Often perceived as entertainment, an escape, isn’t cinema also a philosophical space that invites us to reinvent the city? Throughout the summer, The duty gives the floor to philosophers to comment on a Quebec film of their choice. To launch this series, “Continental, a film without a gun» (2007)by Stephane Lafleur.
He wasn’t a complete stranger when he won top honors for his first fiction feature. Already very active in the short film world (Karaoke, snookee), that of the music (he is one of the members of the group Avec pas d’helmet) and of the editing (Mr. Lazharby Philippe Falardeau, The dismantlingby Sébastien Pilote, The Goddess of Firefliesby Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette), Stéphane Lafleur saw his choral film win four Jutra awards in 2008, including those for best film, best director and best screenplay. Continental, a film without a gun evokes a dance that is both collective and solitary, but also a work that is never rowdy. The rest of his filmography (On familiar ground, You sleep Nicole, viking) testifies to his desire to shed light on beings and universes whose banality is only apparent.
All the characters of Continental… seem to float in this charmless suburb, oozing despair. And it is deep for Lucette (Marie-Ginette Guay), whose husband we see disappearing in the middle of the forest, hoping for a hypothetical return. Around her, other figures swim in disarray, like Louis (Réal Bossé, Jutra for best supporting actor), stranded in the area to start a new job as an insurance broker, living in a hotel where the decoration does not never makes you want to linger. Chantal (Fanny Mallette), the receptionist, tries to bond with him, but has few social skills, nor Marcel (Gilbert Sicotte), riddled with debts, and less and less scrupulous about the ways of replenish its coffers.
To throw a sensitive light on the excesses of this fauna of lonely people, The duty spoke with Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry, professor of philosophy at Jean-de-Brébeuf college and author of Critical cinema. Adorno, from Frankfurt to Hollywood(Note bene, 2017).
When did you see this film for the first time, and what did you think of it?
As part of the People’s University of Montreal (UPop) in 2019, Simon Tremblay-Pepin presented me with a course project to talk about films “where nothing happens”. We have built a presentation around works like Taste cherry (1997), by Abbas Kiarostami, The Bothersome Man (2006), by Jens Lien, Somewhere (2010), by Sofia Coppola, and Continental, a film without a gun, by Stephane Lafleur.
We wanted to dig into the question of alienation, in different facets. There was of course the way in which she is represented in these films — they are rich from this point of view — but to go a little further by asking what happens to the spectators when they are watching a film where nothing happens. Discomfort arises, and they question their viewing habits. Why do we watch a movie? What do we expect from it? Most often, we hope he’ll entertain us, but Stéphane Lafleur breaks the pact with an ironic wink in the title: he’s “without a gun”, so you’ll find it boring! Before even seeing Continental, I was completely seduced by this proposal, and the film is particularly successful in its way of approaching alienation, without any bombast. This is what makes its strength.
Seeing him again a few years later, what struck you?
Its humorous, but it’s the antithesis of vaudeville. The characters are so sad, but at the same time, they are touching because of their pathos. And they made me laugh! I am thinking, among other things, of Chantal’s clumsiness in her social interactions, especially when someone hands her peanuts (“No thank you, I’ve already been with someone who is allergic”), or those of Marcel (“Give me your best donut”).
The other astonishing aspect is places, or rather non-places, a concept developed by [l’anthropologue et ethnologue français] Marc Augé designating these physical places of modernity that have no characteristics. The individual who is there is completely anonymous, no attachment is developed, these are places of transit (airports, shopping malls, service stations, etc.). I have the impression that the whole film takes place in this kind of place, except for Marcel’s store, where you can feel a story, the sedimentation of a life.
The interiors of the bungalows display great austerity in Continental… ; to be honest, they’re ugly. And one can wonder if they are not in turn non-places, thus accentuating contemporary alienation.
How is it possible to put down roots while living in a non-place?
Alienation is exactly that! Basically, the term refers to being foreign or making something foreign to someone. In these non-places, we float like unattached beings, without the possibility of creating links as these environments are sanitized. This serial, functional ugliness says a lot about our economic system, designed to optimize resources. In Continental…, Stéphane Lafleur illustrates daily life in this environment, but not in the manner of Quebec filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s; it does not support any cause, does not defend any thesis, contenting itself with observing.
While doing my research on the film, I realized that in 2008, in the Jutra category for best film, it was in competition with The Dark Ages, by Denys Arcand. Both tackle similar topics (alienation, suburbia, ugliness, etc.), but with Arcand it’s not particularly subtle. Stéphane Lafleur, he lets the silence speak and uses it as a comic spring. His posture is full of candor and humility, establishing a certain distance with his characters. He does not pamper them, but does not invite us to hate them. I am particularly thinking of Chantal; her alienation means that she doesn’t seem to have the inner resources to get by. This is obvious in her relationships with others, and her use of the telephone: she leaves messages on her own answering machine…
Generally speaking, can cinema be a philosophical space?
Absolutely, but to varying degrees, depending on the film. Some communicate a thesis to us — or want to force it down our throats! — while others use all the resources of our attention, but never stimulate our intellect. It is the property of blockbuster medium, the cinematic equivalent of a roller coaster. Try to think things through when riding a roller coaster! However, these films make me think of that in spite of themselves: after a while, I pick up and I think of something else!
On the other hand, the scenario writers can be inspired by works and philosophical concepts, and thus to go in all the directions. I have already presented The matrix (1999), [de Lana et Lilly Wachowski] to illustrate Plato’s allegory of the cave. It is even possible to question our expectations in relation to a film, which can provoke a lot of reflection. Why Do Hollywood Action Movies Bore Me? Why others will get bored watching Continental… ? What does this say about our respective social conditions? The cinema thus becomes a mirror.
Continental, a film without a gun is available on Crave and Apple TV+