Opening with a brief gloomy scene in a mosque and centered on an immigrant family from Algeria, "Tar Angel" (L'Ange de goudron) is a film with a serious message that was not lost on the opening-night audience of the 25th Montreal World Film Festival. To be released here by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm early next month, the French-language "Angel" should immigrate to more festivals and possibly find appreciative audiences in Europe.
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
MONTREAL -- If you're a French-language filmmaker, it helps to have local Quebec producer Rogers Frappier and French filmmaker-turned producer and distributor Luc Besson in your corner.Besson, attending the Montreal World Film Festival this weekend to receive a special Grand Prix of the Americas, co-produced Manon Briand's "La Turbulence des fluides" (Chaos and Desire), the opening-night film in Montreal, which so far has garnered the bulk of media attention.The Quebec-France co-venture between Besson's Europa Corp. and Max Films of Montreal sets an important precedent for the Quebec film industry, said Ariel Veneziano, director of international sales at Alliance Atlantis Pictures International, which retains Canadian and international rights to Briand's second film.Besson's participation should open Gallic doors, Veneziano said. "It's important for us (to have) someone of the stature and profile of Besson as a producer and distributor in France," he said.Quebec producers have had a long association with France as a source of film and TV co-production financing. The challenge has been securing marketing funds and punch in the French market for Quebec films.Besson's Europa Corp. will distribute "Turbulence" in France, Switzerland and Belgium, beginning in November. Veneziano added that he anticipates a Japanese sale for Briand's film on the strength of Besson's reputation.On this side of the Atlantic, Veneziano said the Quebec release of "Turbulence" on Sept. 6 should be boosted by the local profile of Max Films' Frappier, the dean of Quebec art house film producers.Frappier and Max Films partner Luc Vandal have a track record at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Quebec boxoffice. The pair collaborated on Denis Chouinard's "Ange de goudron" (Tar Angel), which opened the 2001 Montreal World Film Festival and earned last year's FedEx Award for best Canadian film.
- 8/26/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opening with a brief gloomy scene in a mosque and centered on an immigrant family from Algeria, "Tar Angel" (L'Ange de goudron) is a film with a serious message that was not lost on the opening-night audience of the 25th Montreal World Film Festival. To be released here by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm early next month, the French-language "Angel" should immigrate to more festivals and possibly find appreciative audiences in Europe.
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/27/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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