Letting Toronto Be Toronto In Film
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Turning Red.
We’re a Toronto site, despite our contributions from all over the world at this point. That’s because yours truly is a Torontonian (thank goodness for the internet and the accessibility needed to work together from anywhere). Nonetheless, let’s focus on Toronto for now, because I’m selfish. Turning Red has been turning heads because of its open Toronto representation. Director Domee Shi is Chinese-Canadian, and has been representing her upbringing and neighbourhoods since her Academy Award winning short Bao. Turning Red is like a feature long continuation of her previous forms of symbolism and identity. So, naturally, seeing the CN Tower and the SkyDome (I’m not calling it the Rogers Centre) is an exciting thing. Of course, almost every single film or television show is set in some sort of a location people can recognize, even if they are a period piece (you can spot familiar territory that has been changed for the production), so why is this so exciting?
I think it’s because Canadians are used to productions that are shot here but aren’t proudly identified as such. You see, American and/or international films are shot here often, usually to save money (you can find out more about that here in my article about how Canadian cinema became its own weird self). When shot here, these locations are usually changed. I’ve seen works filmed in my childhood stomping grounds in person, and these Markham street names are changed, and Unionville buildings have American flags tossed onto them. Apply this to countless scenarios. That’s because part of the initial Capital Cost Allowance set up (which was exploitable via loopholing) allowed filmmakers that came here to get tax write-offs, so Hollywood traveled to Hollywood North. It became normal to feature Canada, but not as Canada.
In recent years, that has changed a little bit. Whereas The Shape of Water had any signs of Toronto removed (I still know better and can spot most of the locations shot here out), something like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World actually takes pride in its location. It’s honestly a breath of fresh air. Even the iconic Lee’s Palace gets shown! What helps even more is that Edgar Wright isn’t Canadian by any means, so there’s no connection there. Naturally, the source material that the film is based on takes place in Toronto, but locations get changed in adaptations all of the time. The honouring of the original Scott Pilgrim graphic novels is a nice change of pace.
Otherwise, another example is the blatantly thoroughly Canadian series Orphan Black, where so many locations are called by name. You get the occasional example, like the opening scene that takes place in Union Station, where a fictitious name is given instead (Huxley Station), but that could be rights related. Otherwise, Sarah Manning rolls into Toronto with the CN Tower and skyline visible. Shortly afterwards, we see meetings take place in Scarborough and other Greater Toronto Area cities, or we can spot recognizable buildings and/or trademarks (Toronto graffiti just hits different, and even Turning Red, as can be seen in the trailer, knows this).
Of course, there will be varying degrees of these kinds of reflections in works, but seeing that recognition on a wide scale is so satisfying, because Toronto (and other parts of Canada) have just been the hidden secret of the film and/or television industries for so long. Once non-Canadian releases like Scott Pilgrim are watched, or Canadian projects like Orphan Black take off on a global scale, we get to see our local familiarities being truly seen. No fake street names. No flags of other nations. It’s no wonder why people are getting so excited over Turning Red’s proudly Toronto representation: we’ve allowed too many filmmakers to disguise our home as the settings of other tales.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.