Wednesday, December 09, 2009
The sad but sublime Polytechnique
(and the day I borrowed it)
Physical State: leaden
Mental State: foggy
Music: Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Fashion sense: jeans, black t-shirt
This past Sunday I had been at the library looking up some books and ventured over to the dvd section to see if anything new was in. I ran across a dvd copy of a Quebecois film from earlier this year, the excellent Polytechnique. At the time of its release in the theatres it was quite a controversial film, even if the inspiration for it took place 20 years earlier. The film is a dramatization of the massacre of 14 young women in Montreal at the hands of a crazed misogynist in 1989. While deeply moving and sad, the film is also beautifully realized in black and white and quite poetic. It doesn't glorify Marc Lepine (identifying him simply as "the killer") or his madness, but presents the events from the perspective of two survivors, Valerie (the superb Karine Vanasse) and her fellow classmate Jean-Francois (Sébastien Huberdeau), both engineering students at L'Ecole Polytechnique. What struck me as truly bizarre is later on this week realizing that of all the movies I had to choose from I chose this one on that Sunday...December 6...the 20th anniversary of the massacre, weird. Polytechnique is a film that I think everyone should watch at least once if not more. Its message is an important one. A sobering memorial to those 14 young women. Villeneuve shot TWO versions of many of the scenes in the film, one in English and another in French (when will subtitled movies finally get some respect from English audiences huh?). The similarities between the two interpretations are seamless and a great testament to the acting skill of Vanasse and Sébastien Huberdeau. Maybe only a film nerd like me would watch both of the films back to back to compare.
I have to say by far Denis Villeneuve might be my favourite Quebecois filmmaker at the moment, matched only by Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y.). Villeneuve's handful of films are incredible including Maelstrom, Cosmos and August 32nd on Earth. Canadian directors like Villeneuve are working in a very unique place that I would love to see represented more. To me Quebecois film has always been starkly European in its pacing and look. Karine Vanasse is also an exceptional actress in Polytechnique trumped only by her portrayal in Lea Pool's Emporte-Moi.
(and the day I borrowed it)
Physical State: leaden
Mental State: foggy
Music: Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Fashion sense: jeans, black t-shirt
This past Sunday I had been at the library looking up some books and ventured over to the dvd section to see if anything new was in. I ran across a dvd copy of a Quebecois film from earlier this year, the excellent Polytechnique. At the time of its release in the theatres it was quite a controversial film, even if the inspiration for it took place 20 years earlier. The film is a dramatization of the massacre of 14 young women in Montreal at the hands of a crazed misogynist in 1989. While deeply moving and sad, the film is also beautifully realized in black and white and quite poetic. It doesn't glorify Marc Lepine (identifying him simply as "the killer") or his madness, but presents the events from the perspective of two survivors, Valerie (the superb Karine Vanasse) and her fellow classmate Jean-Francois (Sébastien Huberdeau), both engineering students at L'Ecole Polytechnique. What struck me as truly bizarre is later on this week realizing that of all the movies I had to choose from I chose this one on that Sunday...December 6...the 20th anniversary of the massacre, weird. Polytechnique is a film that I think everyone should watch at least once if not more. Its message is an important one. A sobering memorial to those 14 young women. Villeneuve shot TWO versions of many of the scenes in the film, one in English and another in French (when will subtitled movies finally get some respect from English audiences huh?). The similarities between the two interpretations are seamless and a great testament to the acting skill of Vanasse and Sébastien Huberdeau. Maybe only a film nerd like me would watch both of the films back to back to compare.
I have to say by far Denis Villeneuve might be my favourite Quebecois filmmaker at the moment, matched only by Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y.). Villeneuve's handful of films are incredible including Maelstrom, Cosmos and August 32nd on Earth. Canadian directors like Villeneuve are working in a very unique place that I would love to see represented more. To me Quebecois film has always been starkly European in its pacing and look. Karine Vanasse is also an exceptional actress in Polytechnique trumped only by her portrayal in Lea Pool's Emporte-Moi.
