Coteau Rouge, Dir: André Forcier, Screenplay : André Forcier and Linda Pinet

As probably, the most of you may not know, is that I'm practicing writing my reviews in English, from then on, under the strong recommendation from my bro and my mom.Both of them, had pretty obvious reasons for me, to just simply write in the language of Shakespeare. So to some, this may come in as a complete surprise, or else not because some could bear reading me in English, instead of French. Yes, I've been also a French blogger, but now I want to try something different, something out of the norm, something which is almost unusual for any naturalized Quebecer such as your not so humble narrator here : writing in English. I know that it's been almost a year that I've been writing in French, and for the most of my Quebecian readership, they'll be completely sent into dissaray : "What he's writing in English, what for ? My entire world is crumbling down." And on the other hand, they might say : "Gosh, what a total and cheap sellout." So you probably get it as of now, what I'm talking about, right now.

It might be only something, that I want to experiment, it may not last for long, but who knows : my readership will probably grow exponentially bigger. Or, I'm just pretty much jerkin' off.

Well, after this exhaustive preamble of my choice of language, let's just start off with the review of Coteau Rouge, directed by the seminal Marc-André Forcier. In virtue of this, Forcier decided to make a film that would appeal massively to everyone, a film that would be in his terms "accessible", all depending on your definition of what makes an auteur film, or a plain piece of cinema "accessible". For one, it all depends on your tastes for fine arts, if you lack any taste for everything related to fine arts, in films who are mostly artistic, you're going to pretty  much find everything"inaccessible". In this case, if you may not like Forcier's surrealism in his style or content, you'll pretty much loathe the rest of his work, which was never the case with me. Whilst before, I was a Forcier neophyte, my first experiences with his films, in their original versions, happen to be Au Clair de la Lune, L'eau chaude, L'eau frette, and Le Vent du Wyoming. Three awesomely great surrealistic films in their own making and credit, especially Au Clair de Lune, which the exuberance was compared to Federico Fellini at a certain point.

However, here we have Coteau Rouge, a newly released film by Forcier that strays so much away from his own original directing style that made him unique, or on another side, it lacked a considerable impact with me. Because here we have great and original, quirky and eccentric characters, who lead their lives according to their own blissful insanity, but the execution in it's direction doesn't match up to the telling of it's own characters. That of course, is quite dissapointing, especially when you expect from Forcier at everytime, is an impeccable direction in every possible way, because he's such a master. Forcier dabbles for a cold realistic undertone in this film, which is also present in L'Age des Ténèbres, the last Denys Arcand.

The story is quite peculiar, but on the other hand, completely forgettable, because Forcier puts more emphasis on his characters than on giving a plot some direction or focus. That is the main problem, it seems the plot loses it's central focus, instead it focuses on interweaving the plots of many characters, as if all the supporting characters are the movie themselves. There is no main plot to speak of, as it is completely discarded during half of the film. Sometimes, the plot, if there is one, seems often times idiotic and nonsensical, explaining poorly the detail in the relationships between the characters.

The acting is not up to par with some of the characters, brillantly written with all their own quirks, and traits, who happen to be deepened enough for the film. They have their own motivations, but on the slanting side, they seem ridiculous, and you more or less buy into it. Roy Dupuis, fits well in a role that goes considerably against his type, as a real estate promoter who is willing to make a wall of condos surrounding the south region of the St-Lawrence River, Longueuil. Dupuis portrays in an interesting and an nonchalant fashion, his own character of a greedy promoter, who doesn't seem so greedy, because Dupuis excudes so much charisma, that you would buy into every business venture, he would shovel down on your face. Celine Bonnier isn't actually funny enough to be comedic, because you would cringe at every moment, where she seems to be faking a pregnancy. For the comedy, it's never actually naturally funny, everything seems so placated and clinical in it's humour, and it transpires in their own performances. Everyone else, could it be Gaston Lepage, Mario St-Amand and Paolo Noel, give solid interpretations, without being completely stellar.

If you've enjoyed this one, than you might as well like Forcier's more ancient films, could it be Au Clair de la Lune, L'eau chaude, L'eau frette or Le Vent du Wyoming.


The rating:
2.9*/5

M.L

Le 11 septembre 2011