George Ryga's Hungry Hills

TIFF: A haunting and dark take on the western, George Ryga's HUNGRY HILLS is adapted with depth and beauty by screenwriter Gary Fisher and director Rob King from the acclaimed novel by George Ryga.

Snit Mandolin (Keir Gilchrist) just wants to go home. After two years in a welfare residence for boys, where daily survival literally means a fight, he is eager to get back to the family farm in Saskatchewan. But the only people happy to see him are his Aunt Matilda (Gabrielle Rose) and another young outcast, Johnny Swift (Alexander De Jordy). When Snit is unable to cultivate his family's rock-strewn fields, he turns to Johnny's bootlegging operation to get the farm back into working order. However, the tough-as-nails local cop Roy Kane (John Pyper-Ferguson) is on the lookout for the person who's been brewing moonshine, and all he needs is one more reason to send Snit back to the home for boys. Already on the run from a community that doesn't want them, Snit and Johnny take drastic steps to escape the foothills.

In classic western fashion, HUNGRY HILLS follows an outlaw and his sidekick as they are hunted by a local sheriff, their flight set against a stunningly photographed natural landscape. Instead of lush valleys and rock formations, this is a barren wasteland, and their desolate surroundings provide a stark reflection of financial desperation. Immaculate art direction transforms the fifties into a character of its own, crowding the people and forcing their actions. Sterling performances by the cast support the film's gorgeous and memorable visual palette.

More than forty years after the book was initially published, George Ryga's story feels fresh again in this cinematic form. The film offers a grim portrayal of the decay of morality at the hands of money, and its themes of survival and dogged determination are perfectly situated in the current global context. In the vein of modern westerns like There Will Be Blood, heroism and redemption are only revealed after grisly events, and George Ryga's HUNGRY HILLS finds these qualities in unlikely places and people. This is among the most inventive and polished Canadian literary adaptations in recent memory.

--Jesse Wente

Rob King is a writer, director and founding partner of Minds Eye Entertainment. He has worked as a director on several television series, and has been nominated for a Gemini Award for his work on Corner Gas. His television films include Without Malice (00) and Moccasin Flats: Redemption (08). His first feature, Something More (99), was nominated for the Claude Jutra Award at the Genie Awards. George Ryga's HUNGRY HILLS (09) is his latest feature.
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Larry Richman: am I glad I selected this film. What a pleasant surprise. There haven't been too many here and I was not at all prepared for the quality of this one. It took 10 years for director Rob King to bring Hungry Hills to the screen and it shows.

Based on the novel by Canadian author George Ryga, Hungry Hills is a coming-of age western that opens with a troubled young man (Keir Gilchrist as Snit) confined to a reformatory for robbing the general store. But the reality is that his crime may simply be that he's from a family of outcasts, the infamous Mandolin clan, and has to devote his teen years to proving that he's not what he appears to be. It sets up a classic arc, in a triangle which ropes in his best friend Johnny (Alexander De Jordy) and the town sheriff (John Pyper-Ferguson). Classic role reversals dominate the storyline, which surprises at every turn. Gabrielle Rose, as Snit Mandolin's Aunt Matilda, turns in a shocking performance as the one person who seems to understand the real boy beneath the tough veneer. There's always more under the surface than the viewer initially gleans from the action, as though Ryga's book (adapted for the screen by Gary Fisher) is actually a mystery/psychological thriller that just happens to be set in old Saskatchewan.

Long takes with little dialogue give the actors, particularly young Gilchrist, the opportunity to show the extent of emotions that can be conveyed in the eyes, facial expressions, and body language normally reserved for seasoned actors (which Gilchrist is, despite his young age). King trusts his cast with the freedom to tell the story, and they're clearly up to the challenge. Hungry Hills fires with every bullet in its barrel. Ken Krawczyk's lush cinematography and a sweeping score by Todd Bryanton rival those of any great classic western. The images are stunning, as the film was shot with the RED camera, a new technology which is to movies what HD is to TV.

Most of all, though, George Ryga's Hungry Hills rests on the shoulders of 16-year-old Keir Gilchrist. This young man is someone to watch for. His performance, along with King's almost-flawless execution of Ryga's book, makes this film a dark horse and Toronto Film Festival winner in my book.

This was the second showing of the film, yet King, Rose, and Pyper-Ferguson were all present for a Q&A. That makes three of three on Day Eight of the festival. Yes, they are staying, despite tradition. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and George Ryga's Hungry Hills -- both second showings of films and yet cast and filmmakers are still doing Q&As. TIFF 2009 continues to surprise. With 27 films down and three to go for me, there have been Q&As at 21 of 27. Now I'm seeing the little indies and foreign films I love at festivals.