Monia Chokri has another film in the 2023 Windsor International Film Festival. Louise Archambault had 2 films competing for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film but only 1 in French.
Steve Laplante was in 2 films in the competition. François Arnaud only had 1 film this year. There were 7 French-speaking films in the 2023 version of the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film versus 2 in 2022.
Les Jours heureux | Days Of Happiness There isn't much happiness in this film. Emma (Sophie Desmarais) is a conductor who battles the toxic relationship with her father and agent (Sylvain Marcel). Emma is also trying to figure out her relationship with Naëlle (Nour Belkhiria), a musician in the orchestra. She is also dealing with finding her comfort level with ambition, part of the struggle with her father. Writer/director Chloé Robichaud also had Desmarais as the lead in Sarah préfère la course | Sarah Prefers to Run (2013) and the chemistry shows. A strong film about an uncomfortable topic.
Une femme respectable | A Respectable Woman Rose Lemay (Hélène Florent) has an intriguing option presented to her in Trois-Rivières, Quebec in the 1930s. Rose is encouraged to take back her ex-husband Paul-Émile (Martin Dubreuil) after his mistress dies. She agrees for the sake of the 3 daughters from the subsequent relationship and wants no part of any sort of martial relations with Paul-Émile. The film might seem like a molasses slow story from a more naive time but the script from writer/director Bernard Émond is surprisingly intricate. This film is worth the wait to the end.
23 décembre | Two Days Before Christmas A light-hearted, intertwined story about family conflict and drama heading into the Christmas holiday. Beautiful shots of Montréal and Quebec City with a mix of Charlevoix are in this film. The Château Frontenac is truly a co-star in the film. This film won the Golden Reel award for 2022 based from the late run within the year. The film feels like a long sleigh ride through the Quebec winter.
WIFF Prize in Canadian Film
Simple comme Sylvain | The Nature of Love Monia Chokri is back in the writing and directing roles (as well as acting) about Sophie (Magalie Lépine-Blondeau) who has a partner in Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume) who is not so exciting. Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) is doing construction on their cottage and offers temptation for Sophie. Chokri shoots the romantic scenes with the understanding that Sophie's pleasure is the focal point. This is why female directors are so important. Chokri smartly casts herself and Steve Laplante, who starred in Babysitter (2022), which Chokri starred and directed, as the steadily married couple and close friends. Chokri wisely isn't obvious as to where the film will go in the path of finding love.
Frontières | Frontiers The film is a psychological drama focused on Diane Messier (Pascale Bussières) who is slowly slipping away from reality. She hears sounds and worries about making sure there are enough locks on the doors. We know there was an accident that affected the family that killed the patriarch of the family. Angèle (Micheline Lanctôt), the matriarch, returns from Florida to the Eastern Townships to take care of the family, including Diane's sisters, Carmen and Julie. Writer and director Guy Édoin gives us really interesting characters that are more fun to watch than the story itself. We are partial to Bussières as an actor so that helped my interest in the film. This plot does a lot better in these hands than in the multiple notes style of big budget American films and Édoin delivers a strong finish to the mystery within the film.
Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant | Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person The premise of this film, well, may seem off-putting yet Ariane Louis-Seize hits the notes exactly as they should be played. Sasha (Sara Montpetit) is a teenage vampire yet her fangs haven't developed. Sasha also have quandaries about, well, biting people's necks. Sasha meets Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a boy who doesn't like his life as it is and is contemplating suicide. Sasha offers Paul a dying wish and that is when the film turns. The casting of the family is spot on, especially Steve Laplante. This is not a typical vampire film in so many ways. The fact that this film won the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film is an indication of something more thoughtful in a film. Keep your mind and heart open and you will appreciate this film.
Les Hommes de ma mère | My Mother's Men The premise of this film feels corny on the surface. Elsie (Léane Labrèche-Dor), a young woman, has to fulfill her mother's (Anne-Marie Cadieux) dying wishes to give part of the ashes to each of her 5 ex-husbands. Elsie has her own issues, including her father (Patrick Huard). Elsie's journey also helps her with some of those issues. Colm Feore plays one of her stepfathers. Director Anik Jean said in a Q&A that her husband worked on Bon Cop, Bad Cop, so the fact that Huard and Feore are in the film is a nice nod. Writer Maryse Latendresse gives us poignant stories without being too sappy. Your humble narrator did cry toward the end of the film so that should count for something.
Le Plongeur | The Dishwasher The film starts out as an intriguing character study about Stéphane (Henri Richer-Picard), a gambling addict turned dishwasher. If you have been young and worked in a restaurant, you might recognize a number of the characters in this film. Bonnie (Joan Hart) fits into Montréal in that she is an Anglophone who understands French but doesn't speak the language well. Director Francis Leclerc, who co-wrote the script with Éric K. Boulianne and Stéphane Larue (who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel), makes us feel like we are in the kitchen in an intimate fashion. The major flaw to the film is the length at 127 minutes is at least 35 minutes too long. The ending is good; cutting the previous 30-35 minutes means you wouldn't miss much. Start watching and stop when you get tired of what is happening.
Solo Come for the drag queens; stay away from the gaslighting. The drag queen scenes are lovely and wonderful but unfortunately writer/director Sophie Dupuis gives us a lot of fake drama in what Dupuis calls a "love story." The love, such as it is, is very one-sided as Simon (Théodore Pellerin) puts up with a lot of gaslighting from Olivier (French actor Félix Maritaud). The gaslighting wouldn't be so bad but there is no growth in Simon's reaction to said gaslighting. Simon's obsession with his less than present mother (Anne-Marie Cadieux) has potential as a subplot but Dupuis doesn't spend much dialogue on this topic. The script starts thoughts and doesn't finish them. The "supportive" parental figures (father and stepmother) get a single scene and their characters don't even have a dimension. Maude (Alice Moreault) starts out a decently written character but Dupuis forgets about her mostly in the latter part of the film. Like Chien de Garde, there is little here to love other than Pellerin, one of Canada's best young actors, though the drag queen scenes make this a slightly better film than her debut.
Le temps d'un été | One Summer Marc Côté (Patrice Robitaille) has tended to the poor and the homeless as a street chaplain and parish priest in Montréal. Côté inherits a cottage that reminds him of the tragic loss of his father. He takes a group of homeless people and transports them to the cottage. Conflict arises from the group being fish out of water as well as hard feelings from the property's longtime caretaker François Riendeau (Sébastien Ricard), who believes he deserves the property. The pace of the film is mostly laid-back, which reflects the cottage lifestyle. The script from Marie Vien does a good job at humanizing the less fortunate without making them into some Disney type characters. Louise Archambault also directed Irena's Vow as nominees for the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film.
photo credit: Simple comme Sylvain | The Nature of Love
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