Souvenir of Canada

I went to see Souvenir of Canada tonight.
This is the film directed by Robin Neinstein, narrated by and based on the book of the same name by Douglas Coupland.

It's a great film. If you are Canadian you will love it. If you are not Canadian you might discover some of what makes us uniquely Canadian. The Princess Cinema in Waterloo was filled with laughter at many points.

Douglas Coupland, one of our national voices (Generation X, jPod) takes us on a journey to find out what makes Canadians, Canadians. His dream is to build a post WWII Canada House [a CHMC house] to house unique pop objects and memories - Canadian things, like: stubby beer bottles, Ookpiks, Chimo, Expo 67, bilingual cereal boxes, Kraft Dinner and Terry’s Fox’s worn-out sock.

The first part of the film is funny and moves quickly. It's a fun, light look at symbols that have been very familiar in Canada.

The second part of the film, takes a slight shift. The pace slows and a sort of coming of age story on Coupland and his interaction with his parent forms. A moving piece on Terry Fox is also included. This piece was done beautifully, and should really also be a short film in and of itself.

As a time capsule of all things Canadian, this film has captured many symbols and events which are or soon will be dated and otherwise forgotten. As a personal journey, Coupland’s own tale of his family, his trip across Canada with his best friend, and his father’s cattle farm may seem to be slightly disjointed from the overall focus, but I think that is part of what it is or at least was to be Canadian through the 1960's, 70, and into the 80's.

It's not a long film, but it's good. Has anyone else seen it? Or read the book (I haven't)?

Here's a link to the official site and to a trailer.