The Limb Salesman

Directed by: Anais Granofsky
When: 8:30 pm Thursday March 31 2005
Where: Muvico 1 - Centro Ybor

When: 10 pm Friday April 1 2005
Where: Muvico 2 - Centro Ybor

Peter Stebblings as Dr. Goode
"The Limb Salesman"

The Limb Salesman looks at life on an unrecognizably frigid planet where water is as precious as oil and as intoxicating as booze. Mutations abound and virtually everything is for sale, including body parts -- or at least the technology that makes limb regeneration possible.

Enter Dr. Gabriel Goode (Peter Stebbings), who is summoned to a lonely, isolated mansion in the Great White North to regenerate limbs for Clara (Ingrid Veninger), the adopted daughter of wealthy industrialist Abe Fielder (Clark Johnson at his venomous best).

From the outset, Gabriel knows something's not exactly right, an assumption that only grows stronger when he meets Abe's family: son Charles (Charles Officer), who, despite objecting to his father's imperious and cruel edicts, is usually left to deal with the labour problems at the "mine"; apparently crazy Aunt Loli (Jackie Burroughs); and an extremely sinister uncle (Stan Granofsky).

The Limb Salesman may seem, in part, a treatise on the effects of globalization and environmental neglect, though presented in a radically different context. It's like The Glass Menagerie rewritten by Ray Bradbury -- Clara's attic room is a kind of Edwardian prison -- though it's probably far more accurate to look at it as a commentary on redemption.

As the film proceeds, characters reveal surprising depths -- both good and bad. A medical mercenary, Gabriel begins to display guilt about his actions, not only because of his increasingly intimate relationship with Clara, but also because of his sudden, jarring encounters with her family and the real world, which grows quite violent and threatening.

The film is exquisitely shot by D. Gregor Hagey and designed with a truly striking flair for the surreal by Diana Abbatangelo -- the mansion boasts a tattered Canadian flag, forlornly flapping in the breeze like a forgotten piece of history the characters neglected to bury.

The Limb Salesman is a touching parable about love and self-sacrifice -- in other words, what it means to be human.

Commentary by Steve Gravestock

For more information, please visit the film's website, www.thelimbsalesman.com.