this film's festival page
*** of ****
Rated: unrated, but call it a PG
Length: 90 minutes
Writer & Director: Philippe Falardeau
Cast:
Paul Ahmarani: Christophe
Stephane Demers: Stephane
Genevieve Neron: Odile
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Filmmaker Philippe Falardeau mixes mockumentary about unemployment with a political statement about the destructive corporate greed of capitalistic politics. He filmed this in 1999, but it does not represent a specific year. The audience enjoyed this tale of foibles encountered in his roommates quest to end unemployment with the 'right' job. The absurd pickiness of Engineering job ads was good for laughs, but it's truth was rather revolting. This story was inspired by the director's real former roommate, and was his statement of complaint of about how "when you loose your job, you loose your social identity," and the systemic destruction that goes with that loss in modern globalized society. This French language film was made in Quebec and will be released in France... with French subtitles. The acting is very natural, and the locations fit the story well. This is well filmed, a good story, and worth seeing.
Falardeau said that the story was obviously made up by the end because nobody's life could be that bad. Of course until then, he hadn't met me.
L' Ange de goudron (Tar Angel) (2001)
this film's festival page
**1/2 of ****
Rated: unrated, but call it an R
Length: 110 minutes
Writer & Director: Denis Chouinard
A tale of an Algerian family that immigrates to Montreal, and is about to get their Canadian citizenship. Self identity versus blending in to the new culture is a conflict while the political system grinds on. The eldest son is a good computer science student with some unguided & rebellious personality issues. His involvement with a local activist group escalates to small time terrorism. His father tracks down his son's girlfriend, and after some disagreements, they begin to search for the missing son. The father & girlfriend in particular have respectably strong character development, and others do their jobs adequately. The strong cinematography creates a good sense of place for the events. This is a simple yet well told story worth seeing if you're not looking for anything profound.