The Company of Strangers

The Company of Strangers (US release title: Strangers in Good Company; French title: Le Fabuleux gang des sept[2]) is a 1990 Canadian film directed by Cynthia Scott and written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wilson and Gloria Demers. The film depicts eight women on a bus tour, who are stranded at an isolated cottage when the bus breaks down.

Not to be confused with The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life by Paul Seabright.

The Company of Strangers
DVD cover (United States)
Directed byCynthia Scott
Written byGloria Demers
Cynthia Scott
David Wilson
Sally Bochner
Produced byDavid Wilson
StarringAlice Diabo
Constance Garneau
CinematographyDavid De Volpi
Edited byDavid Wilson
Music byMarie Bernard
Production
company
Distributed byFirst Run Features
Castle Hill Productions
National Film Board of Canada
Release date
1990
Running time
101 min.
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Created in a genre defined as docufiction, semi-documentary/semi-fiction,[3] the film is not tightly scripted. The writers wrote a basic story outline but allowed the eight women to improvise their dialogue. Each of the women, all but one of whom were senior citizens, told stories from her own life. A major theme of the film is how the elderly women each face aging and mortality in their own way, and find the courage together to persevere.

At various points throughout the film, a montage of photos from each woman's life is shown.

Cast
  • Alice Diabo as Alice, 74, a Mohawk elder from Kahnawake, Quebec,
  • Constance Garneau as Constance, 88, born in the United States and brought to Quebec by her family as a child,
  • Winifred Holden as Winnie, 76, an Englishwoman who moved to Montreal after World War II,
  • Cissy Meddings as Cissy, 76, who was born in England and moved to Canada in 1981,
  • Mary Meigs as Mary, 74, a noted feminist writer and painter and out lesbian,
  • Catherine Roche as Catherine, 68, a Roman Catholic nun,
  • Michelle Sweeney as Michelle, 27, a jazz singer and the bus trip's tour guide,
  • Beth Webber as Beth, 80, who was born in England and moved to Montreal in 1930.

Release

Home media

The DVD was released on December 7, 1999, by First Run Features as Strangers in Good Company.[4][5] The back of the DVD cover states: "The original Canadian title, "The Company of Strangers" is on the DVD. In every other way it is the exact same film."

Reception

Accolades

The film won the Best Canadian Film award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Grand Prize and Interfilm awards at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in 1990.[6]

At the 12th Genie Awards in 1991, Diabo and Meddings were nominated for Best Actress, Holden and Roche were nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and the film was nominated for Best Picture. The film won the Genie Award for Best Film Editing.[6]

Popularity

Mary Meigs wrote a book about her experience in making the film, In the Company of Strangers (1991).[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "Strangers in Good Company". Austin Chronicle. October 11, 1991. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  2. Angela Stukator. "The Company of Strangers". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  3. Diana, George. Semi-Documentary/Semi-Fiction: An Examination of Genre in "Strangers in Good Company". Journal of Film and Video, v46 n4 p24-30 Win 1995
  4. Olson, Karen Torme (November 25, 1999). "Nov. 30 Releases: (Dates Subject to Change)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  5. "Strangers in Good Company – DVD". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  6. "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - The Company of Strangers". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. TIFF. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  7. Meigs, Mary (1991). In the Company of Strangers (1st ed.). Vancouver, B.C., Canada: Talonbooks. ISBN 0889222940. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014.
  8. "Mary Meigs". mAwRTyrS. Bryn Mawr College. Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2012.


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