Margaret Atwood's First Ever Movie Adaptation Is An '80s Misfire Worth Revisiting

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Having written some of the best dystopian novels of all time and inspired one of the most well-received premium dramas of the 2010s, these days Margaret Atwood is making cameo appearances in TV shows based on her works. But back in the early 1980s, prior to the publication of 1985's "The Handmaid's Tale," screen adaptations of her work were slightly less high profile.

Take 1981's "Surfacing," an adaptation of the writer's 1972 novel of the same name which was savaged by critics upon its Canadian debut and didn't make it much further than that. Today, however, in the wake of much more successful Atwood adaptations, some viewers argue the film is nowhere near as bad as the contemporaneous reviews made out. Atwood fans will no doubt enjoy the movie either way, but it might just be worth a watch for casual viewers, too.

Atwood's "Surfacing" was her second novel. It follows a woman who returns to her Canadian home on a remote island in Quebec following the disappearance of her father. She then convenes with her boyfriend, Joe, and her friends, married couple Anna and David, in her childhood home to look for clues as to her dad's disappearance and confront her past — which is revealed to be much more traumatic than she initially lets on. As well as interrogating the unnamed narrator's own experiences and themes of disconnection and disassociation, the book also explores Canadian nationalism. The film adaptation, however, seemed uninterested in most of that, and the critics were not happy about it.

The 1981 movie adaptation of Margaret Atwood's "Surfacing" was directed by the once-beloved Canadian filmmaker Claude Jutra, who passed away in 1986 before being accused of having sexually abused minors during his lifetime. That alone means there's a shadow looming over the movie, which was Jutra's first English feature film (following two English-language documentaries for The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). According to the book "Claude Jutra: Filmmaker" by Jim Leach, Jutra was brought in to direct "Surfacing" only after British filmmaker Eric Till dropped out. As Leach explains it, Jutra came in "at the last minute" and his contribution to pre-production was "very limited."

Peter Dickinson's 2007 book "Screening Gender, Framing Genre: Canadian Literature Into Film" seems to confirm as much, claiming Jutra came on board when "shooting was about to begin" and without the ability to change "the pedestrian screenplay cobbled together by Bernard Gordon." Producer Beryl Fox was also said to have interfered significantly during production. But the real issue with the film adaptation of "Surfacing" seems to have been the very idea of translating Atwood's book to the screen in the first place.

As Dickinson put it, the author's "highly allegorical gothic narrative" was "overridden by the visual codes of a typical — and typically masculine — action-adventure flick." Even the Toronto International Film Festival website describes the book as "probably unfilm­able," due to the unreliable narration and non-linear narrative. Still, Jutra and Gordon tried, with the latter making major changes to the book, most obviously by giving the protagonist a name. Atwood hasn't held back her thoughts on other adaptations of her work, but she seems to have stayed quiet on this one, which is probably for the best.

Margaret Atwood seems to like "The Testaments," but she probably wasn't too thrilled with "Surfacing." The film stars Kathleen Beller as Kate, who returns to her hometown in search of her missing father alongside her fellow city-dweller friends. They venture into the Canadian wilderness, which has a profound effect on the group, causing them to embrace their animal impulses before becoming imperiled. All the while Kate struggles to come to terms with the fact her father is almost certainly deceased. 

Unfortunately, critics seemed unimpressed — at least, at the time. Even "Claude Jutra: Filmmaker" author Jim Leach described "Surfacing" as a film that "betrayed the visions of both filmmaker and novelist." Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the film wasn't released outside Canada. Had it been, it might have been slightly better received by audiences not necessarily as invested in the film's adherence to a novel by a quintessentially Canadian author.

Letterboxd certainly provides some evidence for that. Though one reviewer opined, "Every second is abysmal," several other users seemed to like "Surfacing" quite a bit. "I'm sorry, this is simply nowhere remotely near as 'bad' as the reviews here make it out to be," writes one. Another enjoyed how "bafflingly misguided" Jutra's adaptation was, writing, "I can't help but enjoy its unwillingness to stick true to anything that happens in the novel." In a separate four-star review, another user praised Kathleen Beller and actor Margaret Dragu for their performances, and was ultimately "grateful that this film brought them to my attention." 

Unfortunately, "Surfacing" is on the verge of becoming lost media, but if you want to check out this early Atwood adaptation there may or may not be a dodgy upload or two floating around.