiration which co-director Marie-Hélène Cousineau took from actual Inuit stories of a grandfather as well as a book written by John Riel. The other co-director, Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, was actually the lead actress in the film.