Engine noise | The wall of sound ★★★½

Suspended for “compulsive sexuality”, Alexandre, a weapons trainer for Canadian customs officers, returns to his native village in the southern suburbs of Montreal. In this anonymous place, he strikes up a curious friendship with an Icelandic racing driver while being tracked by two policemen who maintain an obsession with him.

Andre Duchesne
The Press

There is not, strictly speaking, a sonic boom in Engine noise by Philippe Gregoire. But his way, quite skilful, or rather hard-hitting, of evoking the walls which stand up, sometimes spontaneously, between people commands admiration.

Walls of silence, walls of incomprehension, pernicious walls, impassable walls. Walls nourished by easy judgment, excessive categorization, the banishment of the other without any other form of trial than that of the people’s court whose reasoning is based on hearsay.

Alexandre (Robert Naylor), the central character of this astonishing and, let’s face it, sometimes disconcerting story, is precisely surrounded by these invisible walls. The more the story progresses, the more his life is thus contained. And it is not the noise of the engines or the familiar screeching of the tires of the race track managed by his mother Johanne (Marie-Thérèse Fortin) that will reassure him.

Comfort, Alexandre will find it in the character of Aðalbjörg (Tanja Björk), a kind of imaginary friend of Icelandic origin through whom he tries to reconnect with his roots, to broaden his horizons, because his work at customs obviously does not satisfy him, and to find meaning in his life.

Convinced of having found the right path, Alexandre goes to Vik, in the south of Iceland, to observe that the grass is perhaps not greener on the neighbor’s premises. This search for a better future gives the filmmaker the opportunity to offer some pretty ellipses and wide shots which, captured between Napierville and Vik, serve as a sounding board in the quest for the central character.

Difficult movie? Yes. Film to see more than once to capture all its essence? Without a doubt. Philippe Grégoire told us in an interview. He likes to make people think. It does not give all the answers.

That said, we will not sulk our pleasure. This film includes beautiful ideas and is carried by two young actors in great shape.

We already knew all the talent of Robert Naylor who, from one role to another, is always fair and convincing. But here, we discover Tanja Björk who embodies, under the varnish of a somewhat rough character, a being full of empathy and tenderness.

Around them, the other actors in the cast, including Marie-Thérèse Fortin, Alexandrine Agostini, Marc Beaupré and Naïla Rabel, offer solid performances.

Indoors

Drama

Engine noise

Philippe Gregoire

With Robert Naylor, Tanja Björk and Alexandrine Agostini

1:19 a.m.

★★★½