Mothers and Daughters

The Peak
Mothers and Daughters and Improv
By Nick Pannu

**Interview** with Gabrielle Rose

Mothers and Daughters opened at Tinseltown and other theatres on May 8. Greater attendance during its first week will grant the film a longer run in theatres.

Canadian cinema’s diamond-in-the-ruff director, Carl Bessai, once again demonstrates his innovative and versatile approach towards Filmmaking in his latest film, Mothers and Daughters. As a tribute to both the birth of his only daughter and also to his mother (who raised four boys after the death of his father), Carl Bessai chose to venture into a realm that would require the perspective of his almost exclusive female cast. Bessai features not one, not two, but three separate storylines that thoroughly examine the unique dynamic experienced between mothers and their daughters. Bessai lured three of B.C.’s veteran actors, Babz Chula, Tantoo Cardinal, and Gabriel Rose into developing their own respective storylines. Additionally, the experienced trio provided guidance and made the process more creative and less daunting for their younger co-stars.

Actress Gabrielle Rose confirmed that Bessai had not even presented a script, but instead a mere outline of the basic premise and overall theme, to cast members. After taking Chula, Cardinal, and Rose out to dinner, Bessai coaxed them into developing their own storylines, a challenge which would occupy them for the next three to four months. According to Rose, “I was initially at a loss of what to do, but within 24 hours I was able to come up with my storyline of my character.” Overnight, Rose managed to conceive Brenda, the quintessential invisible middle-aged woman eclipsed by her more successful and beautiful daughter who no longer needs her mother. The cast rehearsed for the following four to five months and put the script together in scene format. The film was then shot within just five days. Rose further explained that the actors would start each scene only knowing its plot arc, left to improvise and construct the script within three to four takes. She found the experience quite enriching and liberating because improv allows the actor to develope their characters to an even greater extent. As the days of rehearsal progressed, even actors such as Camille Sullivan, who had far less experience with improv, found the experience enriching.

Prior to Mother & Daughters’ western Canadian premiere, the film has had several screenings in film festivals across Canada where many audience members have responded well and connected to the film. The content and scenarios addressed are genuine issues that women deal with: as a woman ages and becomes less visible as a result of our shallow society, will her inner beauty and substance also be overlooked?

The improvisational nature of the script gave a rawness and edge to the acting that made the intensity of the mother-daughter interactions very real. Bessai forced the actors to dig a little deeper into their own experiences in order to build up the realism of each separate storyline. Tantoo Cardinal explored a specific perspective within the aboriginal community which emphasizes that parents and children can become estranged from one another, making it clear that there was no way that that could have been written into the script from someone else’s perspective.

Carl Bessai’s experiment of delving into the connection between mothers and their daughters through improvisation will perhaps provide insight for other mothers and daughters in their own relationships. In one scene, Babz Chula, who plays a famous author, defends her on-screen daughter’s mediocrity, “in spite of everything you always have that feeling that there is something great about your children.” Gabrielle Rose ends the final act by uttering, “forgive your mothers, they didn’t know what they were getting into.”