Pascal Maeder Movies
When Teresa (Vanessa Bauche) was left in Mexico by a husband who hiked it up to Montreal, she followed in search of him with the help of Fenton (Jesse Aaron Dwyre), a grocery-store stock boy, but little does her new companion know of the mystery surrounding this mistress and her equally enigmatic ex-suitor. This emotionally ambitious and frequently comedic feature follows the two as they travel across Montreal, often encountering colorful characters who lead them to the final denouement, where Teresa will have more explaining to do than she ever expected. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Bauche, Jesse Aaron Dwyre, (more)
- 2006
A melancholy athlete trades football for a new life as a hit man in this black comedy. Jean-Marc Thomas (Laurent Lucas) was once a reasonably successful professional soccer player, but after his career took a tailspin Thomas's girlfriend committed suicide, which sent him into a deep depression. Thomas moved to his late girlfriend's hometown of Montreal, and twelve years later has left sports behind for a career as a small-time criminal, though he still insists on carrying his soccer ball with him most of the time. While Thomas and his partner Michel (Pierre-Luc Brilliant) have barely mastered the art of knocking over doughnut shops and empty houses, a low-level crime boss has approached Thomas and asked him to consider becoming a hired killer. Thomas reluctantly agrees even though he has no idea of how to use a gun, and begins trailing his first target through Montreal in mid-winter. Sur La Trace d'Igor Rizzi (aka On The Trail of Igor Rizzi was the first feature film from Toronto-based writer and director Noel Mitrani. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurent Lucas, Pierre-Luc Brillant, (more)
- 2004
- NR
A pair of e-mailing lovers discover romance is more difficult in the real world than in cyberspace, especially when a highly unexpected rivalry comes into the picture in this understated comedy drama. Norman (Noël Burton) is a middle-aged college professor from Montreal who, through an on-line dating service, has been corresponding with Gladys (Vanessa Bauche), an attractive younger woman from Mexico. Emboldened by the dating service's prediction that their relationship has a 61 percent chance of lasting, Norman flies to Mexico to ask for Gladys' hand in marriage. Gladys accepts, but only under the condition that her mother, Fernanda (Susana Salazar), can join them in Canada. Norman agrees, but it isn't long before both Norman and Gladys discover the chemistry they enjoyed through the mail doesn't work nearly as well in person. Gladys wonders aloud if Norman actually wrote his own letters, and Norman starts to suspect his new bride is more interested in a green card than in him. Matters become all the more difficult when Norman finds himself becoming infatuated with Fernanda, who is not much older than he is and quite attractive for her age. A Silent Love was the first feature film from director Federico Hidalgo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Paulina Robles, his spouse. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Bauche, Noël Burton, (more)
- 2001
- Add S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic to Queue Add S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic to top of Queue
Daniel Cross's hard-hitting activist documentary S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic takes a headfirst plunge into a disturbing social phenomenon: that of financially strapped and impoverished homeless children who eke out a living by washing cars at stoplights and hitting the drivers up for change. At the center of it all is Roach, one of the youth in question, who captures the squeegee subculture from the inside out. He takes us inside of the derelict tenement where his buddies and co-workers reside - battling scurvy, gangrene, extreme tooth decay, drug addiction and the basic elements, and running constantly, frantically, in desperate attempts to escape from the cops who vow to bring these kids down. To create this film and capture its compelling imagery, Cross collaborated not only with Roach, but with so many of his colleagues who suffer through the same problems on a daily basis. Several contributed the music on the soundtrack. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- 2001
In this offbeat mixture of sci-fi and film noir influences, Tobi (Attila Bertalan), who is a junk dealer and small-time hustler stranded on a dying planet of losers and cast-offs, is desperate to leave and find a better life on Earth. Tobi has learned that a gang of Russian émigrés can arrange passage to Earth, but that leaves Tobi with the difficult task of finding the Russians, and then finding a way to pay his fare. Tobi's best bet for raising the cash is his friend, Tony Lee (Russell Yuen), who has a rare gift for playing cards, but Tobi also has to contend with the scheming of Carmella (Kena Molina), a seductress who says she'll do anything for Tobi; Tobi's supposed friend Louis (Gerald Gagnon); and Louis' significant other (Pascale Bussieres), who enjoys playing Louis and Tobi against each other. Between the Moon and Montevideo was shot on location in Cuba to give the film an unusual and weather-beaten look; Attila Bertalan, who plays Tobi, also served as director and screenwriter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Attila Bertalan, Pascale Bussières, (more)
- 1995
This unique Canadian thriller has the feel of an old fashioned underground art film as it tells the story of leather-clad, shade-wearing Urania as she moves along the trashy streets of Montreal's downtown. She stops by a local pub and meets Mat, an enigmatic fellow. They hit it off and head down the highway together, talking all the way. Their trip comes to a grinding halt when their car breaks down in front of a lonely motel inhabited by some ominous and very strange people. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The burgeoning online romance between a middle-aged Canadian professor and a young Mexican woman is soon complicated by the prospect of marriage and growing suspicions on each side in a romantic comedy starring Vanessa Bauche, Noël Burton, and Susana Salazar. Norman (Burton) and Gladys (Bauche) are two lonely souls just looking for love. Soon after being brought together in the virtual world by an online dating service, the pair gradually gets to know one another over e-mail before eventually making a plan to meet face to face in Mexico. When Norman arrives and proposes marriage to the Mexican beauty, she reluctantly agrees under the explicit understanding that her widowed mother, Fernanda (Salazar), also be able to move to Canada and reside with the pair. But building relationships in the real world is much more difficult than getting to know someone over e-mail, and as Gladys begins to suspect that Norman had help writing his romantic e-mails, Norman begins to harbor suspicions that his new bride only married him to obtain her green card. Though Fernanda does her best to smooth out the rough roads for the troubled couple, her attempt at helping the pair soon results in the most complicated development of all as she and Norman begin to fall deeply in love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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