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Family Viewing / Next of Kin

Family Viewing / Next of Kin

1984-1987, 86 min

Country:  Canada

Studio:  Wellspring

Cast:  David Hemblen, Aidan Tierney, ArsinĂ©e Khanjian

Director:  Atom Egoyan

Our Rating: 

DVD
2-disc set
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REVIEW
Family Viewing:
Told with salacious humor and effective drama, this unusual black comedy is a droll observation of the goings-on of a de-nuclearized family. Dad is a middle-class, sadomasochistic VCR repairman who, after driving his wife away with his obsession for kinky phone sex, lives in domestic bliss with his sexy bimbo. His son, Stan, is a pasty-faced teenage couch potato. The son finally escapes from his father and moves in with his girlfriend who, unbeknowst to him, works at the phone sex company and has a peculiar sexual relationship with his father. This story of contemporary familial corruption is an intelligent and promising start for a talented filmmaker.

Next of Kin<>/I>
Egoyan's fascination with family relations and the effects of electronic media on one's life are explored in this sly, off-the-wall comedy-drama. Peter, in most respects a normal young man, finds his relationship with his tyrannical WASP family to be unbearable. After a session of video therapy, he sees a video about a troubled Armenian family that had lost a baby to adoption 20 years before. Deciding that a new family is in order, he acts out the role of their long-lost son. Inspired lunacy reigns in this brilliant and original directorial debut that explores not only family tensions but ideas of displacement, cultural stereotypes and role playing.

PRODUCT FORMAT INFORMATION
DVD : $31.49 (2-disc set)
Availability:  ON ORDER Ships when stock arrives
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 797575100333
Studio: Zeitgeist
Features:
 
  • Also contains the short films Howard in Particular (1979), Peepshow (1981) and Open House (1982),
  • Contains both Family Viewing and Next of Kin
  • Audio commentary: by director Egoyan
  • Interview and bio
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