Marion Bridge

There are many who believe the typical “Canadian” movie must be set on Canada’s East Coast. Perhaps it began with the opening images of Goin’ down the Road in 1970, but a number of fine films have used either the bleak landscape, New Waterford Girl comes to mind, or the small, neat, damp or sometimes sun-drenched communities as backdrop to their story. Marion Bridge is a story of a family in general and three sisters in particular and is set in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Actor and writer Daniel MacIvor has crafted a finely balanced story that weaves its way through the lives of very different yet related people. Related not just by blood, but by circumstance. All three sisters are currently single, for example. All were named after saints. One has seen her marriage fall apart, one seems to be driven by her career, and one spends almost every waking moment locked in front of the television. Peter Howell, writing in The Globe and Mail summed up Marion Bridge best when he wrote “Marion Bridge is about family, period, and anyone who doesn’t recognize the dynamics at play probably lives alone.” Marion Bridge is the first feature from director Wiebke von Carolsfeld.