Sitting In Limbo

This low-budget film, shot in semi-documentary form, tells the story of two black teenagers living in Montreal: Pat and Fabian (the names of the actors and the characters). When the film opens, Pat, who lives with a couple of girlfriends, discovers she's pregnant, and confronts the recently bounced out of school Fabian with the knowledge. Although Fabian is not pleased, he does try very hard, and finally lands a warehouse job, which enables him to get a small apartment. Moving Pat in, the kids proceed to go through all the trials and traumas that young couples suffer--primarily revolving around the subject of money. When Pat lays the budget out for Fabian, he still wants to buy a car. He explains to her that those squiggles are just numbers, not reality, and her numbers to boot. It's the little scenes like this (or when the power goes out right after Fabian has bought some furniture on credit: "How can I see my furniture?") that make Sitting in Limbo a wonderful film. And in setting the story during the icy frost of winter, the filmmakers have added a sharp, yet subtle, contrast of black lovers trying to make ends meet in a white landscape. When Fabian loses his job, and Pat goes into labor, everything falls apart...sort of like real life. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada (quite possibly the eighth wonder of the world), Sitting in Limbo is a clever, and substantial, dose of reality. And the soundtrack by reggae great Jimmy Cliff is superb. Highly recommended. (Provided by and available from at a substantial discount from: Baker & Taylor, 8140 N. Lehigh Ave., Morton Grove, IL 60053.)ÿ