Taglines: Some men rise to greatness because of their upbringing. Joshua did it in spite of his.
Joshua Then and Now movie storyline. Joshua Shapiro, successful writer and pundit, in a hospital room, seems to have lost his wife and is in the middle of a sex scandal. Compelled to find meaning in his life, he reviews it from his youth to the present day.
Joshua grew up as a Jew in the working class St. Urbain Street area in Montreal. His upbringing was unusual because his father was a boxer who had become a gentle crook and his mother was a strip-tease dancer. Embarrassingly, she strips for his friends as part of a Bar Mitzvah party for him. Joshua’s father is revealed to have a unique perspective on life, sex, and religion.
A trip to Spain as a young man is the impetus that sparks a career as a journalist and writer. In England in a momentary lapse of reason, Joshua forges letters about a (fake) homosexual affair with a British writer to sell to an American university archive. He meets an upper-class Canadian married to a poseur of a communist and steals her away to become his own wife. She is the daughter of a Canadian senator and Joshua’s key into a level of society of which he is contemptuous.
Joshua Then and Now is a 1985 film and a TV mini-series, adapted by Mordecai Richler from his semi-autobiographical novel Joshua Then and Now. James Woods starred as the adult Joshua, Gabrielle Lazure as his wife, and Alan Arkin as Joshua’s father. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff who had previously directed Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
The film depicts Joshua growing up in his Montreal neighborhood, and then his adventures as a modestly successful writer. He marries the “golden shiksa” of his dreams, but eventually everything around him crumbles and he must act quickly to recover it all. A comedic drama, the film moves quickly without lingering for long on any incident and tells a connected complete narrative. Alan Arkin is frequently noted in reviews for an outstanding performance.
The cast included Michael Sarrazin as Kevin Hornby (Pauline’s brother), Robert Joy as Colin Fraser (Pauline’s first husband), Linda Sorenson as Esther Shapiro (Joshua’s mother), Alan Scarfe as Jack Trimble, Ken Campbell as Sidney Murdoch, Kate Trotter as Jane Trimble, Alexander Knox as Senator Hornby, and Eric Kimmel as young Joshua. Filmed on location in Montreal, London, Brockville, and Ottawa.
Joshua Then and Now (1985)
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff
Starring: James Woods, Gabrielle Lazure, Alan Arkin, Michael Sarrazin, Linda Sorensen, Alan Scarfe, Kate Trotter, Alexander Knox
Screenplay by: Mordecai Richler
Production Design by: Anne Pritchard
Cinematography by: François Protat
Film Editing by: Ron Wisman
Art Direction by: Harold Thrasher
Set Decoration by: Rose Marie McSherry, Hilton Rosemarin
Costume Design by: Louise Jobin, Hazel Pethig
Music by: Philippe Sarde
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: May 17, 1985
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