In Engine noise, the first feature film by Philippe Grégoire, a man in his twenties returns home after being suspended by his employer. Instead of finding a certain comfort there, he has to face a stifling atmosphere. The Press discusses it with director and actor Robert Naylor.
Posted at 10:00 a.m.
Hearing the sound of an engine, no matter where you are on the planet, inevitably brings the person who hears it back to the obvious: this noise has a human origin. Which can be reassuring. But not necessarily…
Take the case of Alexander (Robert Naylor) in Engine noise, by Philippe Gregoire. Shooting instructor in a customs school, Alexandre is suspended and fired for compulsive sexuality.
Alexandre arrives at his mother, Johanne (Marie-Thérèse Fortin), in Napierville, pretending to be on vacation. Johanne administers the local race track and son finds there the familiar sound of roaring engines and spinning wheels.
Reassuring? Not at all ! The world has changed a lot in his village. The most beautiful country in the world is no longer what it used to be. And when a ‘crime’, namely a wallpapering of Post-it-like notes with sexually oriented drawings, is discovered in the community, it is to him that all eyes turn.
Behind this singular scenario, served by a staging that is as much, Philippe Grégoire notes, denounces, warns.
I wanted to talk about how people are treated when they come home. Returning to his village, Alexander finds himself in the position of a stranger.
Philippe Grégoire, director
Another subject that concerns the filmmaker: the interpretation of the sexuality of others. Here, Alexandre is perceived as having an unbridled sexuality. “Why is sexuality such an attractive, appealing, obsessive subject? asks M. Grégoire. My opinion is that when you have a sexual relationship between consenting adults, it’s up to them and none of the others. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FUNFILM DISTRIBUTION
Robert Naylor is Alexander in Engine noise.
And the filmmaker also shows concern about right-wing currents. Having himself worked at customs and experienced the period when customs officers were armed under the Harper government, he describes this period as a “point of no return”.
All these areas of concern are represented under the same hat: the border.
That the central character works in the middle of the customs is not fortuitous. Attached to this is the whole idea of a dividing line between “them” and “us”.
Himself overwhelmed by events, Alexandre will find some comfort with Aðalbjörg (Tanja Björk), a mysterious young Icelander who loves car racing and the films of André Forcier (an obvious influence on the filmmaker).
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FUNFILM DISTRIBUTION
Tanja Bjork in Engine noise
A mirror
Coming out of nowhere, this female character looking like a fairy or an elf (she comes from Iceland, it’s no coincidence) forces the viewer to take a stand. Is she real or is she Alexandre’s imaginary friend like children sometimes imagine?
I think she’s like a mirror to him. In his village where he still rubs shoulders with the same world, the same philosophies, Alex suddenly comes across a somewhat bad-ass drag pilot who upsets him, but is interested in him and his story. She is like an angel. A bit surreal.
Robert Naylor
The actor was visibly seduced by the atypical nature of the scenario, which he describes as a “daring proposal”. “The film doesn’t have a simple storyline,” he says. It’s a film with a presence, an atmosphere”, in which the character of Alexandre is like a spillway for the anger, the overflow of emotions of the people around him.
In Naylor, Philippe Grégoire saw a young man with enough film experience to know how to lead the film, with several interests and who could have a critical look at the project.
This is the kind of situation that Mr. Grégoire likes. “I love the cinema which brings us to the discussion, he says. I like to make people work a little. As a spectator, I like being told that I have my way to go. I could write very clear scenarios, with cause and effect relationships, etc. On the contrary, I leave parts open. »
Let the viewer be warned. Engine noise is not a quarter-turn mechanism. It’s up to him to open the hood to see what’s under there!
In theaters February 25