During their media tour, the artisans of this film adaptation of the best-selling novel The plunger, including the author Stéphane Larue, explained their desire for a real cinema film, in which we would find a bit of the American style of the 1970s, drawing inspiration in particular from the atmosphere of the works by Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet at that time. The bet is well held.
Francis Leclerc, who offered us one after the other Barefoot in the dawn And The time grabber, completely changes register here to plunge us – no pun intended – into the world of a 19-year-old young man completely addicted to gambling. The filmmaker first sets up an anxiety-provoking climate by infiltrating the kitchen of the trendy restaurant where the dishwasher of the title found a job. As soon as the camera lands on Stéphane (Henri Picard), who tells us his story in voice-over 15 years later (with the voice of Marc-André Grondin), the action then follows the crazy rhythm of the place, almost as frenetic as the one on which the protagonist’s heart and mind beat.
The lights are raw and the atmospheres a bit trash unfold to the sound of heavy metal and hard rock hits. The director ofA summer without points or hitswho is co-writing the screenplay for his new film with Éric K. Boulianne (Liar, viking), brings us back to a time dating back barely 21 years, which nevertheless seems to belong completely to another age. Cut off from smart phones, social networks and applications of all kinds, these years of the beginning of the millennium were not impregnated so strongly by the culture of foodies. Although the filmmaker obviously wanted to recreate the atmosphere of a restaurant kitchen in a credible way, the fact remains that the main point is elsewhere.
lie and truth
Dishwashing is a food trade that allows Stéphane to earn money and try to regain control. Money slipping through his fingers as soon as a slot machine catches his eye, the young man is not yet at the end of his troubles, to the great despair of a cousin (Guillaume Laurin) who try to shake this sickly compulsive gambler as best he can.
PHOTO DANNY TAILLON, PROVIDED BY IMMINA FILMS
Henri Picard is the headliner of the film The plungerfilm adaptation of the novel by Stéphane Larue, directed by Francis Leclerc.
The way in which Francis Leclerc explores the bonds that form around the species of clan that Stéphane integrates into the restaurant is also very skilful. The young diver shares his love of music with Bonnie (Joan Hart), and finds a sort of mentor in Greg (Maxime de Cotret in an astonishing role). And then, there is this Bébert, visibly also inhabited by a few demons, who will become his closest ally. Its interpreter, Charles-Aubey Houde, bursts the screen. His performance will make him a real revelation.
Henri Picard, who plays his first big role in the cinema here (he is practically in all the scenes), is just as remarkable in giving Stéphane charisma and vulnerability. Handling all the nuances of a guy drawn into a spiral effect who, because of the nature of his addiction, must continually wallow in lies, the actor conjures up the whole truth of the character in parallel. High-flying exercise if there is one.
Marked by a very feverish staging, but never flashy, The plunger is not only a true, but an excellent cinema film.
Indoors
Drama
The plunger
Francis Leclerc
With Henri Picard, Charles-Aubey Houde, Joan Hart
2:07 a.m.