Eden Robinson. MONKEY BEACH.
This
morning I watched Monkey Beach which I had PVRd so that I could FF the ads. How
I hate ads, but how thankful I am to have been able to see this relatively new
movie at home on my own schedule. Also, seeing it, makes me determined to
re-read the novel (twenty years later).
I was
curious as I always am to see literature set in Canada adapted for the screen. Here, the
setting, Kitamaat, BC, and the waters nearby, is portrayed like another
beautiful character in the story—the town, the rainforest land, the teeming
waters, and the beaches where they meet.
I have been
a fan of this story ever since I was honoured to review an advance coverless copy
the year this Eden Robinson first novel was released (2000). She had previously
published short story collections, Traplines and Blood Sports; later, a lecture
about culture and literature, The Sasquatch At Home, and has since written the
trilogy, Son of the Trickster, Trickster Drift, and Return of the Trickster.
My review
of Monkey Beach has more than once elicited requests from readers for
permission to copy and to include in a class reading list. I remember my two
points were: 1) The title does not help
me locate the story in Canada as I never associate monkeys with this land, and
2) I wondered whether the writer, seeking elder approval or blessing,
self-censored? As a hangover from the taboos of the days when ceremony and
ritual were outlawed and people were forbidden to talk about them? Perhaps it
is a nod to cultural respect, but it puts the writer in an uncomfortable
position of writing one book for two different audiences.
The film
makes the lack of communal cultural rituals more obvious. The only community
gatherings seem to be basketball and swim-meet competitions. The other
gatherings are nuclear family, and the teaching seems to be one on one--the
education of a gifted shaman. This seems to leave an impression of
individualism. For some readers, it leaves an impression of ‘mental illness’
and a fear that young people seeking help in times of grief and transition are
left to flounder inside their own heads.
By self-censoring,
omitting necessary information about living cultural traditions, the story can
seem to lack a feeling of hope for readers who are unfamiliar with the enduring
strength of culture. The film does nod to the on-going disputes
among individuals within one community based upon competition between
traditional and converted. Will I still feel the same way when I read the novel for a
second time? Will I have learned a bit since, in the meantime, after the TRC?
The cast in
Monkey Beach the movie is fantastic. I have been an Adam Beach fan since he was
eight years old. The cinematography is great, especially the water scenes. And
the FX are an improvement on the novel as the “troll” vision has become a mini-dancer
in Sasquatch-like regalia. The omission of the Elvis theme is also an
improvement as it tightens up the story. We don't see much of Lisa's time in Vancouver but losing herself in the city is understood to be her attempted escape from the losses and the awakenings she does not yet feel ready to face.
