To Monsieur, with Love

The plot of Monsieur Lazhar concerns a substitute teacher from Algeria who has come to teach a grade school level class after the suicide of their teacher. Monsieur Lazhar faces the cultural challenges of teaching in an unfamiliar country as the children simultaneously try to cope with the unfamiliar situation of their teacher’s suicide, a loss that has left the school community with many questions. This is a high level drama that has been put together very skillfully resulting in a movie that manages to avoid the melodramatic clichés that often plague larger releases. Through the plotlines of Lazhar’s immigration and the grief dealings of the students he encounters, we the audience are delivered two seemingly different stories coexisting on the same screen, but as the film progresses, the duality of the two situations is made clear.

The intricacy of plot and character relationships puts this film on the map as a gem of Canadian cinema. Not only has it won a myriad of nominations and awards on home soil (winning the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the Best Picture at the 2012 Genie Awards), more recently it has been recognized on an international scale with a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. It is no surprise that Canadians in particular are falling in love with Monsieur Lazhar since so much of it is grounded in setting (Montreal). The definition of home, and what it means to be present or absent from it is a key theme in this Quebecois film. The main character struggles to gain refugee status in Canada, which allows viewers to see the country through the eyes of a man who does not know how to maneuver its systems yet. Lazhar’s own education involves working his way through an unfamiliar elementary school curriculum and the inner workings of the immigration bureau. A unique and relatively unexplored perspective on dealing with bureaucracy is offered through Monsieur Lazhar.

Beyond the struggles of the average newcomer in a foreign country, Monsieur Lazhar is thrust into an extreme situation, dealing with young children who have so recently dealt with a great loss. (This occurs as Lazhar himself must come to terms with his own reasons for coming to Canada.) In this, the film shows that no matter where you are from or how well you know a place, no one ever truly knows all the

angles. The different consequences of having your stability uprooted are portrayed in this complex film through a number of characters and a number of circumstances.

The success of this intensely engaging and charged portrayal can be largely attributed to the talented actors in the film. As Monsieur Lazhar, Mohamed Fellag’s attention to the subtle nuances of character behavior makes his performance entirely believable and honest. Part of this exceptional honesty (that we see less and less in mainstream modern cinema) may be due to the fact the Fellag was born and raised in Algeria. With this in mind, the performance of Mohamed Fellag is elevated beyond the level of fantastic acting; to a unique opportunity to witness an actor bring a directly personal knowledge of the elements of the film to his performance.

The performances of the children too are truly impressive. Watching a child believably play a normal child their age is generally a rare occurrence, rarer still is a child actor portraying maturity beyond their years in a film. This is exactly what the child cast of Monsieur Lazhar accomplishes. The acting of these child actors is truly commendable, most notably the performances of Sophie Nelisse and Emilien Neron, who play the two principal children in the class. Their contrasting characters Alice - an interested and friendly teacher’s pet, raised mainly by her nanny- and Simon - the class clown with deeper problems beneath the surface- play off of each other very well, without the cute precociousness generally present in more popular children’s roles.

The skillful acting in this film truly is a treat for all audiences. It allows the beautifully complex plot to come to life. The viewers can easily sink their teeth into Monsieur Lazhar. There is so much to love about this film, and it will mean something a little different to each person who sees it. 
Alma Talbot

Mystery, Intrigue, action, spy

The premise of The Artist is simple and straightforward. It is Hollywood in 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a popular silent movie actor. At the premiere of one of his films, he meets Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a young female extra. While the arrival of talking pictures ends his career, sound catapults her to stardom. Their love story is good-humoured, touching and captivating with the timelessness that audiences so easily associate with Old Hollywood. 

Silent Hollywood films were made for the masses much like current blockbusters, with the intention of appealing to a large audience. The films of the silent era generally aren’t convoluted, their stunts are impressive and many have stood up against the test of time, enjoyed by audiences generations later. Even now, films made by filmmakers such as George Melies, Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin, are still incredibly entertaining.

In the interview for The Artist’s English press kit, Michel Hazavanicius, the film’s director, writer and editor, said, “Right at the beginning, seven or eight years ago, I fantasized about making a silent film. Probably because the great mythical directors I admire most all come from silent cinema… Hitchcock, Lang, Ford, Lubitsch, Murnau, Billy Wilder (as screenwriter)… But mainly because as a director it makes you face your responsibilities, it makes you tell the story in a very special way. It’s not up to the screenwriter, nor to the actors to tell the story - it really is up to the director.” He goes on to say that creating a silent film means that “everything is in the image,” which is true of his work on The Artist.

There are few media like film. Most movies use audio and visuals together, and the sensory experience is sometimes unlike any other. It is very easy to forget that film often does not require dialogue, since it is possible to show what a character is thinking without actually saying it, telling the audience or using exposition. What The Artist does is no small feat, for it rarely uses inter-titles and as such does not go to great lengths to tell the audience what the characters are saying to one another. Because Hazavanicius managed to so masterfully tell the story, I never felt pushed out of the experience even though I was watching a silent movie. 

The Artist is highly old-fashioned. It totally ignores the current trend that near everything on film and television is gritty and real. It is reminiscent of the awe movies once inspired, of movies having heart. It rejects total seriousness in favour of being a good, solid piece of entertainment that grabs your heart strings but gives your belly a laugh. The Artist is filled with humility. “I don’t make films to reproduce reality, I’m not a naturalistic director,” said Hazavanicius. “What I love is to create a show and for people to enjoy it and be aware that’s what it is, a show.” Hazavanicius goes on to say that in his opinion, “The silent movies that have not aged much, those that have withstood the test of time… are the melodramas. The genre is ideal for this. Simple love stores that are accomplished film, even masterpieces.”

At the heart of the film are the two people who carry it. Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo deserve the nominations that they’ve been given, and then some. They mix the boldness of silent film acting with the subtlety used in modern movies. The casting is impressive and that marvellous hybrid kind of acting can be seen in every character in the film, from John Goodman to Missi Pyle to James Cromwell. 

Its mastery not only lies in its acting, elegant story and storytelling, but also in its good-humour. One of the most important aspects of The Artist is that it is fun. Considering one of its three co-stars is a nine-year-old, amazingly trained, jack-russell terrier named Uggie (Jack in the film), I should hope it would be fun. It’s rare to find a comedy that doesn’t appeal solely to the middle aged audience, or the college crowd, but The Artist is filled with top notch humour appropriate for all, making it universally appealing.
Alma Talbot



Mystery, Intrigue, action, spy

“Trust no one”, one of the first lines in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy acts as the mantra for this cold war spy thriller. The film, based on John le Carré’s bestselling novel under the same title, is a non-linear labyrinth of shifty characters, hidden agendas and game-changing events. 

Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, a former agent of the upper levels of British Intelligence, affectionately referred to as the Circus. After being forced into retirement for reasons initially unbeknownst to himself and the audience, Smiley is pulled back into the centre ring to un-root one of four possible Soviet moles at the very top of the Circus. This is a doubly difficult task given that everyone in this world speaks and writes in code, never revealing more than is necessary. 

The film is set in a handful of secret locations with backdrops of dull orange, grey and beige. The story shares the intensity and pace of a James Bond film, with exceeding stakes, but without the glamour. This is a world of real men (and the occasional woman) with greying hair and crows feet, near the end of their careers, risking their lives for a cold system which by nature encourages secrecy and backstabbing. It seems everyone has an ulterior motive, the tricky part is determining what that might be. 

This is not a movie that can be passively absorbed and understood by the half-asleep viewer. Even if you were to come to it with an air of disinterest, that attitude would quickly shift because this is a film that challenges its viewers in the best possible way. It does not plead with you to care about its events or characters, but instead appeals to a sense of determination at solving what often seems to be an impenetrable mystery. As Smiley rifles through the webs upon webs of secrecy, so does the audience, initially hindered by jarring cinematic lapses in time.

In a nearly full theatre, you can feel the collective attention of the audience as they watch and listen for any detail that will help piece together the puzzle that is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Every time a new character was introduced I found myself studying their face with borderline absurd intensity, searching for a key to their motives, and to be sure that I didn’t mix this person up with someone who had appeared in an earlier scene. The faces of Colin Firth, Toby Jones, David Dencik and Ciarán Hinds become distinguished from the rest as primary suspects in Smiley’s search for the mole. There are a handful of secondary characters (blending together in a tangle of names and faces) who serve as a reflection of the multiple sides and stories -- no one can be trusted, no one is wholly who they claim to be. 

Veils of secrecy and mysterious intrigue can be found in all stories that deal with espionage. Le Carré just happens to be one writer who does it best. The British writer’s stories have been adapted as screenplays for decades, going back as early as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965), to more recently The Constant Gardener (2005). The earlier adaptations of his novels (released in the mid to late sixties) would have been contemporary to when the novels were written. One of the interesting aspects of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is that this movie has been adapted from a story written nearly forty years ago. The high tech weaponry and ultimate fighter mentality that modern audiences have become used to in the average spy thriller is missing from this latest addition to the genre. The film takes a step back from the über glamorous Hollywood spy thriller without losing the sense of intrigue, anticipation and action that is so necessary. 

In addition to having access to an exemplary plot from Le Carré, one of the film’s greatest treats is the outrageously talented Gary Oldman. Oldman’s most recent works find him voicing animated and video game characters (Kung Fu Panda 2, Call of Duty) or if you are among the Harry Potter fanatics, you will most certainly recognize Oldman as the beloved Sirius Black. Oldman has played an extremely diverse range of characters throughout his career, and is one of the actors who’s work begs the question “where is this man’s academy award?”. Considered for years to be one of the best actors who has never been nominated for an Oscar, this performance as George Smiley has finally granted Oldman with that ‘most official’ recommendation. 

So whether it is Gary Oldman, one of the other highly-acclaimed actors who play alongside him, or Le Carré’s classic story that prompts you to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you will not be disappointed by what the film has to offer. The movie truly does provide a smorgasbord of aesthetic and cinematic flourishes, and is of course a must-see for all spy thriller enthusiasts. Who knows, this may be one of those pivotal works that turns the casual filmgoer into an active spy thriller junkie! Alma Talbot