Polytechnique

Genre: psychological drama (in black and white)

With: Maxim Gaudette (the killer), Karine Vanasse (Valérie), Évelyne Brochu (Stéphanie), Sébastien Huberdeau (Jean-François), Johanne-Marie Tremblay (Jean-François’s mother), Pierre-Yves Cardinal (Éric), Pierre Leblanc (Mr. Martineau), Francesca Barcenas (the injured student near the photocopiers)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Jacques Davidts (with help from Éric Leca and Denis Villeneuve)

Release: 2009

Studio: Remstar, Don Carmody Productions, Davis Films/Impact Canada

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.4/10

 

 

This is a man's world
But it would be nothing, nothing
Without a woman or a girl*

 

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Story-line: while university students are busy photocopying material for their courses, gunshots are heard nearby. An appalling event is unfolding, one that will end lives and shatter many more.

Pluses: a strong cast delivering note-perfect performances, a mature and illuminating screenplay that explores sensitive issues even-handedly and yields several heartbreaking scenes, economical direction that manages to transform a senseless act into a thoughtful artistic statement, irreproachable cinematography, a restrained musical score and a courageous ending.

Minuses: none, except that this important movie and the activism sparked by the Polytechnique shootings of 1989 have not brought the Canadian debate over firearms to a satisfying conclusion until now.  

Comments: in its study of rampant sexism and hatred towards women, the jarring POLYTECHNIQUE pays tribute to the 13 promising female students and the Poly employee whose lives were cut short more than 30 years ago and sheds light on the  goodness that shines forth in times of crisis. POLYTECHNIQUE, a clear condemnation of all forms of violence, was early proof of Denis Villeneuve’s brilliance as a director. 

 

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*It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World, by James Brown, Betty Jean Newsome, Anthony (pka Sir Jinx) Wheaton and O’Shea Jackson