VIC+FLO ONT VU UN OURS
Berlin International Film Festival (Competition)
Cast
Pierrette Robitaille, Romane Bohringer, Marc-Andre Grondin, Marie Brassard
Director-screenwriter Denis Cote
Among the films of the 63rd
Berlinale that I found to be almost useless, stands Denis Côté’s “Vic + Flo ont vu un ours”, seen in
the main Competition.
The Director himself was confessing his
doubts in having succeeded this exploration of fiction.
And the public believes the same about the story of Vic(Pierette Robitaille) and Florence(Romane Bohringer), two ex inmates with a dark past, that calls for a dark future...
And the public believes the same about the story of Vic(Pierette Robitaille) and Florence(Romane Bohringer), two ex inmates with a dark past, that calls for a dark future...
Denis
Côté's film is at first noticeable because it reveals unsuspected levels of cruelty in human nature.
Cote attempted here a reflection on the real dimensions of prison and freedom for human beings.
Cote attempted here a reflection on the real dimensions of prison and freedom for human beings.
One could compare this film with Côté's documentary Bestiaire (Canada, 2012), which
collected images of animals in unnatural situations inside a Quebec zoo.
The
parallel and the analogies of captivity are obvious.
Like the animals of Bestiaire, the protagonist of Vic
+ Flo Saw A Bear is also in an unnatural situation. Flo seeks freedom, so she
refuses contact with people and prefers to hide in the forest.
Côté uses a
stationary camera and elegant compositions to contrast the beauty of the images
with a cruel reality.
Vic is an unsecure and discrete ingenue.
Flo is an impulsive and sensual woman.
They both feel unease in their gestures, habits, clothing...
And this feeling is immediately projected onto us, specators!
Flo is an impulsive and sensual woman.
They both feel unease in their gestures, habits, clothing...
And this feeling is immediately projected onto us, specators!
The only assitance they receive is from their parol officer Guillame (Marc-André Grondin) and from the
ambiguous – but resistant – feeling that connects them.
The Director gathers weird characters around the lesbian couple:
the ghostly parole officer,
a mysterious woman seeking revenge,
and a crippled old man who can't talk, but who observes everything from his wheelchair.
The Director gathers weird characters around the lesbian couple:
the ghostly parole officer,
a mysterious woman seeking revenge,
and a crippled old man who can't talk, but who observes everything from his wheelchair.
In reality Vic + Flo is a true
tragedy, including several lectio or lectures of the terminology.
The
ironical and raher bizarre tones of the beggining are extremely appealing.
But then, suddenly, and without a valid reason, the film mutates into an emotional thriller.
But then, suddenly, and without a valid reason, the film mutates into an emotional thriller.
This might originate in its screenplay, quite
rich in wholes and cover-ups (or rather said “forced narrative moments”).
And
than, where none of these work anymore, there is the void.
A VOID that Denis Cote is
dilluting to the very end.
The delirious outcome of the film works as the
logical consequence of its dark and absurd situations.
Cote was truelly keen on saying something about the
irreversibility of destiny...
He ended up, instead, being just irreversibly lost into
rhetorics...
Among quite forgettable actors, which more is.
Except for the dark and savage fascination
of "la" Bohringer...
GD
Production companies: La Maison de Prod, Metafilms
Cast: Pierrette Robitaille, Romane Bohringer, Marc-Andre Grondin, Marie Brassard, Georges Molnar, Olivier Aubin, Pier-Luc Funk, Guy Thauvette, Ramon Cespedes, Dany Boudereault, Johanne Haberlin, Ted Pluviose, Raoul Fortier-Mercier
Director-screenwriter: Denis Cote
Producers: Stephanie Morissette, Sylvain Corbeil
Director of photography: Ian Lagarde
Production designer: Colombe Raby
Music: Melissa Lavergne
Costume designer: Patricia McNeil
Editor: Nicolas Roy
Sales: Films Boutique
No rating, 96 minutes
Cast: Pierrette Robitaille, Romane Bohringer, Marc-Andre Grondin, Marie Brassard, Georges Molnar, Olivier Aubin, Pier-Luc Funk, Guy Thauvette, Ramon Cespedes, Dany Boudereault, Johanne Haberlin, Ted Pluviose, Raoul Fortier-Mercier
Director-screenwriter: Denis Cote
Producers: Stephanie Morissette, Sylvain Corbeil
Director of photography: Ian Lagarde
Production designer: Colombe Raby
Music: Melissa Lavergne
Costume designer: Patricia McNeil
Editor: Nicolas Roy
Sales: Films Boutique
No rating, 96 minutes
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