Is the cinema screen the mirror of the soul of the filmmakers, or of the spectators? No doubt a bit of both, and that’s why the films reveal as much about the values, torments and passions of artisans as about those of the society from which they emerge. As part of the summer series In Therapy: Quebec Cinema, The duty gives the opportunity to eight psychologists to lend themselves to the game of the therapeutic session, with a local film of their choice for the patient. To start in style, It was raining birds (2019), by Louise Archambault, a successful adaptation of Jocelyne Saucier’s bestselling novel.
Can you survive your physical and psychological wounds after a major natural disaster or those of a life between the four walls of a psychiatric ward? In It was raining birdsby Louise Archambault (Family, Gabriella, thank you for everything), the thing is not only possible, but admirably illustrated through the trajectories of different characters who bear not only the weight of the years, but that of the dramas and betrayals that have marked them.
In a magnificent forest and facing a lake that looks like a sea of oil, Charlie (Gilbert Sicotte), Tom (Rémy Girard) and Boychuck (Kenneth Welsh) lead a simple existence, on the fringes of the turmoil of the world. The death of Boychuck, who once experienced the horror of large devastating fires, upsets this balance, and even more so when Steve (Éric Robidoux), their appointed provider, arrives with his octogenarian aunt (Andrée Lachapelle), including him and his family. unaware of their existence until then, reclusive and excessively medicated. This female presence upsets the balance of this clan, not to mention that of a photographer (Ève Landry) determined to shed light on the mysteries surrounding Boychuck.
Far from the carelessness and bonhomie of Gilles Carle’s films of the 1970s, It was raining birds presents men and women for whom nature is not only a refuge, but a vital necessity; some will never want to leave, others will take advantage of its many benefits as long as they can – because a fire threatens this corner of paradise. For this first analysis, The duty spoke with Christine Grou, clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist and president of the Order of Psychologists of Quebec.
How did you feel after watchingIt was raining birds ?
At the start of the screening, I wondered where the film was going to take us, and I felt that it would be both long… and quiet. Since that time, I adore it, because it gave me a great feeling of zen in front of the life of these three men living around a lake. These hermits form a micro-community while respecting the space and territory of others, skinned people who have found a haven of peace there. I admit it: I would like to live there, and live that life! And just looking at them makes me feel good.
Doctors are increasingly prescribing exposure to nature to provide relief to their patients. This film seems to prove them right.
It is a perfect illustration of the benefits of nature, including on the psychological level. This way of life is extremely healthy because the characters experience no stress, no overstimulation, no obligations, no misinformation. They can rely on each other…if needed. Otherwise, they don’t care! In addition, they have a dog, the best companion in the world, which accompanies them even in death.
If Louise Archambault had asked you for advice on further fleshing out the psychology of the characters, would you have accepted? And what would you have changed?
I almost want to tell you that it would have been a shame for her to ask me for advice. Nothing in this film bothered me; on the contrary, I found it very soothing… knowing that it is fantastical. There are virtues to fantasies, because they allow us to live what we would like to live, but which we cannot agree in reality. As a spectator, at a certain moment, we escape from our daily life, and that gives us enormous good. The reality is much less pleasant. For example, the character of Gilbert Sicotte would surely have died of cancer and that of Andrée Lachapelle in a psychiatric hospital without ever having known happiness.
Regarding the one who decides to rename herself Marie-Desneige to mark her new life far from the hospital environment that she has known for too long, don’t you find her “healing” somewhat idyllic?
This is THE fantasy part of the film. For us and for our loved ones, we would all like to give up medical treatment and be healed; Unfortunately, it doesn’t often happen that way. This character has spent his life in a psychiatric institution, medicated, cut off from his family and the world. She should therefore be much more maladaptive, but once she arrives in the forest, she displays almost normal behavior. You could say it is a daydream. Same thing for his romantic encounter: on one side, a hermit, and on the other, a person who has been in psychiatry for a long time. Relationship skills can’t develop that fast, and it’s as if they’ve always lived together. That said, it’s very beautiful, because who doesn’t like beautiful love stories?
Were you surprised by the strong bond between the characters belonging to two very different generations?
There is a real interest in knowing, understanding and witnessing this form of life in the depths of the woods. Quite the opposite of a movie like Barbarian invasions, by Denys Arcand, where intergenerational conflicts are very present, and where the strength of friendship becomes the family. What is special in Barbarian invasions, it is the contempt that each generation displays towards the other, and while young people sink into drugs or consumerism. In It was raining birdsnot only is there no contempt, but the young characters seek to glorify this life.
Do you integrate cinema into your practice? And if so, is a movie like It was raining birds would fit in there?
Films are not necessarily a work tool, but a complement, a catalyst generating emotions. Sometimes I recommend them as metaphors, because they often reproduce scenes from everyday life, and allow me to illustrate my point well. Especially since my patients, who tell me a lot of things, will of course tell me about the series and films they have seen. Another of their virtues is to bring a little lightness in an often emotionally charged context.
I would gladly take It was raining birds to describe the development of intimacy between two aging people, and to explain that this can be woven harmoniously even if these people come from two very different backgrounds. To address parent-child relationships, intergenerational conflict, the complicity of a separated couple, or medical assistance in dying—to try to make peace with this sensitive issue—I would recommend Barbarian invasions. And in front of a young person in burnout, who works four times too much to satisfy a boss incapable of recognition, I would opt for The Devil Wears Prada !