In Rupert’s Land, the b.c. delegate in the Genie’s best picture category this year, two long-separated brothers reunite for a road trip to attend their father’s funeral.

The brothers’ incongruous histories – one an uptight Brit and the other an out-of-work b.c. fisherman – forms the comedic backbone of the feature, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been in theatrical release since October through Vancouver’s Red Sky Entertainment.

But that central conflict can just as well be a parable for the genesis of Rupert’s Land itself: a series of incongruities that finally gel at the end.

‘There were many times we thought we would have to pull the plug on this film,’ says coproducer Bill Thumm of Vancouver’s Cadence Entertainment.

Before Thumm and Cadence principal Scott Kennedy even got aboard the project, Rupert’s Land had fallen through at now-defunct Everest Entertainment. Then during production there was blustery wet weather, run-ins with wildlife, the demands of u.s. star George Wendt (who was paid up front before even boarding a plane to Vancouver), and troubles with music rights.

‘Ultimately the last-minute scenarios and financing woes didn’t impact the on-screen product all that much,’ says Thumm. ‘We had a game plan. There were a couple of scenes that we would have pulled anyway. In the end, it was more about the potential for gray hairs and ulcers for Scott and I.’

While all the departments exerted ‘yeoman efforts,’ Thumm says – in an assessment of the entire $2.6-million picture – the actors and the director of photography really ‘hit their marks.’

That leads Ian Tracey and Samuel West (nominated for best actor in a leading role) weren’t really known didn’t help the film, Thumm explains, ‘but I wouldn’t change it if I had to do it again. As for dop Greg Middleton, Thumm predicts the cinematographer will ‘be the next be star out of Vancouver.’

Other contributors included Genie-nominated director Jonathan Tammuz, writer Graeme Manson, costume designer Crystine Booth, film editor Roger Mattiussi and production designer Brian Davie.

Booth – who was nominated for a 1995 Genie for b.c.-made Once in a Blue Moon, did a season of North of 60 and most recently completed work on Ranfilm’s feature Shegalla – says her work on Rupert’s Land was inspired by locality.

‘It’s about here, about things I know,’ she says reflecting on the creative process of Rupert’s Land. ‘I wanted to reinforce the comedic aspects of the story line while working collaboratively with the actors, director and producers to ensure we were getting the look we wanted.’

A particular challenge was the role of Trudy, played by Susan Hogan, says Booth. Trudy, who is the mother to the brothers, is a woman who works on a facade of wealth despite the economic and aesthetic limitations of her typically trailer park existence. ‘She’s a West Van [socialite] wannabe,’ says Booth.

In developing a look for the film, production designer Davie worked to filter the visuals through the perspective of Rupert, the returning British brother who has been raised with social refinement.

‘I wanted to follow this character once he got off the plane,’ says Davie, who is currently at work on the u.s. feature Confessions of a Trick Baby.

‘I think it played well. Our backdrop is the heartland of b.c., a b.c. of unrefined industry and intimidating beauty,’ an environment that is otherwise invisible to homegrown British Columbians.

Editor Mattiussi, meanwhile, says the challenge was getting into the story and ‘getting them on the road as soon as possible.’

‘The challenge was coming up with ways to maintain the integrity of the main story and keep the subplots,’ adds Mattiussi, who edited the miniseries Major Crime and is currently working on the series Night Man.

‘The fun part is working on performance – squeezing in everything possible. The editor has to be there for the actors in the cutting room.’

For writer Manson – who cowrote the sci-fi feature Cube, contributed to the series Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy and is expanding into animation – his favorite part of the movie is the final scene of the funeral and eulogy.

‘We really struggled with the ending,’ he says, with the film’s power brokers unconvinced until a practice reading that the finale would be as funny and uplifting as Manson attested. ‘It was a real vindication to get that,’ he adds. ‘All the characters are together for the first time in the movie. It totally worked and we felt great about it.’

Rupert’s Land has three prints in circulation and opened theatrically in Vancouver and Toronto in October. Box office has been, as Thumm puts it, ‘less than we hoped.’ The picture opened in Calgary and Edmonton in December.