Settling scores between friends in an isolated chalet in the heart of the deep forests of the Great Canadian North

“Comme le feu” is part of the pure tradition of Quebec cinema, which is skilled at depicting human passions through long dialogue scenes.

Canadian director Philippe Lesage immerses us in a closed-door environment in the middle of nature, in which the feelings of a small group of friends are unleashed. With this third fiction film, inspired by an experience lived by his brother, Philippe Lesage delves into the autobiographical vein. Like fire hits theaters July 31.

Blake (Arieh Worthalter)a documentary filmmaker, invites his old friend Albert (Paul Ahmarani), a screenwriter with whom he once collaborated, for a nature stay, fishing, hunting and drunken evenings in his chalet lost in the Quebec forest. Albert is there with his daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré), his son with his boyfriend Jeff, secretly in love with the young girl. An editor, two friends of Blake and a couple, Hélène (Irène Jacob) and Eddy, complete the list of guests.

Jeff, who wants to become a director, greatly admires Blake, but quickly feels jealous when he understands the fascination that his father’s friend exerts on Aliocha. The old grudges between Blake and Albert weigh down the atmosphere of this reunion, which ends up turning into a nauseating settling of scores.

Philippe Lesage stages these human passions in a closed setting of wide open spaces. Dependent on Blake, who brought them there aboard a small seaplane, the protagonists of this adventure are condemned to live together in a magnificent but hostile environment.

The director builds up the tension throughout the story, up to breaking points that take us to the edge of a thriller. In a production that makes full use of the settings, disturbing forests, tumultuous rivers, cozy chalet, Philippe Lesage stages the feelings and resentments of each other, in the manner of a Greek tragedy.

Blake appears as the dominant male figure, knowing how to hunt, fish, a sunny and mysterious character, while opposite him Albert, embittered, clumsy and sentimental, indulges in complaints and reproaches. Blake remained faithful to his convictions, Albert made compromises. Antagonistic archetypes that end up fading, Blake revealing himself to be less strong and less pure than he seems, even letting himself shed a few tears in certain circumstances.

In this learning film, Philippe Lesage questions the transmission and the role of adults in the construction of adolescents, eager for models to follow, who sometimes turn out to be disappointing. He also addresses the question of first loves, a subject he had already dealt with in Genesishis previous film.

With its many scenes of dialogue that ring very true, Like fire is part of the tradition of Quebec cinema, very adept at bringing out truths and human nature in verbal jousts.

Composed of long sequence shots and skillfully exploiting silence, ambient sounds and music, the film unfolds throughout at a very slow tempo. A haunting rhythm, which also speaks of the time that passes and has passed for Blake and Albert, with the observation of failures, missteps, things that they have let slip away.

Gender : Drama
Director: Philippe Lesage
Actors: Noah Parker (II), Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Arieh Worthalter, Irène Jacob
Country : Canada
Duration : 2h41
Exit : July 31 2024
Distributer : Tandem/Shellac
Synopsis : Jeff, 17, is secretly in love with Aliocha. They both admire the mysterious Blake, an old friend of the girl’s father, who invites them to spend a few days in his hunting lodge in the heart of the great Canadian north. There, in the middle of nature, the two teenagers confront a world of childish adults, ready to ignite.