Polytechnique

Directed by Denis Villeneuve and screenplay Jacques Davidts with contributions from Villeneuve and Eric Leca, Polytechnique is the story of the real-life Ecole Polytechnique massacre on December 6, 1989 where a gunman killed fourteen women. The film is a dramatic re-creation of the event as it is seen from the perspective of students who would witness this horrifying event. Starring Maxim Gaudette, Sebastien Huberdeau, Karine Vanasse, Evelyne Brochu, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, and Pierre-Yves Cardinal. Polytechnique is a ravishing yet unsettling film from Denis Villeneuve.

On December 6, 1989 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, fourteen women were killed by a gunman in Marc Lepine whose disdain for feminism prompted him to kill these fourteen women while ten other women and four men were wounded with the gunman eventually killing himself in the end. It was an event that shocked Canada as it also raised awareness on violence against women as well as gun control in the country. The film is about the events of that day as it is told from the perspective of a few who would be part of this atrocity including the gunman (Maxim Gaudette) who is first scene writing his suicide note as well as think about what he will do on that day. Jacques Davidts’ screenplay doesn’t just follow the life of the gunman on that day but also on a couple of other students such as Valerie (Karine Vanasee) and Jean-Francois (Sebastien Huberdeau) who would both witness or be part of what had happened as much of its narrative is straightforward with a few instances of flashbacks and flash-forwards.

Denis Villeneuve’s direction is truly haunting as the first shot of the film involve a couple of female students chatting while making copies on a copying machine where it’s just this simple static shot that would go into chaos once gunfire is heard. Shot on location at the College de Maisonneuve and College Ahuntsic in Montreal along with additional locations in Griffintown and Westmount in the province of Quebec, Villeneuve aims for an intimate look that has him using tracking camera shots and hand-held cameras to capture the sense of immediacy and fear that is looming throughout the entirety of the scenes where the gunman is killing people. Notably as there is this frenetic energy into the suspense while the violence is unflinching in its impact where Villeneuve would shoot a scene from different perspectives such as what is being heard outside of a room or inside that room.

Villeneuve’s direction also has some wide shots of not just some of the locations outside the school that includes a scene of the killer dropping a note to his mother’s home but also a few scenes outside and inside the school. Notably in the scope of the main halls and how empty they become as the killings progress with Villeneuve also using close-ups and medium shots to capture coverage of certain things or objects that are important to the story. Even as it is told with little dialogue in favor of the scenery and suspense into how some of the women are trying to hide and the young men trying to help them. The film’s aftermath in relation to the massacre does revolve around a survivor who recalls her own experience but also reflect on the women who lost their lives. Overall, Villeneuve crafts a visceral and harrowing film about the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre.

Cinematographer Pierre Gill does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white cinematography where it does have this air of beauty for many of the exterior locations but also has this haunting look for many of the interiors including a couple of the classrooms. Editor Richard Comeau does brilliant work with the editing as its rhythmic cuts help play into the suspense without deviating into fast-cuts in order to let the audience get a sense of the danger that is happening in the film. Production designer Roger Martin, with set decorator Elisabeth Williams and art director Martin Tessier, does excellent work with the look of some of the interiors of the classroom including the apartment where the killer lived at.

Special effects supervisor Jacques Godbout does nice work with the special effects that mainly play into some of the violence including an eerie shot late in the film. Sound editor Claude Beaugrand does amazing work with the sound as it help play up the atmosphere of the main hall and classrooms including the intense sounds of violence and terror. The film’s music by Benoit Charest is fantastic for its low-key yet eerie ambient-score with its usage of piano, synthesizers, and guitars in some parts of the film while the soundtrack that features music from Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Sisters of Mercy, Men Without Hats, Mark Arnell, and Patrick Watson and the Cinematic Orchestra are played digetically on set.

The casting by Nathalie Boutrie is superb as it feature some notable small roles from Johanne-Marie Tremblay as Jean-Francois’ mother, Pierre-Yves Cardinal as Valerie’s boyfriend Eric, and Evelyne Brochu as Valerie’s friend Stephanie. Sebastien Huberdeau is remarkable as Jean-Francois as a classmate of Valerie who tries to help her as well as another wounded student as he copes with not being able to do enough. Maxim Gaudette is incredible as the gunman as he displays an air of restraint into his role as this killer as well as a ferocity into the way he displays his hate towards women. Finally, there’s Karine Vanasse in a phenomenal performance as Valerie as an engineering student that is hoping to get an internship on that day only to be one of the few survivors of the massacre as she would later deal with the aftermath and the impact of being a survivor.

Polytechnique is a tremendous film from Denis Villeneuve. Featuring a great cast, haunting visuals, an eerie score, ominous sound work, and a gripping story of fear and death. It is a film that manages to capture a moment in time that is told in an unflinching yet chilling style that isn’t afraid to show something that is confrontational in its intense approach to violence. In the end, Polytechnique is a magnificent film from Denis Villeneuve.

Denis Villeneuve Films: August 32nd on Earth - Maelstrom - Incendies - Prisoners (2013 film) - Enemy - Sicario - Arrival (2016 film) - Blade Runner 2049 - Dune-Part One (2021 film) - Dune-Part Two - (Dune: Messiah) - The Auteurs #68: Denis Villeneuve

© thevoid99 2018

Incendies

Based on the play Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies is the story of twin siblings who travel to the Middle East following their mother’s illness as they uncover a mystery about their mother. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted into script by Villeneuve and Valerie Beaugrand-Champagne, the film explores a relationship between two siblings and their mother as they wonder about their mother’s life in a treacherous land. Starring Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, and Remy Girard. Incendies is a harrowing yet mesmerizing film from Denis Villeneuve.

After suffering a stroke and eventually die, Nawal Marwan (Lubna Azabal) leaves some instructions to her twin adult children in Jeanne (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) with the help of their mother’s former employer and notary Jean Lebel (Remy Girard). The instructions involves giving envelopes to the father and a mysterious older brother neither children ever knew. Jeanne decides to go to her mother’s birth country to find out more about her mother who lead a very troubled life ravaged by war as she had to give up her child to an orphanage after disgracing her family for having an affair with a refugee. Fulfilling her promise to her grandmother, Nawal leaves her village to live with her uncle and relatives and study at a university only to be destroyed by war.

With Jeanne trying to find information still trying to find information about her mother as she is revealed to be part of a radical organization following an incident when she traveled through the country to find her long-lost son. During that time, she helped assassinate a right-wing Christian leader that led to her 13-year imprisonment. With Simon and Jean arriving at the country to help Jeanne uncover the mystery, they find out what happened at the prison where it was revealed that she was raped by a torturer named Abou Tarek (Abdelghafour Elaaziz). Along with another revelation, Simon decides to make contact with someone who might know about the whereabouts of his half-brother as he secretly meets a warlord. The warlord reveals something that would be even more shocking for Jeanne and Simon as well as whereabouts.

The film is about two children uncovering the life of their mother as well as the secret about the father and half-sibling that neither of them had known. Both would eventually take different journeys to the Middle East of their mother’s homeland where they would also find out more about themselves and what their mother had to do for their safety as children. With a journey that takes place in both French-Canada and a fictional country in the Middle East, it’s a film that has a narrative that parallels with the journey of the two kids and the one their mother took to find her long-lost son.

The screenplay does a great job in creating these differing storylines together to create similarities to the journeys a woman and her two children would take. Notably as it’s revealed that they’re all quite flawed as they would also face things that would challenge them despite the different circumstances. For Nawal, she had to endure the horror of war as well as the trauma of being in service to fight against everything she had once believed in. For Jeanne and Simon, they face the ire of those who knew their mother as well as the secrets into the whereabouts of their father and half-brother. Though the mystery of identities do sort of get revealed near the third act which would allow the audience to sort of figure things out. The aftermath of the revelation does prove to be more devastating despite the fact that it’s not drawn out as it could’ve been.

Denis Villeneuve’s direction is truly entrancing in the way he presents the film as a whole by creating unique images that can play with what the viewers are seeing. Notably as a scene of Nawal walking out of her village is then cut into a scene of Jeanne, who looks similarly like her mother, walking towards a city as they both are wearing the same cross around their neck. With these vast yet evocative shots of Amman, Jordan to play as this fictional country, there is something quite beautiful yet eerie to the landscape as these siblings enter a world they admittedly don’t understand. Along with very eerie close-ups, haunting compositions, and intimate moments to capture some elements of drama or symbolism. Villeneuve creates an evocative yet chilling film about two adult siblings exploring their roots.

Cinematographer Andre Turpin does a brilliant job with the film‘s photography from the darker colors of the Montreal exteriors and interior buildings to the much brighter and evocative look of the Amman exteriors as well as the interior for its lighting schemes in scenes such as the prison scene. Editor Monique Dartonne does an excellent job with the editing in utilizing an array of stylish cuts to help create tricky transitions between the differing storylines in the film. Production designer Andre-Line Beauparlant does a superb job with the set pieces created such as Lebel’s office and hall of files as well as the looks of the prison that Nawal had to live in for some time.

Sound designer Sylvain Bellemare does a fantastic job with array of cannons and gunfire that occurs for some of the chilling scenes involving war in Nawal‘s storyline while maintaining a more sparse mix for the intimate moments involving Nawal‘s adult children. The film’s eerie score by Gregoire Hetzel is definitely a major highlight of the film for its heavy yet wondrous orchestral score that plays to the drama and suspense of the film. Notably as it features some operatic pieces that occurs in the film. Another piece of music used in the film are two songs by the band Radiohead from their 2001 album Amnesiac to maintain the haunting texture of the film as it’s another highlight of the film.

The casting by Constance Demontoy and Christelle Dufour is wonderful for the ensemble that is created as it includes notable small roles from Abdelghafour Elaaziz as the mysterious Abou Tarek and Allen Altman as notary friend of Lebel. Remy Girard is very good as the notary Jean Lebel who helps Jeanne and Simon in their journey while discovering more secrets about the woman he had known about for so many years. Maxim Gaudette is terrific as the more reluctant Simon who has a hard time keeping his emotions in check until he has to help his sister in uncovering the mystery realizing what his mother has been hiding. Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin is wonderful as the more determined Jeanne who takes part in the journey first only to endure the stories about her mother from women at her mother’s village as well as other dark secrets.

Finally, there’s Lubna Azabal in a very chilling performance as Nawal Marwan. Playing a woman who has endured lots of turmoil in her search to find her long-lost son as Azabal brings a very hypnotic approach to the way she looks at something while being very understated in parts of her performance as it is truly marvelous to watch.

Incendies is a remarkable yet unsettling film from Denis Villeneuve featuring a gracious performance from Lubna Azabal. The film is definitely a mystery that allows the audience to piece things while managing to keep on guessing towards the end. Notably as Villeneuve use tricks to get audience to dwell into the paralleling storylines that occurs in the film. In the end, Incendies is a superbly rich film from Denis Villeneuve.

Denis Villeneuve Films: August 32nd on Earth - Maelstrom - Polytechnique - Prisoners (2013 film) - Enemy (2013 film) - Sicario - Arrival - Blade Runner 2049 - Dune-Part One (2021 film) - Dune-Part Two - (Dune: Messiah) - The Auteurs #68: Denis Villeneuve

© thevoid99 2012