Reviews

2018-09-20

Mylia is a teenager who struggles with peer pressure in high school, and becoming a woman.

I had the pleasure of seeing this pearl of a film at the FCVQ, and I am so glad I did. Director Geneviève Dullude-De Celles is truly amazing. She already reaches such level of maturity with this film, which is also her feature length debut.

Her biggest quality as a director is her authenticity and her sensibility. Instantly we feel for Mylia, and her sister. We see her wandering around at school feeling like an outcast, and it's just so relatable and realistic. There is no melodramatic BS.

Emilie Bierre is brilliant in this, especially considering her age. She manages to never be wooden or fake, and when she's emotional it is unbelievably convincing. She has a bright career in front of her. All the cast is great actually. It's mostly kids, and they show a wide range of emotions.

The cinematography is very good. A lot of longer take. It's not a flashy film though. It's all about the message and the emotions.

The film has a lot to say about relationship. We see Mylia trying to fit in at school with people she doesn't like, while giving less time to her sister, who is also having trouble making friends.

She is introduce to this adult world of party, drinking and sex, where every kid tries as hard as possible to look and act like an adult who's seen it all, but Mylia is still a girl. She is not after these meaningless pleasures. They only make her feel worst, because she isn't a grown woman yet. She is after internal growth. Not external pleasures.

The director addresses all of these themes with such sensibility and authenticity. It's not forced or in your face. It feels real, tangible, like she just had to make a film about this, and it really shows.

Writing wise it's phenomenal. Every character has great dialogue that feels realistic and age appropriate. The story is also unpredictable, and never boring. There's always some sort of conflict or interesting interaction going on. Also everything that is introduced comes back in some way or another.

The only negative was perhaps the character of the dad could've had more screen time. He has like two scenes. He felt pretty unimportant in the end, but the movie wasn't about him anyway.

Overall this movie blew me away. I did not expected to fall in love with the characters, the setting and the message that much. I can't wait to watch it again, and I'll check out whatever Geneviève Dullude-De Celles does next.

Rating: 8/10

This is the latest installment in the Ricardo Trogi autobiographical trilogy, and it is the best one. Since 1981, Ricardo Trogi has been able to take real event from his life, and dramatize them in a very fun and lighthearted manner.

Like the two previous film, 1991 follows Trogi, but now he embarks on a quest to conquer the "love of his life" in Italy. The change of setting is a great idea, because not only does it gives the film a beautiful backdrop, but it feels fresh and new within this series.

The film is very fun, fast paced, and feel good. In a way it is nothing more than what we've come to expect, but every technical aspect of the film is strong enough that it remains engaging and entertaining.

The acting from Jean-Carl Boucher is great. He plays very well the fun and "likable loser" type of character, but he also did a good job with the more dramatic stuff. The actress playing is mother is very funny, even though she is so over the top, it's a little too much at times.

Writing wise this is an easy film, in the sense that it is filled with narration, jokes that we see coming and cliché storylines. The thing is that Trogi writes with such vulnerability and creates such likable characters that it doesn't really matter.

He basically creates a exaggerated version of himself, and he went to place I didn't expect with the character. We get to see his weaker side. How stupid or pathetic he can be sometimes, which is nice, because it gives the film a feeling of raw authenticity.

Also the movie knows what it is, and it never tries to pretend to be more important, nor does it ever manipulate the audience in a cheap way. So all of the weaknesses in the writing are easily forgiven.

What makes this film so enjoyable is the clear love for cinema from Trogi. There are multiple references to Fellini and other great director. His passion truly shines on screen.

Overall, this is a fun, easy to watch movie. It manages to be accessible and appropriate for the whole family, without restraining anything or trying to censor itself constantly. This is a trilogy I will revisit again.

Rating: 7/10

Gus Van Sant directs this beautiful film about John Callahan, alcoholic turned cripple turned cartoonist.

The heart of this story is truly inspiring. It is deep down a story about the darkest corner of the human spirit, and how through faith we can overcome anything.

Van Sant is not a very flashy director. However there is a few questioning choices he made with this film. First off, the structure of the movie is very non linear, especially at the start. This creates a rather jarring experience, and it often results in lessening the impact of what is shown. The film gets more straightforward in the second half and it picks up big time.

Another thing that is odd is the manifestation of the protagonist's mother. The effect they chose to fade her face into the frame is simply bad. It just looks awful and the whole scene feels like a stain on the film. Also the film is filled with these weird zoom in shots that looks unappealing. It is something to get use to. It's not that it's a big deal, but it looks strange, and I fail to see the purpose of these zoom in and out.

Beside these few issues, Van Sant mostly lay low and let the actors act, and they do it beautifully. At this point it is not a surprise to anyone, but Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic in this. He elevates the material to tear jerking and meaningful. He just becomes the character. Between this and You Were Never Really Here, he is guaranteed to be nominated.

Jonah Hill proves again that he is a true artist with a single scene near the ending of the film. Before that he owns every scene he has, especially the first time Callahan meets him. He has this sincere goodness and nonchalance about his character. He really nails it.

Jack Black is also great in the film. At first it seems that he is just playing his usual funny dude character, but later in the film he has a great emotional scene. Although it is very short he just shows a whole new side of him.

Rooney Mara's performance is also great, but her character is somewhat problematic. When she first arrives, she is just like an angel, beautiful, caring and funny. It is just hard to believe that she actually exists in this universe. I understand that she helps greatly Callahan to keep faith, so that might be why she is so pretty, and charming and innocent, but it still feels like she is out of place in the film. Not her fault though.

Even though the first half suffered a bit from weird editing and jumping around a lot in time, the second half made up for it. It is more than a simple drama, it becomes meaningful. The pain that Callahan feels is so relatable. After watching him go through everything he did, and knowing that he truly existed, it just inspired me to be better. To conquer my own pain and torment and to just accept who I am as a person. It is not often that a film provoke such an emotional reaction out of me. Also I nearly cried twice, which is even more unusual.

Overall this is a great movie that dealt brilliantly with the theme of overcoming our pain and suffering no matter how insurmountable it seems.

Rating: 8/10

Le problème d'infiltration

Robert Morin crafts a beautifully complex tale where a man looses control over his life and his sanity.

The film is a character study done in a unique way. The film uses fully the cinema medium to make us see and feel what the protagonist is seeing and feeling. Everything from the sound designs to the colors are excessive and exaggerate at times to showcase the state of mind of the protagonist.

Christian Béguin is fantastic. He plays his character in a very believable way. So much so, that his transformation takes us by surprise because of how subtle, and slow it is.

The most impressive aspect of this film is the cinematography. The way the camera moves around with nearly no visible cuts is simply amazing. What is even more remarkable is how the lighting is dramatically changing within those tracking shot to align with the characters feelings or state of mind.

The tracking shots are not a gimmick, because they forces us to see things just as our main character do. Also, the long takes does not prevent the film from looking beautiful. They are many artistic, meaningful and memorable shots throughout.

At 93 minutes it is a very short film, and it feels even shorter. There is no filler at all, actually not a single moments feel unimportant. It is almost overwhelming to realize that every single detail means something.

Overall this is a masterpiece. One of the better Quebecois film I have ever seen, and I'll gladly watch it again and analyse it further.

Rating: 9/10