Émilie Bierre and Monia Chokri have multiple appearances in the 2019 Windsor International Film Festival. Bierre is the shy lead in A Colony, a bully in The Far Shore, and a young camper in love in Genesis. Chokri is the female lead in We Are Gold, the school counselor in Before We Explode, and briefly onscreen in her directorial debut A Brother's Love.
And The Birds Rained Down marks the return of writer/director Louise Archambault (Gabrielle) about 3 old men who live in the forest, an old woman who has been institutionalised for most of her life, and a younger woman wanting to photograph one of the older men. The story deals with relationships, death, and escape from the modern world. Rémy Girard surprises us with performances of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire and Tom Waits' Time. One of the most beautiful films you will see in some time.
A Colony has Mylia (Émilie Bierre) in a world where she is curious about the nearby Abenaki First Nation reserve. Mylia goes to school in a world where hanging out with indigenous people is not so cool. Bullying and peer pressure dominate the plot and Mylia is exceptionally sensitive and quiet. Being a young actor and playing that quiet is a difficult task and Bierre was rewarded with Best Actress at the Canadian Screen Awards. The debut film from writer/director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles also won Best Picture.
Canadian film review: Antigone
We saw Antigone in the 2019 Windsor International Film Festival. Given its Oscars status, we gave the film a separate review.
Jeune Juliette is a personal take from Anne Émond on what appears to be an autobiographical story. Juliette misses her mom, who moved to New York City. She started to put on weight after her mom left. Juliette is unhappy with everything in her world. Well, almost everything. Liane is her best friend. Her supportive brother Liam is about to move away. Juliette and Liane clash on an issue and suddenly Juliette feels really alone. Émond struggles a bit more with comedy than her first 3 films, all dramas, but the film tells a really nice story.
Kuessipan is about when friendship is significantly tested. Myriam Verreault adapted the Naomi Fontaine novel about the friendship between Mikuan and Shaniss. They live in Sept-Iles in Quebec, a lot closer to Labrador than southern Quebec. Shaniss then has to move in with her aunt, who lives in Maliotenam, about 14 km from Sept-Iles. Mikuan travels to visit Shaniss often but the relationship is not the same. When they are teenagers, Mikuan wants to be a writer and still lives in a strong family dynamic. Shaniss has a baby and a boyfriend with anger issues. Shaniss is also upset because Mikuan wants to escape and go to school in Quebec City with her white boyfriend. The film's theme and messages transcend the setting. Kuessipan won the initial WIFF Prize in Canadian Film award.
Slut in a Good Way was the pleasant surprise of the film festival. The gender battle that centres around a toy store in a strip mall in Montréal could have gone badly. With the writing from Catherine Léger (Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Screenplay) and director Sophie Lorain, the story becomes a pro-feminist, pro-sex film that perhaps only Quebec and maybe France can produce. Charlotte gains the reputation of being a slut, but refuses to be ashamed, pointing out the contradiction between men and women. The gender battle extends to raising money for their causes, including Bushes for Amnesty International. Marguerite Bouchard shines as Charlotte and Romane Denis as Megane and Rose Adam as Aube are well-drawn, 3-dimensional characters searching for love and lust. Megane is a very visible Montréal Expos fan. The decision to shot the film in black and white adds mystery and sophistication to the film.
Matthias et Maxime marks the Quebec return of Xavier Dolan, who also stars in one of his films, the first since Tom at the Farm. Dolan is Maxime, part of a tight group of guys. Matthias and Maxime end up in student film where they are supposed to kiss. Dolan wisely doesn't show the kiss. The more important part is the aftermath. Maxime is getting ready to move to Melbourne, Australia for a couple of years. Matthias is having trouble reconciling what happened and avoids Maxime whenever he can. The film weaves a lot toward the end, a bit of a surprise for a Dolan film. His film mastery is back from focusing on the yellow lines of the road to characters bringing the conversation back to French when English is introduced to references to Denys Arcand, Les invasions barbares, and Pedro Almodovar. Can't speak for his English language film, which I still haven't seen, but the magic of this film was missing from Juste la fin du monde.
Genesis is the latest film from Philippe Lesage (The Demons), a Best Picture nominee from the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards. The Demons was hard to follow as was this film. Genesis goes back and forth between first love stories. Guillaume (Théodore Pellerin, who also was in The Demons) is a smartass in an all-boys school who discovers he is in love with his best friend. Guillaume's half-sister Charlotte is presumably in her first relationship. The boyfriend talks about an open relationship; Charlotte doesn't want one. She leaves him to date someone else, but thinks about the first boyfriend when things don't go well. The film then has a 20-minute first love story involving the lead character from The Demons, Félix (Édouard Tremblay-Grenier) and Émilie Bierre. Lesage doesn't spend time on the actual relationship between Guillaume and Charlotte so the stories feel separate. The "second film" is more interesting than the "first film" overall. Guillaume's story is way more interesting than Charlotte's because Lesage shows more of his motivations. His public confession and the mini film afterward are worth watching the film.
A Brother's Love marks the directorial debut for Quebec actor Monia Chokri. Sophia (Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, a lookalike for Chokri) and her brother Karim (Patrick Hivon) have a very close relationship. Karim even goes with Sophia when she is having an abortion. They meet Sophia's gynecologist Éloise (Évelyne Brochu). Karim falls in love with Éloise and they start a relationship. The film follows Sophia, who bemoans being overeducated and fat, even if she is neither. Their parents seem happier with each other after they got divorced. The film theme shifted to Sophia trying to find happiness and a possible replacement for her brother's love. The film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
2019 Windsor International Film Festival preview
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We Are Gold is about coming back home to a community that is "celebrating" the 10-year anniversary of a devastating mine collapse. Marianne (Monia Chokri) is a successful musician who is taking a break from her career. Her sister, who is raising their brother along with her teenage daughter, has tensions with Marianne. Marianne gets back together with her former band mates, one a teacher and the other a thief. The awkwardness and tension of the big city life adjusting back adds to the drama. The film has a hilarious poutine scene, a topic that rarely comes up in Quebec films.
The Far Shore explores grief for a mother and 2 daughters after losing the patriarch of the family. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin (Incendies) struggles to pay the bills, chasing after life insurance that hasn't paid out. Her nautically named daughters Océane (Éléonore Loiselle) and Marine (Maèva Tremblay) have their own struggles. Océane ends up with a much older man while Marine, who skipped a grade, is subject to bullying. Émilie Bierre (A Colony) does an 180 from her award-winning film to play the primary bully. Calling each other capitan hits on the water theme and shows the bond these women have in the fury of the story.
Compulsive Liar is a cute, more profound, thoughtful, and complicated version of Liar Liar from Canadian Jim Carrey. Simon (Louis-José Houde) lives on lies, then finds all the lies have come true all at once. The film never gets too cruel and you get a sense that the actors are having fun with the premise. The film is on pace to be the top grossing Canadian film in 2019 and has already cracked the top 15 of Quebec films all-time.
Before We Explode follows a virgin who is trying to have sex before World War III comes to tiny Baie St. Paul in Quebec. Pier-Luc (Étienne Galloy) sees the world collapsing on television and his friends try to help him out. Director Rémi St-Michel and writer Eric K. Boulianne have a lot of fun with the attacks element of the story. The film drifts between sweet and a bit creepy. The mood is supposed to produce awkward attempts from an adolescent boy but the creepy makes you not root for him to reach his goal. Monia Chokri plays the school counselor. Antoine Olivier Pilon (Mommy) is the tough boyfriend of a girl Pier-Luc wants to be his first. They are enough clever moments in a mostly even film to pick this one.
video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: Kuessipan film
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