Stations (film)

Stations
Directed byWilliam D. MacGillivray
Screenplay byMichael Jones
William D. MacGillivray
Lionel Simmons
StarringMichael Jones
CinematographyLionel Simmons
Edited byWilliam MacGillivray
Lionel Simmons
Production
company
Picture Plant
Release date
  • September 11, 1983 (1983-09-11) (TIFF)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Stations is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by William D. MacGillivray and released in 1983.[1] The film stars Michael Jones as Tom Murphy, a former Roman Catholic priest turned television journalist; after undergoing a crisis of faith when his deep questioning of his old friend Harry (Richard Boland) in an interview leads to Harry's suicide, he is assigned to undertake a train trip across Canada to interview various everyday people he meets at train stations across the country.[2]

Featuring a mix of professional and non-professional actors, the cast included Libby Davies, Patricia Kipping, Joel Sapp, Maisie Rillie, Beth McTavish, Claudette Sapp, Graham Hayward and Mary Walsh.

The film premiered at the 1983 Festival of Festivals, but was distributed primarily via pay TV rather than commercial theatrical distribution.[3] It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.[4]

  1. ^ Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 205.
  2. ^ Wise, Wyndham, ed. (2001). Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 200. ISBN 9781442656208.
  3. ^ "Stations". Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ Jay Scott, "Mon Oncle Antoine No. 1 with critics". The Globe and Mail, August 2, 1984.