Remember how we said Ellen Page is going to be everywhere in the next couple months and years? Well, add one more film to the ongoing list, but this is and old one of sorts.
Canadian director Bruce MacDonald’s (director of the classic pseudo rockumentary “Hard Core Logo “) newest film “The Tracey Fragments” had its debut at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007 and finally saw release in Canada last November/early Christmas.
Now the film – which was scored by Canadian indie-collective Broken Social Scene – is finally coming to U.S. theaters May 9 via ThinkFilm. The film will actually have its U.S. debuts in the New York on March 14 at the Museum of Modern Art’s fifth annual “Canadian Front” series (someone save us a ticket now)
“The Tracey Fragments” is up for six awards, including best actress for Page, at the upcoming Genies — Canada’s version of the Oscars — on March 3.
Broken Social have had mixed results with scores or rather, the films themselves have had mixed results. In 2004, the Social Scene did their first score for McDonald’s “The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess” and the film did so poorly it basically went straight to TV in Canada and received no U.S. theatrical release (and lead BSS Kevin Drew basically refused to talk about it interviews afterwards) We still haven’t seen it, you can’t get it on DVD in Canada or Stateside (someone have a copy for us?)
“[Movie scores are] the direction we’re heading in. When you have kids and homes, you don’t want to make your living touring. Plus, I came into all this trying to do music for films.” – Kevin Drew from MTV
Then pre-existing Social material was successfully used in the indie-hit “Half Nelson,” and they also wrote the score for 2006’s mostly came-and-went flick, “Snow Cake” (which incidentally is at the top of our Netflix queue as we speak) starring Sigourney Weaver as a woman with autism (The U.K. trailer has some very beautiful, and Broken-sounding ethereal music in it). But no soundtracks for any of these films have ever been released aside from “Half Nelson.” Here’s to hoping some sort of ‘Tracey Fragments’ score is released as BSS do some lovely and evocative instrumental music. The Broken Social website says ‘Fragments’ central song is “Land” from Patti Smith’s Horses (apparently their is a reoccuring horse motif in the film).
The version of the “Land” song used in the trailer (below) is a cover by Elizabeth Powell of Montreal indie trio, Land of Talk. The film also features songs by Peaches and Canadian indie-rockers The FemBots.
Download: Broken Social Scene “Da Da Dada” (from Feel Good Lost and the “Half Nelson” soundtrack)
Watch: “Tracey Fragments” trailer
Watch: “Snow Cake” Trailer