Since I just started writing this blog and had to fill in my favourite movies on the home page, I suddenly remembered a film that I saw when I was in my early 20's. It was Les Bons débarras from Quebec starring a very young Charlotte Laurier. I happened to be at the premiere and was extremely taken by it, and later, was fortunate enough to have partied with its director, the late Francis Mankiewicz:
Mankiewicz's evocative Gothic tale of passion, jealousy and all-embracing love was based on a script by Québec novelist and dramatist Réjean Ducharme. The film was selected as Best Canadian film of 1980 at the Academy of Canadian Cinema's Genie Awards and it won 7 other Genies. Canadian critics were virtually unanimous in their reviews, praising the baroque poetry of the film's dialogue, its austere, evocative imagery, spare narrative action and brilliant performances. Everyone noted the way director Mankiewicz melded the various elements of the film in order to generate a sense of the menace of evil, building to a crescendo of horror. The film quickly entered the canon of Canadian cinema and is widely recognized as one of the best Canadian films ever made. (Peter Morris)
Throw away your Atom Egoyan DVD's and watch the work of a genuine artist.
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