The Film Club: A Book By David Gilmour

Posted on

July 15, 2010

David Gilmour is the author of six novels, the most recent of which, A Perfect Night to Go to China, won the 2005 Governor-General’s Award for fiction in Canada. Like many individuals working in the film and television industry, Gilmour has held numerous jobs over the years. Gilmour worked for the Toronto International Film Festival before moving into a broadcasting career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), where he served as the national film critic for the country’s flagship news show, The Journal. From there, he went on to host his own talk show on CBC’s Newsworld, Gilmour on the Arts, which won a Gemini Award. And finally, as you learn by reading The Film Club, in between all of this, Gilmour was working to raise his son Jesse.

So when Jesse’s high school grades started to drop and his enthusiasm for school was at a complete and utter standstill, Gilmour asked his son a question that would forever change both of their futures. “Jesse,” he said. “Put down your pen. Stop for a second please.”

“What?” Jesse responded.

Gilmour continued, “I want you to do me a favor. I want you to think about whether or not you want to go to school.”

Like many people, Gilmour too had hated his time in high school. I personally feel the same way. Looking back now, I don’t know how I survived it. But Gilmour was brave enough to give his son the option of dropping out of school, living at home for free, and not forcing him to get a job – as long as he agreed to watch three movies a week with his father. Jesse agreed and dropped out of school shortly thereafter.

Now dropping out of school isn’t for everyone, but for some people I do believe it is a good option. In Jesse’s case, I couldn’t say (You’ll have to read the book). But as The Film Club’s story progresses, Gilmour and his son watch a plethora of films. They don’t watch the latest Hollywood trash, but instead, most of their time is spent on the classics and rarely seen goodies of the past.

As time goes on, the book becomes less and less about film and more and more about girls, drugs and the life of a father who is working to do the best he can for himself and his family.

The book chronicles Jesse’s ongoing girl problems and his encounters with alcohol, drugs, and emotionally abusive relationships.

Time slips by and Gilmour and his son grow close but at the same time are very much growing apart. Jesse is looking for freedom and independence, while Gilmour is simply savoring these ;ast precious moments with his son – a son who is quickly becoming a man.

In the end, The Film Club is not about a boy who drops out of school and watches movies all day. Instead, it is the story of a father, fighting to keep his son on a positive life path. Instead of speaking to his son through a raised voice and a hardened hand, Gilmour speaks to his son through the movies he chooses to watch each week. In each film is a lesson and it is placed there, in front of Jesse, for him to soak up, absorb, and take with him as he moves from one place in his life to the next.

To order a copy of David Gilmour’s The Film Club, please click here.