. . . than with a movie about a calendar.

Except, it's not. On the surface, Calendar (1993), a Canadian film by the auteur director Atom Egoyan, is about exactly that: a photographer, played by the director himself, and his wife-- played by Atom's real-life spouse Arsinee Khanjian --travel to their ancestral home, Armenia, so that he may photograph ancient, abandoned churches for a calendar project for which he has been commissioned.

While there, his wife translates commentary given on each location by a local taxi driver who walks around with the two of them after dropping them at each location. The wife is fascinated by the local history; the husband, almost not at all. To him, it is just a project; he cares not for the historical context of each church, and even goes so far as to refuse to run his fingers along the bricks and stones when gently invited to do so by their local guide. As the film progresses, the husband and wife grow farther apart, as the wife becomes more attracted to the local man showing them around, and he to her as well.

In the past, films have been made about the "Ugly American" and the willfully ignorant (often colonial) Brit; this movie could've just as easily been titled the "Ugly Canadian".

In normal circumstances, one might feel sorry for the husband, but Egoyan's character clearly sees what is happening in front of him, and appears just not to care. The film flashes back to Canada many times, where the husband is shown on arranged (through a service) dates with a variety of women; he cares not for them either, and on each occasion directs them to a telephone where they can converse with someone else, while he writes letters to a child he sponsors in Armenia, and perhaps also to his estranged wife in Armenia:

You see, all of these dates take place after the calendar shoot, and the man and his wife apparently are still married; she now lives in Armenia with the taxi driver, and she still attempts to contact her husband, but he is unresponsive most of the time. From the wife's phone messages, it appears the two of them never actually divorced, which is why I use the word "estranged".

And about that telephone:

When the man directs his dates to use it, and while these various women are talking on it (usually not in English), we later learn that no call has ever been placed-- these women are having imaginary conversations with no one on the other end. Everything is choreographed, so again, we cannot feel sorry for the man.

There are many shots of sheep in this film, as Egoyan films his wife moving among them in Armenia. Very much of the dialogue throughout the film-- both in Armenia and Canada --is spoken in non-English languages (not all of them Armenian). None of the languages spoken by the women in the Canadian scenes are translated, which I rather enjoyed.

Calendar (1993) is definitely an art-house film. Everyone's interpretations will vary, of what exactly is going on. I liked it; I suspect many others will not. I imagine, that were I one to partake in the marijuana, that had I watched it from within the green mist, I either woud've thought I'd seen one of the most intellectual movies ever, or . . . I would've been totally freaked out.