Dehors Serge Dehors | My relatives, these heroes ★★★★

For six years, the actor Serge Thériault has lived at home, voluntarily confined and refusing to communicate with the outside. Only his wife Anna, his daughter Melina and the couple of neighbors Robert and Jolande living on the lower floor have access to him. Beyond the story of Serge Thériault, it is that of his caregivers that is told here.

André Duchesne
Press

This magnificent documentary by Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe reminds us, from afar, The legend of the pianist on the ocean, film by Giuseppe Tornatore inspired by the book Novecento: pianist by Alessandro Baricco.

Certainly, Serge Thériault, invisible hero of the film, did not spend his life on a ship by obstinately refusing to disembark even if it means disappearing at the bottom of the sea with the wreck. But the fact remains that the actor has had to deal with an inland sea so rough in recent years that he sank into depression and systematically refused to leave his home.

However, the impact of such a situation on the immediate family is immense. It is this veil of consequences that the two directors strive to lift. Yes, the exercise, because of its content and form, is bound to raise questions about the protection of privacy. But the doubt quickly dissipates because the subject is treated with a mixture of gentleness, respect, humanism and naturalism.

Fournier and Latulippe do not steal scraps of life about them. The camera is not intrusive. They don’t tear up a confession. They don’t stage. And they give, it is surprising for such a short work, time to time.

Outside Serge Outside is not just a documentary. It’s a love story. That of a companion, Anna, and a daughter, Melina, who are desperate to see this spouse and this father get better. They hang on. They like. They persist.

It is also a story of superheroes, Robert and Jolande, very modest people who, day after day and without ever rushing anything, reach out in the hope of bringing a little help and comfort.

There is definitely something universal about the film in the fact that it tells the story of natural caregivers who, on the front line, take care of a loved one while having to deal with their own bruises.

Outside Serge Outside is a difficult movie to watch. He grazes, he graffiti, he moves. And yet. It’s a beautiful story that the two directors had the intelligence to let live as it is instead of imposing it. And whose final goes towards the light.

Indoors

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Documentary

Outside Serge Outside

Martin Fournier and Pier-Luc Latulippe

With Anna Suazo, Melina Thériault Suazo, Robert and Jolande Racicot

1 h 08

★★★★