Guest of Honour
What motivates us to do things? Why do we make the choices we do in life? Those are the questions at the heart of Atom Egoyan’s “Guest of Honour,” which seems to be about the glimpse in the life of a health inspection, Jim (played by David Thewis), and his musical director daughter, Veronica, played by Laysla De Oliveira. The motivations of these characters are central to the film, but the motivations of other characters are why they are forced to make the choices they make. It’s a bit slow-moving to the conclusion, but it’s intriguing, nonetheless.
The film begins with Veronica visiting a local priest (Luke Wilson) at his church, which is being renovated. She has come because one of her father’s final wishes was to have his service at this church, and presided over by Wilson’s Father Greg. Jim was not a member of this congregation, but he remembered the service Father Greg held for Veronica’s old music teacher. Jim and Father Greg met afterwards, but the Father wants to know Jim more so he can give a respectful service, so it’s up to Veronica to fill in the blanks.
“Guest of Honour” is seen, almost entirely, in flashbacks. We see Jim doing his job as a health inspector, and we see Veronica on tour with her musical ensemble she conducts. We see Veronica at a recital, and Jim and his ill wife looking on, as well as a possible affair Jim is having with her teacher. We see young Veronica at home with her rabbit for the first time, and we see how Jim takes care of Benjamin (the rabbit’s name) while Veronica is in prison. Why is Veronica in prison? Could it be that she is doing something she should not be doing with one of her students? Egoyan has often found himself intrigued by mysteries whose truths ripple through the lives of multiple characters; here, we see them unfold, and are left wondering if some of these truths are not, in fact, true. Why would Jim seemingly compromise his ethics as a health inspector if it looks as though someone has done something wrong? Why might Veronica lie about something that would send her to prison? The personal motivations are the most compelling aspect of “Guest of Honour,” and why we continue to watch even if the film seems to drag a bit.
The performances by Thewis and De Oliveira are lovely, as we come to see them as individuals making choices we don’t often understand until we learn more later in the narrative. As with the other Egoyan films I have seen (“The Sweet Hereafter,” “Exotica” and “Chloe”), his control over tone and narrative complexity- or at least, the complexity of his cinematic structure- makes for a deliberately paced film, resulting in a film that doesn’t exactly wear its emotions on its sleeves, but elicits them anyway, aided by a haunting musical score by his long-time collaborator, Mychael Danna. I would not put this in the same league with those earlier Egoyan films, but “Guest of Honour” shows that the writer-director is capable of thoughtful, artful films about the complexity of humanity, and why we make decisions that can confound other complex humans.
