(Berlin) With his unique vision and his sense of direction, Denis Côté once again offers a film that is unlike anything else, in which he boldly tackles themes related to sexuality, rarely dealt with in Quebec cinema.
Posted at 4:15 p.m.
A summer like this, in the running for the Golden Bear, is the “longest” of Denis Côté’s films. During the 137 minutes that the projection lasts, this slow rhythm is however never binding. As if this way of taking your time to beat time had imposed itself to breathe life into a story which, in the end, is not really one…
At first, there are only close-up faces. The director of the event comes to explain to the people she is addressing the why and how of this strange workshop, in which three young women leading a sexual life “out of the ordinary” in the eyes of society have voluntarily agreed to participate. They are then explained the regulations to which they will still have to submit during the 26 days that will last an exercise that is more a matter of study than therapy. They are also introduced to the two professionals (Anne Ratte Polle and Samir Guesmi) who will observe them during their stay, in complete discretion. The goal is not so much to treat – they are not “patients” – as to explore the confines of sexual desire, which, in the case of these women, can sometimes take on more extreme forms. “It’s a process, not a treatment,” they are told straight away.
They are three, therefore. Performed by Larissa Corriveau, Aude Mathieu and Laure Giappiconi, we don’t really know where these women come from or what led them to this particular program, but there lies the strength of the story. The spectator and the heroines are indeed always at the same level of understanding, in a kind of bubble where daily reality no longer really has a hold.
A delicate gaze
We talk a lot about sex, of course. Denis Côté has nevertheless managed the feat of frankly illustrating the sexual practices of these women, without ever having recourse to explicit images that we would usually associate with porn. There is, on the contrary, an infinite delicacy in the gaze, even in the most frontal sequences. In this regard, the approach taken by the filmmaker is impressive. Let us remember in particular this scene with Léonie (Larissa Corriveau), a follower of bondage, while several minutes are spent preparing for a session that looks like a ritual. An assembly of cables orchestrated with a clever mix of softness and precision is shown here in all its complexity, like the composition of a painting, without any voyeuristic effect.
Moral judgment is completely absent from the filmmaker’s approach, as is any desire for provocation. The cohabitation of five individuals for 26 days in this isolated place in the Laurentians will obviously lead to discussions and more intense moments in terms of personal relationships, perhaps even certain reflections for some of them. But there is no demonstration of anything here. Upon arrival, we will have spent time with them, with him too, like a moment suspended in space, out of time, with the satisfaction of having had an experience, no matter what will happen next. The quality of the acting of the five main characters is to be underlined, just as much as a singular pictorial vision, specific to the cinema of Denis Côté.
It now remains to be seen how this original cinematographic object will be received by the international press, and more particularly by the jury.
A summer like this will be showing in Quebec in the coming months.