Rich over at Wide Screen World is hosting a blog-a-thon this week called “My Hometown”…and when I think about my hometown in film, I can’t help but crack a smile.

For a lot of reasons – financial, convenient, aesthetic – Toronto has been the staging ground for many a rolling camera over the years. The reason I smile though, is that in almost every instance Toronto does not get to play itself. Instead “Hogtown” has stood in for New York, Chicago, Boston, Munich, Tokyo, Baltimore, and Detroit to name a few.

But once in a while, my city has been able to do its own stunts. One such instance happened last year, in a film that might have used Toronto better than any film that came before it. Some (rather spoilerific) thoughts on Atom Egoyan’s CHLOE after the jump…

Chloe, played by Amanda Seyfried is a high class escort – smart, young, pretty, and clean. In other words, she isn’t the sort of prostitute you’ll find walking the streets at night (though we do have those here too). No, in order to get a few moments to find a working girl like Chloe, Julianne Moore’s character Catherine has to go to a very swank restaurant called ‘One’…the sort of joint where even the soup is $13


There’s a romanticism in the air in this scene, the sort of thing that bars and restaurants in this area of the city (Yorkville) tend to specialize in. You’d hope so, if you’re going to hand over that much money in a gourmet joint – and in this case pour your soul out to a prostitute – the least they can do is light some candles for ambiance.

Catherine bumped into Chloe once before through chance, but now she wants to actually hire her. She thinks her husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her, and she believes that Chloe might be just the sort of bait she needs to prove it. She sets her plan in motion by telling Chloe to look for David at cafe Diplimatico on a Saturday morning.

Now this joint I am familiar with as I have been there for many a breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the years. It’s an interesting little spot in a bustling neighbourhood, the sort of restaurant you can dress up or down depending on your mood. Its vibe is overall quite casual, the sort of place I like to go for a coffee-for-one. This it’s not too hard for me to figure out why David would frequent such a place.

Cafe Diplimatico has these gigantic windows that face west, so during the day, the place tends to be drenched in this bright natural light…which creates quite a radiant and flattering effect on its patrons. I don’t believe for a second that director Atom Egoyan didn’t flood it with a bit more light just to be sure, but nevertheless, if you were looking to see someone you think is lovely look ever the more lovely, Diplimatico in the morning in the place to go.

When time comes to regale the story to Catherine, Chloe meets up with her at a spot called The Rivoli, which I’ve been to once or twice. What’s interesting about the Rivoli is the way it’s many things to many people. It’s a bar, it’s a restaurant, it’s a club. You can go there to have a great lunch, or you can go there to see an amazing band. In essence, it’s whatever you want it to be – much like our heroine.

When Chloe sits Catherine down to give her the whole sordid story, they sit in the front window – filling the frame with Queen Street West behind them. I’ve mentioned this before about other films, but this is what fascinates me about life in a big city. You often find yourself having deeply intimate conversations – painfully intimate sometimes – while hustle and bustle surrounds you. Chloe and Catherine at least have a pain of glass to hide behind, but nary a day goes by where someone doesn’t argue with their family, air out dirty laundry, or sometimes even make a professional misstep with tons of strangers surrounding them.

Chloe tells Catherine that she and David spent their time together at Allen Gardens – a greenhouse in the middle of a downtown park.

Interesting thing about the greenhouse, it’s a handy stop during the winter when weather can get bitterly cold in this town. It allows a peaceful escape: a chance to unbutton your coat, surround yourself with natural life, drown in daylight and pretend you’re somewhere else for a little while.

That illusion of stepping outside of the true, cold, Toronto can be echoed by stepping outside of oneself. If you’re going to pretend you aren’t surrounded by the dead of winter, why not pretend you’re not surrounded by marital vows?

Confession: Lady Hatter and I have spent a few afternoons in this greenhouse…but never have the passions bubbled to this level. Maybe there’s a section I didn’t notice with more aphrodisiac foliage.

For some reason, Catherine hasn’t heard enough after all of this, so she goes to track down Chloe again. this time she finds her at The Windsor Arms.

This hotel is back in Yorkville, so as like the restaurant they first met at, you can almost smell the money as you walk in the door. Catherine finds Chloe here late in a “shift”. Thus again, we’re reminded that talent like Chloe’s doesn’t come cheap.

I’ve only ever walked outside of The Windsor Arms, a hotel that dates back to the late 20’s. Seeing the inside of it within the plot of a movie is a little surreal, but I’m happy I finally got a glimpse (Can’t afford to stay there, and probably wouldn’t even if I could). Looking at some of these shots, I see small traces of The Bradbury Building in L.A.

The plot thickens during a recital performed by Catherine and David’s son Michael. He performs in the recital hall of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Egoyan gets high marks here for utilizing a rather new space in my city. having just been given a massive reno, The Conservatory is an intriguing hybrid of modern additions to an old structure. When walking through it however, one can’t help but feel dwarfed by its design. Thus, when Catherine gets yet another reminder of David’s infidelities, her frustrations likewise drown her like the notes of the powerful music The Conservatory is known for.

As Catherine leaves in a huff, she makes her way towards Philosopher’s Walk with The Crystal of the Royal Ontario Museum rising in the background. here Egoyan does something truly intriguing. The Crystal is a divisive entity in Toronto – many locals hate the look of it, precious few truly love it. What Egoyan has done though, is used its design to his advantage and given it a purpose. On this night, Catherine feels betrayed…angry…cracked. Completing the effect, is that gorgeous zig-zag in The Crystal that she is walking right towards.

So yeah…what better way to get back at your spouse for cheating on you..than…y’know…

As Catherine taxis away from this hazy, lusty, dream of a night, the coloured lights of Yorkville in the winter twinkle in the backdrop. Momentarily suggesting that perhaps this is all fantasy.

The next morning as catherine begins to come to her senses, Egoyan pulls his next trick. That grand arch you see behind her? It makes for an elegant backdrop a few times in the film. The kicker is that if you took a photo of it and polled ten Torontonians, I’d bet you no more than two could tell you where it is. Egoyan frames it and suggests that it carries the majesty of L’Arc de Triomphe. Truth is, it’s just a very pretty roadway into a condo complex.

Not every note in CHLOE works. When Catherine calls Chloe up, hoping to get some distance between them, Chloe takes the call standing in front of The Art Gallery of Ontario. Now truthfully, this spot is very much in the loop that the film has been running – Allen Gardens and The Rivoli are indeed nearby. However, Chloe being in this particular spot comes without rhyme or reason. So in a sense, the landmark’s inclusion feels like a form of stunt casting. It’d be like a film set in London’s West End suddenly taking a moment and filming a scene in front of Buckingham Palace.

This brings us almost back to the beginning. Catherine decides to confront David once and for all at Diplimatico. Remember what I said about dressing it up or dressing it down? Compare the aesthetic of it in these frames to the ones of David and Chloe earlier. If you didn’t know better, you might think for a moment that this restaurant is uptown in Yorkville too.

Once again, you live in public in this town. Sometimes you just can’t wait for the bad news to pass…just gotta cry in your soup.

Nearing the end of their emotional teather, David and Catherine step outside of Diplimatico on to College Street. In many ways this is fitting since it’s more of a genuine neighbourhood than Yorkville – which is almost exclusively where we’ve seen them together. Here they are forced to be honest with one another, unable to hide behind any fancy settings or prestigious jobs. They finally have it out as genuine people with genuine feelings…and once again, they’re having this conversation in public.

After all the cards have been played, Catherine and David find themselves on a patio that is closed for the winter. Like their marriage, it is in a state of limbo, but has the promise of wonderful things when the conditions improve. A detail that you can barely notice in this frame is the streetcar passing behind them. The streetcar makes a particular noise as it passes through the roads of this town, and during the final conversation between Catherine and David, it dots the discussion like the heavy sighs these people want to let out.


I live in this city. I have all my life, and I might be here for the rest. I do love it, but have never seen the romanticism in it that Atom Egoyan found with his lens for CHLOE. Sadly, the film doesn’t completely work…but as I zero in on how he was able to turn Toronto into a heartbeat for this story, I’m left proud of the city I’ve called home.

And a little turned on.