A complex film about the often bizarre behaviour of modern man; a cinematographic and dramatic interpretation which is as erratic and unpredictable as that behaviour itself. The structure of the film has been compared with major geological processes such as the shifting of geological layers and the creation and destruction of oceans and continents. The locations for the film have been found in such diverse places as Montreal, Venice, the Scottish Highlands and Manhattan.The characters are just as diverse and do not all meet up in the film. Madeleine is a student at an art academy in Montreal; she develops a classical romantic love for her lecturer Jacques, flees to Venice in the hope of dying a romantic death, but instead she falls in love with the Scottish girl Constance. The latter is on heroin and reconnoitring the decaying Doge city. In the meantime, Jacques has acquired a new insight into his sexuality and continues in life as the radio presenter Jennifer.In Canada Tectonic Plates has been enthusiastically received as a unique cooperation between two of the most highly-regarded ‘visual’ artists in Canada. The film is based on a play by the Canadian writer Robert Lepage, but is much more than a film version of the play. Director Peter Mettler used the play to investigate and expand the frontiers of both theatre and film. Through the film version, the play has been more or less rewritten.
