The Narcissus myth, where a man falls in love with his own reflection and ultimately destroys himself over it, has only grown more relevant with time. The dominance of social media, the performative aspects that come with it, self-help culture, various forms of media pushing self-affirmation, and a culture driven towards individualism are just some of the ways we’ve led ourselves to a place where terms like “toxic positivity” begin taking prominence. It’s a topic well worth exploring, and thank God Canadian provocateur Bruce Labruce chose to. Rather than getting too intellectual about it, Saint-Narcisse gives audiences the reflection of their obsessed selves they deserve: a sleazy, incestuous, soapy good time evoking ‘70s B-movies as it drags traditional values around religion and family to the extreme endpoint of loving oneself.
Set in 1970s Quebec, the film starts with 22-year-old Dominic (Felix-Antoine Duval), who spends his days taking care...
Set in 1970s Quebec, the film starts with 22-year-old Dominic (Felix-Antoine Duval), who spends his days taking care...
- 9/16/2021
- by C.J. Prince
- The Film Stage
Among authors who didn’t live to witness their own success, Louis Hemon is a particularly unfortunate case — his novel “Maria Chapdelaine” was published in 1913, the same year as his train-struck death. Thus he didn’t see it become an early Quebec-lit classic taught to generations of schoolchildren, published in translation worldwide or adapted into many other media over the past century. Among prior screen versions were two made in his native France, the 1934 one notable as Julien Duvivier’s first collaboration with Jean Gabin.
The slim book, drawing on adventure-seeking Hemon’s own experiences briefly working as a farmhand in the Lac Saint-Jean region, has been treated with less-than-strict fidelity by previous dramatists. Sebastien Pilote’s new film is probably the most faithful to date by far — though that isn’t entirely a plus. . It’s a well-produced episodic tale whose incidents and personalities remain too modest to sustain nearly three hours’ illustration,...
The slim book, drawing on adventure-seeking Hemon’s own experiences briefly working as a farmhand in the Lac Saint-Jean region, has been treated with less-than-strict fidelity by previous dramatists. Sebastien Pilote’s new film is probably the most faithful to date by far — though that isn’t entirely a plus. . It’s a well-produced episodic tale whose incidents and personalities remain too modest to sustain nearly three hours’ illustration,...
- 9/11/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
To be painfully frank, when it comes to young actors in coming-of-age movies, the road from breakout performance to any kind of relative success (or even frequent work) is paved with also-rans and stunted potential. That said, however, we can be quietly confident that that won’t be the case for 22-year-old Karelle Tremblay, who is already on industry radars for a number of festival hits and proves once again to be a remarkably fresh and captivating presence in Canadian filmmaker Sébastien Pilote’s The Fireflies Are Gone, a film about a young woman teetering on the verge of adulthood, wanting desperately to get out of her small Québécois town.
If that all sounds a bit familiar it’s because it is, not least due to the fact that Lady Bird is still very fresh in the memory and will no doubt be casting its long shadow over films of this ilk for years.
If that all sounds a bit familiar it’s because it is, not least due to the fact that Lady Bird is still very fresh in the memory and will no doubt be casting its long shadow over films of this ilk for years.
- 7/3/2018
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The great thing about international film festivals is the sheer breadth and variety of projects that they allow audiences to engage with, giving you the opportunity to discover cinematic gems from around the world that would never have made it anywhere near your local multiplex.
Mourning for Anna – a title that hits the nail right on the head – is no easy sell. While there will no doubt be those who marveled at its skeletal story and honest portrayal of the grieving process, I found no such classic in this offering from director Catherine Martin – a French language ode to misery.
The film opens with a minimalist animation, effectively foreshadowing the slight characterization and sketchy plotting that will befall the feature proper. Anna (Sheila Jaffe) is an accomplished violinist who we meet in the midst of concert as she harmonizes an intimidating rendition of Bach. From the audience her adoring mother beams up at the spectacle,...
Mourning for Anna – a title that hits the nail right on the head – is no easy sell. While there will no doubt be those who marveled at its skeletal story and honest portrayal of the grieving process, I found no such classic in this offering from director Catherine Martin – a French language ode to misery.
The film opens with a minimalist animation, effectively foreshadowing the slight characterization and sketchy plotting that will befall the feature proper. Anna (Sheila Jaffe) is an accomplished violinist who we meet in the midst of concert as she harmonizes an intimidating rendition of Bach. From the audience her adoring mother beams up at the spectacle,...
- 6/30/2011
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Unlike last year's two filmmaker/film horse race between Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique and Xavier Dolan's J'ai tué ma mere, this year it was all "Villeneuve" and "Incendies". Repeating his wins in all the same categories it won at the Canadian Oscars (Genies) this week (this includes Editing, Screenplay, Best Cinematography by the excellent André Turpin, Best Actress in Lubna Azabal (who forced here co-star Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin to give her own thank you speech). These wins more than makes up for his loss last year when Villeneuve won the Best Director honor for Polytechnique, but lost in the Best Film category to J'ai tué ma mere. The predictable 13th edition also saw a Genie-Jutra winner from Barney's Version and in the Animated Film category, the Nfb (naturally) supported Theodore Ushev added a Jutra to his Genie for Lipsett Diaries. Best Film/meilleur film 10 1/2 - Pierre Gendron (Zoofilms) Les amours imaginaires - Xavier Dolan,...
- 3/14/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Yesterday, the nominees for the 13th Jutra Awards ceremony were revealed. The winners of this Quebecker Oscar will be revealed next month. The following is the full list of nominees.
Best motion picture:
* 10 1/2
* Les amours imaginaires
* Curling
* Incendies
* Les signes vitaux
Best director:
* Denis Côté- Curling
* Xavier Dolan- Les amours imaginaires
* Kim Nguyen - La cité
* Podz (Daniel Grou) - 10 1/2
* Denis Villeneuve- Incendies
Best leading actress:
* Lubna Azabal - Incendies
* Suzanne Clément - Tromper le silence
* Mélissa Desormeaux-Poulin - Incendies
* Évelyne Rompré- 2 fois une femme
* Guylaine Tremblay- Trois temps après la mort d'Anna
Best leading actor:
* Jay Baruchel - The Trotsky
* Emmanuel Bilodeau - Curling
* Jacques Godin - La dernière fugue
* Claude Legault - 10 1/2
* François Papineau - Route 132
Best supporting actress:
* Dorothée Berryman - Cabotins
* Marie Brassard - Les signes vitaux
* Geneviève Chartrand - Le journal d'Aurélie Laflamme
* Isabelle Miquelon - La dernière fugue
* Danielle Proulx...
Best motion picture:
* 10 1/2
* Les amours imaginaires
* Curling
* Incendies
* Les signes vitaux
Best director:
* Denis Côté- Curling
* Xavier Dolan- Les amours imaginaires
* Kim Nguyen - La cité
* Podz (Daniel Grou) - 10 1/2
* Denis Villeneuve- Incendies
Best leading actress:
* Lubna Azabal - Incendies
* Suzanne Clément - Tromper le silence
* Mélissa Desormeaux-Poulin - Incendies
* Évelyne Rompré- 2 fois une femme
* Guylaine Tremblay- Trois temps après la mort d'Anna
Best leading actor:
* Jay Baruchel - The Trotsky
* Emmanuel Bilodeau - Curling
* Jacques Godin - La dernière fugue
* Claude Legault - 10 1/2
* François Papineau - Route 132
Best supporting actress:
* Dorothée Berryman - Cabotins
* Marie Brassard - Les signes vitaux
* Geneviève Chartrand - Le journal d'Aurélie Laflamme
* Isabelle Miquelon - La dernière fugue
* Danielle Proulx...
- 2/11/2011
- by anhkhoido@gmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
[Premiere Screening: Friday, Jan. 21, 12:00 pm -- Egyptian Theatre]
Before I started to shoot my first feature, my experience had been working alone or with a very small crew, two or three people — that’s all. That was the key that gave me the versatility and more importantly, the freedom I need when I shoot, because I like to switch quickly to get the unknown, to go for the unscripted… to react fast for the bonus that cinema gives more often then we think. So I was worried and a little anxious about how I would react when working with a big crew, a real schedule, a film ratio that I could not go over every day. For me those new rules sounded heavy — I thought it would be “hard to move fast.” I was really scared of losing my personality and the way I see things in my work. I was certainly afraid that my first feature would be an alien thing,...
Before I started to shoot my first feature, my experience had been working alone or with a very small crew, two or three people — that’s all. That was the key that gave me the versatility and more importantly, the freedom I need when I shoot, because I like to switch quickly to get the unknown, to go for the unscripted… to react fast for the bonus that cinema gives more often then we think. So I was worried and a little anxious about how I would react when working with a big crew, a real schedule, a film ratio that I could not go over every day. For me those new rules sounded heavy — I thought it would be “hard to move fast.” I was really scared of losing my personality and the way I see things in my work. I was certainly afraid that my first feature would be an alien thing,...
- 1/19/2011
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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