Daniel Briere
- 2003
Director Louis Belanger follows up his debut feature Post Mortem with this introspective, low key, working-class comedy drama concerning relationships, responsibility, and father-son bonding. Affectionately referred to as "The Boss" by his friends, Mr. Brochu (Serge Theriault) has been running the full-service Champlain gas station with the help of his family for the past 15 years. Though his wife is long gone and he is beginning to suffer the effects of Parkinson's disease, he maintains the store well until his sons begin to express aspirations outside of the family business. An aspiring photographer, Rejean (Sebastien Delorme) makes way for Germany when he hears that the Berlin Wall is about to fall, and Guy (Danny Gilmore) seems to be more interested in developing his blues band than maintaining the pumps. At least young Alain (Maxime Dumontier) shows some interest in carrying on tradition, though, at age 14, he's hardly ready to take on all of the adult responsibilities that the job entails. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Theriault, Gilles Renaud, (more)
- 2000
A documentary filmmaker and his subject find themselves at odds in this dark comedy from Canada. A mechanical engineer who has lost his job is trying to decide what to do with himself now that he needs to find a job. An actor who is looking to break into filmmaking hears of his predicament and asks to make a film about his life, following him with a camera until he can land a job. Without much else going on in his life, the engineer agrees, and soon the documentarian thinks he's hit pay dirt when the engineer begins romancing a supermarket check-out girl, even seducing her on camera. However, the filmmaker's political agenda is a great deal different than that of the engineer, and when he begins expressing his own controversial opinions while the engineer suffers through failing job interviews, things quickly become tense. La Moitie Gauche Du Frigo was named the Best Debut Canadian Feature at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephane Demers
- 1999
Quebec filmmaker Jean-Phillipe Duval debuted with this madcap comedy about a graduate student sucked into Montreal's criminal netherworld. Ph.D. candidate Gilles (Alexis Martin) literally runs into waitress Guylaine (Guylaine Tremblay) at the beach while he is reviewing his dissertation. The two immediately hit it off, and when he returns to his abode in Montreal he heads straight to the low-rent bar where she works. The lovebirds begin talking about the future, until Guylaine's gun-toting brother Bob (Gary Boudreault) staggers to their doorstep after getting worked over by the mob. Fearing for his life, he pleads with Gilles to deliver a message to Matroni, the big boss. On his way to hand off the note, the overly ethical Gilles has a moral crisis: the letter lists names of other soon-to-be-ex-hoods. His actions start a series of bizarre and unforeseen incidents. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexis Martin, Guylaine Tremblay, (more)
- 1989
In this watered-down fantasy, Cotnoir (Remy Girard) is a middle-aged male virgin who falls in love with the picture of a female author on the back of her novel. He sets out by boat for the island where author Helena Montana (Marie Tifo) presently resides, but when the boat breaks down, he has fantasies that she is a mermaid. Soon the line between fantasy and reality is blurred as Cotnoir returns to Montreal with Montana and is able to convince his friends as well that she is a mermaid. The title refers to a fictional book written by Montana. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Tifo, Rémy Girard, (more)
- 1986
- R
- AddThe Decline of the American Empireto QueueAddThe Decline of the American Empireto top of Queue
A rousing "he said/she said" endeavor, The Decline of the American Empire begins by separating the boys from the girls. Preparing a gourmet dinner, four male intellectuals begin trading stories of their sexual experiences. At the same time, four well-read women, all working out in a gym, exchange their own tales from the love front. The film is set in the lofty circles of academia, a world well known to Canadian director Denys Arcand. The anecdotes related herein are based on actual events in the lives of Arcand's professorial friends. There's nothing bookish, however, about the subject matter of the stories themselves, which ranges from mild philandering to S & M. The Decline of the American Empire was the winner of eight Canadian Genie awards (that's the above-the-border equivalent of the Oscar), including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Curzi, Rémy Girard, (more)
- 1986
This study of the feminist mystique and its underlying issues centers on Madeline (Monique Mercure), a middle-aged director set on conquests of any kind. Also featured are Madeline's relationship to her daughter Renee (Guylaine Normandine) and a few lovers. Madeline is working as a radio talk show host when her daughter comes home to stay with her for the summer. Madeline seems fired by inner demons that propel her to excel in one way or another, either by doing a good work-out at the gym, by competing with her daughter, or by changing lovers one day to the next. The relationships she has throughout the summer fluctuate and change, yet by the time Renee is ready to go off to school again there is some hope for happiness ahead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monique Mercure, Guylaine Normandine, (more)
