Film biography of Jack Darcus
In 1969, Jack directed his first feature film, Great Coups of History. Jack then went on to direct seven further feature-length films. In 1982, he wrote and directed Deserters, his most acclaimed film about two American Vietnam War deserters in Canada. The film earned three Genie Award nominations for direction, screenplay and editing. Jack also has television directing credits with the CBC Toronto and CBC Vancouver.
GREAT COUPS OF HISTORY (1970) | B&W, 97 mins, Edinburgh Festival (Wri, Prod, Dir)
PROXYHAWKS (1972) | B&W, 87 mins, Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival (Wri, Prod, Dir)
WOLFPEN PRINCIPLE (1974) | Colour, 87 mins (Wri, Dir)
DESERTERS (1984) | Colour, 90 mins, nominated for six Genie awards (Wri, Prod, Dir)
OVERNIGHT aka CINEMA CANADA (1986) | Colour, 92 mins, nominated for four Genie awards (Wri, Prod, Dir)
KINGSGATE (1989) | Colour, 107 mins, starring Christopher Plummer, Alan Scarfe, Duncan Fraser, Barbara March, Elizabeth Dancoes (Wri, Prod, Dir)
THE PORTRAIT (1993) | Colour, 110 mins, starring Alan Scarfe, Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh (Wri, Prod, Dir)
SILENCE (1997) | Colour, 102 mins, starring August Schellenberg, Tantoo Cardinal, Alan Scarfe, and Annick Obonsawin (Prod, Dir) Selected, Sundance Festival (1999)
All of the above films are available for viewing at Vimeo on Demand for the small fee of $1.00 US. A selection of excerpts from the above films are also available for viewing on Youtube at Darcus Films.
In December 2014, Jack was featured in The Offscreen Interview by Randolph Jordan:
“It’s crunch time at Vancouver’s Alpha Cine postproduction studio in the spring of 1971. Jack Darcus is editing his second feature, Proxyhawks, a meditation on the intersections between the war raging in Vietnam and one couple’s domestic difficulties while tending a house full of wounded birds of prey, shot at Darcus’ home while he was keeping these birds for the Stanley Park zoo. The film is boldly experimental for a feature-length film and is running on almost no budget. Meanwhile Robert Altman is in town for final mixing on McCabe and Mrs. Miller shot nearby. He’s running over schedule and asks if Darcus might yield some of his studio time to the cause. Darcus agrees to push his mix back by a week – on condition that Altman views the rough cut of Proxyhawks to provide some professional feedback. Altman agrees and shows up with his editor Homer Powell and a handful of other crew. As Darcus tells me, this was the chance of a lifetime for he and his team: “Altman’s presence at the screening, and his helpful comments afterward, made everyone realize that they had been in, or worked on, a ‘real’ movie. Up until then I’m sure many thought they were dealing with some kind of maniac who looked after eagles (me). I was grateful to Altman for making it real to them.”
A full copy of The Offscreen Interview article and Randolph Jordan’s interview with Jack is available here: https://offscreen.com/view/jack-darcus-the-offscreen-interview.
