Objects of Obsession
September 24, 2001
By BILL BRIOUX-- Toronto Sun
Ken Finkleman does it again
Tonight marks the debut of Ken Finkleman's Foreign Objects, a unique and challenging six-part anthology series that is unlike anything else on TV. It airs commercial free over the next three nights from 9 to 10 p.m. on CBC.
A few weeks ago, it would have been easy to dismiss this series as too ambitious, self-indulgent and inaccessible. Finkleman himself, who wrote and directed the series, told me over a year ago that he wanted to do it because it was impossible.
By an accident of timing, the series seems to have taken on new weight and meaning with the threat of war hanging in the air in the wake of the terrorist attacks south of the border. Suddenly, all Foreign Objects are getting a second look.
The series is dryly billed as "a sharply observed study of human frailties and obsessions." At the centre of this examination is George (Finkleman), a documentary filmmaker. We've seen this guy before, most famously as the remote, back-stabbing TV weasel in The Newsroom.
George seems to have gone all to hell since we last saw him. He's getting hassled on all sides from his wife, his girlfriend, the media. He's hallucinating big time. Booze is his only friend. His medical records don't look that encouraging.
George takes a real butt-kicking in The Award, the final act in the series. It's fun, especially if you haven't seen Fellini's 8 1/2 or Bob Fosse's All That Jazz since college. It's scary, especially if you're a middle-aged male who has staggered a mile or ten in George's seedy loafers.
At one point, George's dashing, glib, acquaintance, Tibor (a note perfect and hypnotic Colm Feore), tells the filmmaker that "It's a good thing that you ran out of money. These elaborate fantasies clarify nothing." Always ahead of the curve, Finkleman even writes his own review.
But clarity is as elusive in Foreign Objects as it is in life. Sure, Finkleman is trying too many things on too many levels. Half the time, people are speaking a foreign language. Much of the dialogue is subtitled. The stories jump all over the world, literally.
Perhaps the most coherent tale is the first one, called The Body. Atom Egoyan muse Arsinee Khanjian stars as Tibor's exotic girlfriend, a swimmer who loses the bottom half of her bathing suit. Tibor spins a watery tale far more suspenseful than the premise might suggest.
The funniest story is probably Episode 3, Celebrity. It's about the return of Jesus Christ, a prized catch for an ambitious young publicist and a greedy network. Naturally, Christ gets crucified all over again, this time in the ratings. (Rebecca Guest Stars in this Episiode)
The darkest, and most affecting episode, is tonight's second half, titled Evil. Finkleman veers miles from George's personal obsessions and into war-torn Kosovo. An entire family is brutally massacred. The images are realistic and disturbing. It's based on a true story, which is even more disturbing. It could be a window on many nightmares to come, which is most disturbing of all.
Foreign Objects is filled with great performances from terrific actors such as Feore and Khanjian as well as Larissa Laskin, Karen Hines, Kim Huffman, Rebecca Jenkins and Tom McCamus. There are some delightful cameos from the likes of Marlyn Denis and Lawrence Morgenstern. Finkleman also makes good use of several non-actors, including Frank Fontaine and Alvaro D'Antonio, who both look right at home as a Cardinal and his assistant.
It all adds up to one wacked-out, crazy tale that's too personal, too international and too ambitious to explain or adequately review. If you're up for it, tape it. You'll want to watch it again and again. If your head hurts after the first hour, stick with it. Foreign Objects can sting and confuse, but it can also make you feel.
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September 24, 2001
By BILL BRIOUX-- Toronto Sun
Ken Finkleman does it again
Tonight marks the debut of Ken Finkleman's Foreign Objects, a unique and challenging six-part anthology series that is unlike anything else on TV. It airs commercial free over the next three nights from 9 to 10 p.m. on CBC.
A few weeks ago, it would have been easy to dismiss this series as too ambitious, self-indulgent and inaccessible. Finkleman himself, who wrote and directed the series, told me over a year ago that he wanted to do it because it was impossible.
By an accident of timing, the series seems to have taken on new weight and meaning with the threat of war hanging in the air in the wake of the terrorist attacks south of the border. Suddenly, all Foreign Objects are getting a second look.
The series is dryly billed as "a sharply observed study of human frailties and obsessions." At the centre of this examination is George (Finkleman), a documentary filmmaker. We've seen this guy before, most famously as the remote, back-stabbing TV weasel in The Newsroom.
George seems to have gone all to hell since we last saw him. He's getting hassled on all sides from his wife, his girlfriend, the media. He's hallucinating big time. Booze is his only friend. His medical records don't look that encouraging.
George takes a real butt-kicking in The Award, the final act in the series. It's fun, especially if you haven't seen Fellini's 8 1/2 or Bob Fosse's All That Jazz since college. It's scary, especially if you're a middle-aged male who has staggered a mile or ten in George's seedy loafers.
At one point, George's dashing, glib, acquaintance, Tibor (a note perfect and hypnotic Colm Feore), tells the filmmaker that "It's a good thing that you ran out of money. These elaborate fantasies clarify nothing." Always ahead of the curve, Finkleman even writes his own review.
But clarity is as elusive in Foreign Objects as it is in life. Sure, Finkleman is trying too many things on too many levels. Half the time, people are speaking a foreign language. Much of the dialogue is subtitled. The stories jump all over the world, literally.
Perhaps the most coherent tale is the first one, called The Body. Atom Egoyan muse Arsinee Khanjian stars as Tibor's exotic girlfriend, a swimmer who loses the bottom half of her bathing suit. Tibor spins a watery tale far more suspenseful than the premise might suggest.
The funniest story is probably Episode 3, Celebrity. It's about the return of Jesus Christ, a prized catch for an ambitious young publicist and a greedy network. Naturally, Christ gets crucified all over again, this time in the ratings. (Rebecca Guest Stars in this Episiode)
The darkest, and most affecting episode, is tonight's second half, titled Evil. Finkleman veers miles from George's personal obsessions and into war-torn Kosovo. An entire family is brutally massacred. The images are realistic and disturbing. It's based on a true story, which is even more disturbing. It could be a window on many nightmares to come, which is most disturbing of all.
Foreign Objects is filled with great performances from terrific actors such as Feore and Khanjian as well as Larissa Laskin, Karen Hines, Kim Huffman, Rebecca Jenkins and Tom McCamus. There are some delightful cameos from the likes of Marlyn Denis and Lawrence Morgenstern. Finkleman also makes good use of several non-actors, including Frank Fontaine and Alvaro D'Antonio, who both look right at home as a Cardinal and his assistant.
It all adds up to one wacked-out, crazy tale that's too personal, too international and too ambitious to explain or adequately review. If you're up for it, tape it. You'll want to watch it again and again. If your head hurts after the first hour, stick with it. Foreign Objects can sting and confuse, but it can also make you feel.
Back to articles