Due to two seemingly insignificant events – a phone call from an ex-wife and an undone shoelace – unemployed crime reporter Gérard Langlois (Luc Picard) arrives home minutes after a gas explosion destroys his apartment building and claims the lives of six people. Three times divorced and six months sober, Gérard, a man who has seemed bent on shortening his life, is tormented by survivor guilt. He resolves to make sense of this catastrophe by investigating the victims’ pasts, but his efforts are complicated by his former reputation as a "scavenger reporter" and his struggle to stay on the wagon. As Gérard’s quest for meaning and understanding takes him from Montreal’s gritty Hochelaga neighbourhood to Quebec’s south shore, the only comfort and encouragement he receives is from Angela (Guylaine Tremblay), a waitress who has lost her family through her own alcoholism.
Adapted from his own novel, director Bernard Émond’s compassionate, existential follow-up to his impressive debut feature, La Femme qui boit (2001), continues his exploration of destiny, loss, addiction, faith, forgiveness and the fragility of life. Émond’s documentary background and his training as an anthropologist are evident in his ability to capture an authentic sense of place, character and community. The charismatic Luc Picard – one of the leading Québécois actors of his generation – gives a complex, uninhibited performance in perfect harmony with the film’s clean camera work, philosophizing voice-over and tranquil, dignified tone.
20h17, rue darling screened in the International Critic’s Week at the Festival de Cannes, at the Toronto International Film Festival® and at numerous other international festivals. It was named one of Canada’s Top Ten of 2003 by an independent, national panel comprised of filmmakers, programmers, journalists and industry professionals. |
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