Thomson’s art is front and centre in new biopic

HUNTSVILLE - If you’re going to show a biographical film about a painter, there’s nowhere better than a theatre that has a statue of the painter out front, in a town where murals of his art adorn the downtown.
That was part of the thinking behind selecting Huntsville as the place to show West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson.
The 90-minute documentary was the lead feature on opening night of Film North, which took place at the Algonquin Theatre last weekend.
“This is the first time anyone has seen this film outside the editing studio,” director Peter Raymont told the near-capacity crowd on opening night.
He and co-director Michèle Hozer warned the audience that there were still some incomplete elements to the film, including editing marks and segments that hadn’t been fully colour-corrected. When an audience member commented that the closing credits flew past too quickly, Hozer acknowledged that the credits were finished at nine the previous night and would still need adjustment before the film’s official world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Raymont added that it seemed to be rather appropriate to show the film in this fashion for its “world preview” screening. “Thomson’s most famous painting is West Wind, which is also the title of this film,” he said. “There’s some thought that West Wind is an unfinished painting, and you’re about to see an unfinished film.”
The film was, in fact, a late addition to the schedule. Festival organizer Lucy Wing said the programs had just been sent to the printer when she learned from Raymont that his film would be available. Even though she hadn’t seen the film, she was happy to make the change to accommodate it, calling the printer to stop the presses.
That decision was partly based on Raymont’s reputation. With more than 100 documentary films to his credit, the writer, director and producer has won a Canadian Genie, four Gemini awards, and several Gold and Silver Hugos. His feature film, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire won the audience award for world cinema documentaries at Sundance as well as an Emmy for best documentary.
His latest film, West Wind, tells the story of Canada’s best-known painter. Directed by Raymont and Michèle Hozer, it combines archival footage, interviews, rare recordings and dramatic readings of letters and journal entries to tell about Thomson’s life and his death at age 39 in Algonquin Park’s Canoe Lake.
Much has been written about Thomson’s mysterious death, with considerable speculation over the years about whether he was murdered and where he is buried. His death is certainly explored in West Wind — Raymont and Hozer’s footage includes a graveside interview with Roy MacGregor, who has written the most comprehensive examination of the subject to date — but the filmmakers were much more interested in Thomson’s life as a painter.
Interviews with art historians, as well as collectors like David Thompson, whose family owns one of the country’s largest collections of Thomson paintings, help put the artist’s work into a historic and global context. Extreme close-ups of the often tiny panels Thomson used for his sketches allow the audience to understand his use of colour and the way his style changed as he adjusted his brush strokes.
Coupled with glorious footage of Algonquin Park, audience members appreciate even more fully how the beauty of the area affected both Thomson and the world of Canadian art.
The emphasis on the paintings affected even seemingly minor decisions in the film. Hozer pointed out, for example, that the paintings weren’t named on-screen.
“As soon as you put text on the screen, your eyes go there,” she said. Doing that, they felt, would take attention away from the paintings.
Raymont said there will be a website linked to the film for those who want to learn more about the artist and his work. And, he added, there will almost certainly be more said about Thomson.
“I have no doubt that in a couple of years you’ll be sitting here and there will be a new film about Tom Thomson.”
The second annual Film North festival continued through the weekend, with three dozen shorts and features from Canadian and international directors.

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