Ill start off by saying that I agree with everything this movie says, in theory. Theres no denying the sinister forces of the market and theres no denying the destruction they leave in their wake. But in practice, Bernard Emonds cri de coeur against such forces proves so enervating and dour that its nearly impossible to tolerate.
The film begins with a bloody woman (Guylaine Tremblay) being arrested for shooting up a rich mans house and goes on to examine the events that led up to her actions. Turns out that her trucker husband (Guy Jodoin) suffered a pair of strokes right at the moment her call centre job was downsized and they lost the house they loved. Alas, our heroes arent the most charismatic people on Earth already hobbled by the fatalistic scenario, they barely register any emotion and dont have much in the line of poetry to their language. In fact, the whole thing is so flat and functional that all were left with is the bleakness of the situation, which is so overwhelming that you want to flee the theatre screaming.
The point is not that circumstances like this dont happen, its that Emond isnt trying to provoke us to action; hes pretty much given up the ghost and merely records the foregone conclusion of his poor innocents being crushed in typical Canadian fashion. And it cant even whip up much heat, with a mise-en scène so pedestrian as to be a slap in the face to the audience.
I cant imagine anyone who would get much out of this movie entertainment seekers are left completely out in the cold, while political rabble-rousers will be more than slightly miffed at the director consigning his heroes, and us, to total oblivion.
(Seville)The film begins with a bloody woman (Guylaine Tremblay) being arrested for shooting up a rich mans house and goes on to examine the events that led up to her actions. Turns out that her trucker husband (Guy Jodoin) suffered a pair of strokes right at the moment her call centre job was downsized and they lost the house they loved. Alas, our heroes arent the most charismatic people on Earth already hobbled by the fatalistic scenario, they barely register any emotion and dont have much in the line of poetry to their language. In fact, the whole thing is so flat and functional that all were left with is the bleakness of the situation, which is so overwhelming that you want to flee the theatre screaming.
The point is not that circumstances like this dont happen, its that Emond isnt trying to provoke us to action; hes pretty much given up the ghost and merely records the foregone conclusion of his poor innocents being crushed in typical Canadian fashion. And it cant even whip up much heat, with a mise-en scène so pedestrian as to be a slap in the face to the audience.
I cant imagine anyone who would get much out of this movie entertainment seekers are left completely out in the cold, while political rabble-rousers will be more than slightly miffed at the director consigning his heroes, and us, to total oblivion.