Adrianne & the Castle is a near-perfect love story (Fantasia)
Fantasia Festival - documentary - review/interview
I am a romantic at heart. I've been divorced, so I don't believe in soulmates, but I'm definitely married to my soulmate now. I'm skeptical of high school sweethearts, but I have seen people who met young people who have been genuinely happy for decades. I think a lot of people are selfish, but I've seen so many couples demonstrate so much generosity toward their partners. No matter how cynical I tend to be, I want to see people fall in love and love their partner completely.Â
Fantasia Festival must have my number because when I watched Shannon Walsh’s documentary feature Adrianne & the Castle, I watched a film about the kind of love story that feels like it can't exist in real life. And yet, when we look at the story of Alan and Adrianne St-George and the home they built at Havencrest, it is somehow true.
Adrianne & the Castle is a unique documentary following the St-George family of two. Alan and Adrianne met when they were young, and hearing Alan talk about it was love at first sight. They married against the wishes of their families and embarked on a life filled with romance and art and creativity, slowly turning their 63-room home into an art museum created entirely by Alan.
One unique aspect of this documentary was Walsh’s decision to cast people as younger versions of Alan and Adrianne. SLee and Nathan McDonald play a version of the couple as they meet. We get to see Alan act out the position of a bystander to his own love story, and it adds an extra layer of beauty to what is already a lovely story.Â
The documentary also highlights the way that Adrianne has inspired people following her death in 2006. In one tremendously powerful moment, SLee is talking about reading some of Adrianne’s diaries to prepare to play her. As she reads them, she sees a woman who is thoroughly proud of her identity and how she wants to comport herself. Watching her legacy live on and inspire other women shows a level of feminism that I wasn’t expecting from this film, but that is incredibly impactful.
This film also examines grief up close and personal. The interviews with Alan are tender, and while they expose the pain that he still feels at the loss of his beloved partner, they never come across as exploitative. The film cares deeply for this man and his loss and it shows throughout the run.Â
As I watched the film, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. For there to be some moment when it’s revealed that one of them was a secret monster, but no. These were two people who loved one another deeply and who built a monument to that love. But as much as it is a love story, it is also about two people who challenged each other to be the most authentic versions of themselves. And in Adrianne & the Castle, we are given that same challenge.
Check out my interview with director Shannon Walsh about her work on the film.