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By Design
By Design
Directed by	Claude Jutra
Screenplay by	Claude Jutra; Joe Wiesenfeld; David Eames
Produced by	Beryl Fox; Werner Aellen
Starring	Sara Botsford; Patty Duke; Clare Coulter; Saul Rubinek
Cinematography	Jean Boffety
Edited by	Toni Trow; Ralph Rosenblum
Music by	Chico Hamilton
Production; companies	B.D.F. Productions; Canadian Film Development Corporation; Fox Productions; Seven Arts
Distributed by	Astral Films (Canada); Atlantic Releasing Corporation (US)
Release date	May 8, 1982;
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

By Design is a 1982 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Claude Jutra and starring Sara Botsford and Patty Duke.^[1] The film was produced by B.D.F. Productions, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Fox Productions, and Seven Arts.

Synopsis

Angie and Helen are in love and they live and work together - they design women's clothes and run their own fashion business in Vancouver. Helen wants to be a mother. Angie loves Helen and if Helen cannot feel fulfilled without a child she is willing for them to become parents. When Helen announces she wants to have a child, Angie reluctantly agrees to support her. The only obstacle seems to be the physical factor, at first, an idea of artificial insemination came to their mind. However, "They then quickly reject the idea of artificial insemination when they see an unkempt drunk emerging from the cubicle where he has donated sperm for beer money."^[2] "Denied permission to adopt, and rejecting artificial insemination, the couple set their sights on sleazy photographer, Terry, as a potential one-night stand for Helen."^[3] At the end of the film, Angie gives birth to a girl, while Suzie and Terry move to Los Angeles to promote their new design.

Cast

Patty Duke as Helen (as Patty Duke Astin).
Anya Best as Pineapple
Sara Botsford as Angie
Patricia Best as Pineapple's Mother
Saul Rubinek as Terry
Jan Filips as Paul
Sonia Zimmer as Suzie
Joe Flaherty as Veteran Father
Mina E. Mina as R.B. Corcoran
William Samples as Insemination
Alan Duruisseau as Sven
James Hibbard as Carl (as Jim Hibbard)
Clare Coulter as Ms. Hirshorn
Ralph Benmergui as Mannequin Dresser
Robert Benson as Henri
Steve Witkin as Mannequin Dresser
Jeannie Elias as Cowgirl
Nabuko Hardychuck as Mo
Scott Swanson as Mr. Potter
Bill Reiter as Construction Foreman
Robin McCullough as Server in the Cafeteria
Andrea Olch as Baby Angie
Maria West as Secretary
Don Granbery as Butler

Development

While Jutra was directing this movie, he received an offer by Beryl Fox to direct the movie Surfacing. Initially rejected this offer, he changed his mind until "Fox agreed to produce By Design as well. Although a script existed before Jutra became involved with the project, he was able to rewrite it thoroughly in collaboration with playwright Joe Wiesenfeld."^[2]

Reception

The film was favourably reviewed by the critic Pauline Kael in The New Yorker : " a buoyant, quirky sex comedy..the director takes a look around the whole modern supermarket of sex. By Design takes in the bars and beach houses, fast food restaurants and discos, and the sexual patterns of those who inhabit them..Jutra has a light understated approach to farce. His sensibility suggests a mingling of Tati and Truffaut. The scenes are quick and they're dippy, but with a pensive, melancholy underlay."^[4]

Conversely, Philip Szporer of The Cinema Canada journal published a lengthy film review in January 1983, concluding that "If the film was to have been a bold, inventive, humorous and touching tale, it is instead a completely forgettable experience. Lacking a coherent structure and tone, the film only serves up a mish-mash of moral overtones and misgivings.""^[5]

Awards

All four of the film's stars received Genie Award nominations at the 4th Genie Awards: Rubinek as Best Actor, Botsford as Best Actress, Coulter as Best Supporting Actress and Astin as Foreign Actress.

References

^ "Jutra's contentious By Design a fight that fails". The Globe and Mail, August 23, 1982.
^ ^a ^b Leach, Jim (1999-01-01). Claude Jutra: Filmmaker. Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 242. ISBN 9780773518599.
^ "That Was Then: Revisiting the Positive Images Debate". thecinematheque. August 26, 2011.
^ Pauline Kael reprinted in Taking It All In p.421-424
^ Szporer, Philip (January 1983). "Claude Jutra's By Design". Cinema Canada (92): 43. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022 – via CinemaCanada.