Willy (Mexican actor Jorge Antonio Guerrero) is in love with Marlena. They were secret lovers in Mexico, her husband being a powerful man. They escape separately. Willy, thinking Marlena is in Montréal, gets a job as a seasonal worker at the Bécotte Farm in Quebec.
Julie (Hélène Florent), matriarch of the farm, had an affair of some type with a seasonal worker the year before. She is learning Spanish. Daughter Léa (Marine Johnson) is angry over her mother's affair and tells Julie she is the one who told her father Richard (Claude Legault).
Julie is interested in Willy.
Les Oiseaux ivres | Drunken Birds takes on a slow pace once Willy arrives at the farm. Willy is chasing after Marlena in theory but seems a huge distance from Montréal. Léa finds getting to Montréal much easier where she is mixed up in prostitution and drugs. Later she is forced to pick out one of the seasonal workers to take the blame and picks the one person who helped her: Willy.
Ivan Grbovic directed the script he co-wrote with Sara Mishara. Les Oiseaux ivres | Drunken Birds is more about class and language barriers than any love story. The mother and daughter approach to love and attention is noteworthy.
The investment in characters is minimal so we don't have much invested in either the French speaking or Spanish speaking characters. Everyone feels a little lost, including the viewer.
2022 Oscars through the lens of Canada
Les Oiseaux Ivres misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film
This film definitely isn't in the worst 2 of recent Canadian films to get the nod for Best International Feature Film. We preferred 14 Days, 12 Nights over Drunken Birds though the latter film felt a lot more Canadian.
Chien de Garde is the worst we've seen in this category. Hochelaga, Land of Souls was decent in the flashbacks but couldn't relate the stories to the modern era.
Your humble narrator has seen the last 19 Canadian entries and 21 of the last 22 films. Un crabe dans la tête from André Turpin is the lone exception in that stretch.
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Les Oiseaux ivres | Drunken Birds is a very pretty film. Pretty to look at with beautiful cinematography. Even a day where the rain is pouring looks wonderful.
The key plot points feel inserted into the film without context. You are supposed to get the whole family dynamic out of a single argument between the mother and daughter. The dialogue is minimalist so you have to draw conclusions from quite a few scenes where the lighting is deliberately understated.
The best way to enjoy this film is to watch and not really think about what is happening.
As noted, the film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. The film did not make the shortlist.
Les Oiseaux ivres | Drunken Birds has played in Canadian cinemas and is current available on demand in the United States.
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