After the Axe

1982 film

1982 (1982)

CountryCanadaLanguageEnglishBudget$452,017

After the Axe is a 1982 Canadian drama film about executive firings directed by Sturla Gunnarsson.

Summary

The film explores the experiences of managers getting fired and the emergence of a new industry specialized in handling such terminations.

Wilson, a senior marketing executive, is laid off from a food company after fifteen years of good service. Losing his status and security, he is relegated to the role of dependent house husband, resented by his children and shunned by former colleagues.^[1]

Cast

James B. Douglas as Biff Wilson
Janine Manatis as Wife
Anne Christison as Daughter
Randy Solomon as Son
Roger Mattiussi as Narrator (voice)
Eric Barton as Himself (relocation counsellor)
Jim Paupst as Himself
Stanley Warshaw as Himself (Forty Plus Club, N.Y.C.)

Production

The film was a co-production between the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and National Film Board of Canada and was filmed in 1981. It had a budget of $452,017 (equivalent to $1,434,583 in 2023.^[2]

Reception

Writing in Cinema Canada, Gary Lamphier stated that Gunnarsson and Lucas "establish Biff's decline and subsequent resurrection with economy and a sense of style."^[3]

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.^[4] Despite its Oscar nomination in the documentary category, After the Axe is closer to a docufiction film, made with the cooperation of members of the Canadian business community, which provided locations and helped script scenes during filming. The film's protagonist, D.R. "Biff" Wilson, is a composite character based on the filmmakers' conversations with fired executives, while the other Canadian executives play themselves.^[5]

References

^ "After the Axe". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
^ Evans 1991, p. 280.
^ Lamphier, Gary (November 1981). "Short Film Reviews/Sturla Gunnarsson's "After the Axe"". Cinema Canada (79): 38. ISSN 1918-879X. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
^ "NY Times: After the Axe". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
^ "After the Axe". National Film Board of Canada website. Retrieved 17 September 2009.

Works cited

Evans, Gary (1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802027849.