Starring Sylvie Moreau, Macha Grenon. Written and directed by Louise Archambault. (14A) 103 min. Opens July 28.
One of last year's best Quebecois movies gets a
better-late-than-never Toronto theatrical release. The smart, tough
debut by Louise Archambault, Familia won first-feature honours at TIFF
and the Genies as well as a spot on Canada's Top Ten. Though not
without its flaws, Archambault's film tackles difficult ideas about
sex, class and blood ties with impressive acuity, dry humour and strong
performances.
After leaving her latest boyfriend, the downwardly mobile
Michele (Sylvie Moreau) and her 14-year-old daughter Marguerite (Mylène
St-Sauveur) shack up with Michele's childhood friend Janine (Macha
Grenon) at her home in a wealthy Montreal suburb. The prim, bourgeois
Janine and the reckless, VLT-addicted Michele are unlikely roomies yet
both must contend with the damage caused by neglectful parents and
absent husbands. What they don't realize is how much of that hurt their
daughters have inherited.
Shot with typical verve by André Turpin (this country's best
cinematographer as well as the director's husband), Familia is slightly
undone by the script's tendency to overstate the obvious --
Archambault's characters say more when they say less. But the final
scenes land with unexpected force as Archambault opts for an angrier
and more rueful conclusion than the Oprah's Book Club-style group hug
that a less talented filmmaker might've chosen.