Welcome back to this mini-series of reviews of the feature films*
of revered filmmaker Denis Villeneuve in the lead-up to his latest film Arrival. This second review in the
series is for his 2009 film Polytechnique.
Polytechnique is a
film directed by Denis Villeneueve and tells the story of the violent mass
school shooting at École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec (also known as the
Montreal Massacre). The film follows the story largely through the perspectives
of two students, Jean-François (Sebastian Huberdeau) and Valérie (Karine
Vanasse), as they experience this shooting and the aftermath. The film stars
Huberdeau and Vanasse as our lead characters and Maxim Gaudette as the killer.
I will not bury the lead with my thoughts on this film: it
is brilliant but also very difficult and heavily disturbing. Having just experienced
this for the first time I have to confess that I was not fully ready for the
wave of emotions that hit me when I watched this. I think what makes this film
as brilliant as it is is how understated about everything it is and, kind of as
a result, how realistic (and thus disturbing) it was. Villeneuve directed this
incredibly well and somehow managed to take a horrifying story and tell it in a
way that was so calm and somehow normal that really enhanced the feelings I was
able to get from it. The film shows shootings, moments of heroism, and running
from danger and all of it just felt surreally ordinary. This kind of ordinary
surrealism is something that anyone who has ever been in a genuinely traumatic
experience can kind of relate to which makes this film assaulting on the senses
in a way.
In addition to the calmness, this film was incredibly
realistic to the point it was very difficult to separate it from reality. This
is a true story and one that is kind of burned into me by virtue of it being a
big deal in Canada (where I’m from). The mark of a great cinematic adaptation
of a true story is certainly cinematic realism and this film nails that. I
believed all of the actors in this story and what they were doing and why. I
felt what they felt whether it was fear, anger, or confusion. I also think that
there is a real commitment to craft in making this film feel real. For
starters, the setting immediately transported me back to Canada. It showed the
harshness of winter but not in some absurdist way, just kind of the way it is.
It showed buildings and the school in great detail and I had a lot of trouble
differentiating it from any of the schools I attended growing up. On top of
this, Villeneuve wanted this to reach broad audiences so he shot it twice, once
in English and once in Canadian-French. This gives the film an authenticity
that is absent in dubbed films, and in the English version the French Canadian
accent is present furthering the realism of the setting even more.
I must give due credit to the three main actors: Huberdeau,
Vanasse, and Gaudette. Each of them deliver their character perfectly and they
all feel like real people. I felt their struggle and their reasoning for what
they were doing. I felt like Vanasse really got to shine and she has a moment
later in the film that was crushing emotionally and difficult to fully
comprehend. Gaudette probably had the most difficult job as the killer though.
He had to be a complete sociopath but with a clear reasoning and purpose. Being
able to portray a character as inhuman as this killer was, but with enough
humanity to see him as real in a story, is difficult and the levels of subtlety
Gaudette brings to this really makes that work.
The last thing I want to speak about with respect to this
film is how well it is shot. As with all the Villeneuve films I have seen, he
moves the camera so creatively and just has interesting shots that say
something solely because they are interesting. In this film, for example, there
are a couple awkward angled upside down shots that really represent how much
the world doesn’t make sense, much like the situation depicted in the film
doesn’t make sense (from the perspective of how horrifying the situation is).
Additionally, the choice to shoot this in black and white (though in part a
ratings choice) worked extremely well. It allowed you to think about the
graphic horrors on screen and how they came into being rather than simply being
disgusted by any blood or gore on screen.
I have nothing bad to say about this film and I honestly
think it is a perfect film about its subject. It punched me in the gut and
affected me on a deep emotional level I wasn’t fully ready for. I think that if
you’re looking for a powerful movie on this subject you need look no further.
This film shows horror and confusion coupled with genuine emotion and calmness
in ways most films don’t even bother to aspire for. Villeneuve nailed this film,
there is no other way to say it.
Ryan’s Score: 10/10
* This series of reviews will include all of Villenueve’s features except the 2000 film Malestrom due to it being highly difficult to obtain prior to the start of this series.
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