Décharge/Dir:Benoit Pilon, Screenplay: B.Pilon & Pierre Szalowski - Pilon’s own cinematic naturalism
Somewhere along the narrow passage of the velvet ropes, guiding us in a single line, towards the big ticket counter unfolding right in front of you, I could see some of the young ushers tending the registers of the counter, costumed in numerous halloween garb, could it be a vampire, a brothel madam, Ruth Ellen Rousseau, or an angel, who was a not so angelic female usher. Finally, when it came my turn, I was served by the “brothel madam”, and the dress was befittingly way too tight for her. One thing that was for sure, is that the “brothel madam” set the perfect tone for this evening, along with Pilon’s film. So, without no fuss or no muss, I payed my way in seeing Benoît Pilon’s latest film, Décharge, which succeeds sublimely his first film, Ce qu’il faut pour vivre, written by Bernard Émond. Pilon simply never fails at mastering direction, could it be for his very first documentary, Roger Toupin, épicier variété at a very meager budget, or this film, Décharge.
In itself, Pilon’s bleak pessimism is a stark contrast to Phillipe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, which transpires a rather emotional and radiant film, filled with hope about the awkward subject of culture shock, concerning an algerian elementary grade teacher who is practicing his teaching duties, in the classrooms of a small Montreal neighborhood. No, Pilon for this week, doesn’t want to deal with optimism, well because there is none to speak of, in Décharge. It’s a depressing film that unravels to us, the viewer, about Pilon’s woven tale of futility.
The story is set in the tone of a garbageman Pierre Dalpé, portrayed in a electrifying and mesmerizing fashion by David Boutin, who is a family man, married to a social worker Madeleine Dalpé, interpreted by a contained and self-absorbed Isabel Richer, who also helps doing the management of her husband’s business. Throughout the film, Boutin’s character is rather nameless, which is frustrating for me, because a nameless character is quite much a good indicator of a poorly developped character normally, but in this film, this is far from the case. Pierre Dalpé comes to the rescue of a runaway teen prostitute Ève, incarnated with an excruciating and heart-breaking performance by Sophie Desmarais. Which would seem, amazingly incomfortable for the viewer, is that you don’t actually think for a second that Desmarais is acting, you honestly think that she is squarely a junkie or a hooker, without ever having or feeling the notion that she’s the actress. It’s an amazingly uncomfortable and degrading feeling that you get as a viewer and a critic. Either way, the casting is absolute genius. And yes, I mean that I reasonably have a nominee for Best Supporting Actress for the Jutra Awards. It’s a mind-boggingly impressive performance, at such a precocious age, for Sophie Desmarais. We seem this runaway teen, possibly drugged on every known substance beyond reason, who is shuffled from a pimp’s hands, into another pimp’s hands like currency. The way that Pierre and Ève have met for the first time, is quite ridiculous : Pierre meets Ève while being a ski-masked vigilante, who wanted to “clean up” his Montreal neighborhood park from every addict possible, after his son pricked his finger on a seringue needle. He finally meets Ève in this seedy and dark alley, while shooting herself some grams of cocaine. It’s effectively a bizarre first meeting, however it only goes into the direction of an interesting character study.
As a character study in itself, Pilon’s characters follow quite narrowly Emile Zola’s own logic and psychology for the characters, although not having the dark, almost fatalistic endings to some of Zola’s characters, in his best known work, could it be L’Assomoir, Germinal, or Nana. We deal in a psychology that really sets the bar, and by the only force of bad genetics, bad upbringing, and bad anything, Pilon’s characters cannot escape their own immuable flaws, that are sometimes genetic, which would make the whole meaning of their lives for them, and their untimely ends justifying their own means. In more ways than one, and even regretfully, people who are full of genetical addictive weaknesses, can’t bring themselves to be treated, for in Pilon’s film, they are beyond help, treatment, and even hope. So, in the absurdity of it all, a very brutish and uncomplicated garbageman tries to be the personal savior for a young woman, who relinquishes only at the end of the film, the brothel life at the dependent pimp hands of Micky. But it’s over with Pierre, he just can’t save her anymore, because she’s too knocked out with drugs, to instigate every possible instinct of survival for her to save herself.
David Boutin delivers a performance, that is simply and nothing short of, mind-bending to me, while it is absolutely conceivable that he might as well garner a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. I say mind-bending in a serious way, because he conveys a classical performance, bringing close to my attention, great hollywood actors, and I mostly think about Bruce Willis. Boutin’s face is as expressive Isabel Richer is simply good and fair, as the rocksteady, long-suffering and consistent wife of Pierre, Madeleine. Sophie Desmarais simply steals the entire show for everyone, and now she’s just much more than a newcomer, she is simply speaking, while eluding every superfluous flattery, a discovery. What a discovery she happened to be. She will probably go places, more so than every Quebecois actor, as much as David Boutin. Although as for now, I’ll stop discussing the perfomances, because we will be at the point of delirium over here. But it won’t be the case.
However, Décharge, is not without it’s own flaws, because Ève as a character is very poorly conceived. Indeed, her character does not have a sufficent back story, giving glimpses or clues to her own history as a character. When we meet her for the first time, she’s with Micky, going to work for Micky’s cousin, as another henchman pimp, or something like that. So, that’s all we know about her, that she’s been a sex worker, disgustingly so, since early girlhood. And yes, you can safely assume, that she came from a broken down family. A little detail would have surely helped. It’s only this small imperfection, that is quite minuscule, if you reflect upon the excellent writing, cinematography and direction.
Pilon, in a classical style that he achieved into making his own, conveys with calm sincerity and crisp realism the details of this sordid tale of futility, trying not to follow the logic of our own natural expectations. He incorporates the direct documentary style he uses, in order to make effective tracking shots. Fortunately for him, Pilon doesn’t go into the pitfalls of the social drama, because he could have made the mistake of imitating Martin Scorsese, or Abel Ferrara, and trying to make Montreal as seedy and as disjointed, like New York City, New York. Nevertheless, Montreal is a great city, but it’s not to the point of being another New York City, in any way, shape or form, in the only aspect of criminality. Don’t worry, I still love New York, and the New-yorkers, even the very disgruntled ones. Therefore, Pilon sticks to the style that made his recognition, and also his own. That’s completely commendable.
When I think about it, Quebec is really making it’s way, into producing the world’s finest cinema, in the most recent years. More powerful films, that the world has ever known, or began to know.
4.8*/5
M.L
Le 30 octobre 2011
In itself, Pilon’s bleak pessimism is a stark contrast to Phillipe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, which transpires a rather emotional and radiant film, filled with hope about the awkward subject of culture shock, concerning an algerian elementary grade teacher who is practicing his teaching duties, in the classrooms of a small Montreal neighborhood. No, Pilon for this week, doesn’t want to deal with optimism, well because there is none to speak of, in Décharge. It’s a depressing film that unravels to us, the viewer, about Pilon’s woven tale of futility.
The story is set in the tone of a garbageman Pierre Dalpé, portrayed in a electrifying and mesmerizing fashion by David Boutin, who is a family man, married to a social worker Madeleine Dalpé, interpreted by a contained and self-absorbed Isabel Richer, who also helps doing the management of her husband’s business. Throughout the film, Boutin’s character is rather nameless, which is frustrating for me, because a nameless character is quite much a good indicator of a poorly developped character normally, but in this film, this is far from the case. Pierre Dalpé comes to the rescue of a runaway teen prostitute Ève, incarnated with an excruciating and heart-breaking performance by Sophie Desmarais. Which would seem, amazingly incomfortable for the viewer, is that you don’t actually think for a second that Desmarais is acting, you honestly think that she is squarely a junkie or a hooker, without ever having or feeling the notion that she’s the actress. It’s an amazingly uncomfortable and degrading feeling that you get as a viewer and a critic. Either way, the casting is absolute genius. And yes, I mean that I reasonably have a nominee for Best Supporting Actress for the Jutra Awards. It’s a mind-boggingly impressive performance, at such a precocious age, for Sophie Desmarais. We seem this runaway teen, possibly drugged on every known substance beyond reason, who is shuffled from a pimp’s hands, into another pimp’s hands like currency. The way that Pierre and Ève have met for the first time, is quite ridiculous : Pierre meets Ève while being a ski-masked vigilante, who wanted to “clean up” his Montreal neighborhood park from every addict possible, after his son pricked his finger on a seringue needle. He finally meets Ève in this seedy and dark alley, while shooting herself some grams of cocaine. It’s effectively a bizarre first meeting, however it only goes into the direction of an interesting character study.
As a character study in itself, Pilon’s characters follow quite narrowly Emile Zola’s own logic and psychology for the characters, although not having the dark, almost fatalistic endings to some of Zola’s characters, in his best known work, could it be L’Assomoir, Germinal, or Nana. We deal in a psychology that really sets the bar, and by the only force of bad genetics, bad upbringing, and bad anything, Pilon’s characters cannot escape their own immuable flaws, that are sometimes genetic, which would make the whole meaning of their lives for them, and their untimely ends justifying their own means. In more ways than one, and even regretfully, people who are full of genetical addictive weaknesses, can’t bring themselves to be treated, for in Pilon’s film, they are beyond help, treatment, and even hope. So, in the absurdity of it all, a very brutish and uncomplicated garbageman tries to be the personal savior for a young woman, who relinquishes only at the end of the film, the brothel life at the dependent pimp hands of Micky. But it’s over with Pierre, he just can’t save her anymore, because she’s too knocked out with drugs, to instigate every possible instinct of survival for her to save herself.
David Boutin delivers a performance, that is simply and nothing short of, mind-bending to me, while it is absolutely conceivable that he might as well garner a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. I say mind-bending in a serious way, because he conveys a classical performance, bringing close to my attention, great hollywood actors, and I mostly think about Bruce Willis. Boutin’s face is as expressive Isabel Richer is simply good and fair, as the rocksteady, long-suffering and consistent wife of Pierre, Madeleine. Sophie Desmarais simply steals the entire show for everyone, and now she’s just much more than a newcomer, she is simply speaking, while eluding every superfluous flattery, a discovery. What a discovery she happened to be. She will probably go places, more so than every Quebecois actor, as much as David Boutin. Although as for now, I’ll stop discussing the perfomances, because we will be at the point of delirium over here. But it won’t be the case.
However, Décharge, is not without it’s own flaws, because Ève as a character is very poorly conceived. Indeed, her character does not have a sufficent back story, giving glimpses or clues to her own history as a character. When we meet her for the first time, she’s with Micky, going to work for Micky’s cousin, as another henchman pimp, or something like that. So, that’s all we know about her, that she’s been a sex worker, disgustingly so, since early girlhood. And yes, you can safely assume, that she came from a broken down family. A little detail would have surely helped. It’s only this small imperfection, that is quite minuscule, if you reflect upon the excellent writing, cinematography and direction.
Pilon, in a classical style that he achieved into making his own, conveys with calm sincerity and crisp realism the details of this sordid tale of futility, trying not to follow the logic of our own natural expectations. He incorporates the direct documentary style he uses, in order to make effective tracking shots. Fortunately for him, Pilon doesn’t go into the pitfalls of the social drama, because he could have made the mistake of imitating Martin Scorsese, or Abel Ferrara, and trying to make Montreal as seedy and as disjointed, like New York City, New York. Nevertheless, Montreal is a great city, but it’s not to the point of being another New York City, in any way, shape or form, in the only aspect of criminality. Don’t worry, I still love New York, and the New-yorkers, even the very disgruntled ones. Therefore, Pilon sticks to the style that made his recognition, and also his own. That’s completely commendable.
When I think about it, Quebec is really making it’s way, into producing the world’s finest cinema, in the most recent years. More powerful films, that the world has ever known, or began to know.
4.8*/5
M.L
Le 30 octobre 2011
