Many movie scripts reunite people after the death of a loved one. In the case of niagarathey are three brothers called Alain, Victor-Hugo and Léo-Louis Lamothe.
Posted at 7:30 a.m.
Their father Leopold died suddenly of a heart attack following the Ice Bucket Challenge. The character played by Marcel Sabourin wanted to receive a bucket of ice water on his head, because he was in love with the caregiver of a woman who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (silent role played by Marie Eykel).
In the world of Guillaume Lambert, who is making his second film after The fortuitous scenes, comedy meets drama. The subject may be serious, but as in a sketch of Like me!kitsch and awkwardness are never far away, with a dose of tenderness as a bonus.
Without divulging anything, let’s say that a dog ensures that the character of Alain (first big role in the cinema of François Pérusse) will not jump in the Montmorency falls as he thinks of doing in the opening scene of niagara.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ENTRACT FILMS
Éric Bernier and François Pérusse featured in the film niagara, written and directed by Guillaume Lambert
Nothing is going right in the life of the taekwondo teacher falsely accused of misconduct by his girlfriend’s daughter. He has just lost his job when he gets a call from his brother Victor-Hugo (Guy Jodoin), who has a vineyard in the Niagara Peninsula, where their father senselessly died.
Alain will therefore pick up their other brother Léo-Louis (Éric Bernier) in Montreal. A good part of the film consists of their road trip to Niagara Falls. There will be a stop in Oshawa where the brothers will meet Stacy (Véronic Dicaire) and her pregnant daughter (Katherine Levac).
With such a distribution and many twists and turns, we often laugh in niagara.
There is a scene with an orchard mascot, a waterbed, a drag queen… There are also sorts of asides, including the promotional video for the character of Léo-Louis, who earns his living as risk manager.
The latter is brilliantly embodied by Éric Bernier, who multiplies the murderous replicas. His way of life and his character are the opposite of those of his brother Alain, who is rather taciturn and resigned to the vagaries of life.
Divided into chapters, niagara involves throwbacks to the past. The music is in the foreground with an excellent soundtrack by Laurence Nerbonne.
Guillaume Lambert is behind but also in front of the camera in the role of Victor-Hugo’s son. He embodies an artist who is recovering badly from his parents’ divorce and who wears t-shirts to be taken literally.
As a director, Guillaume Lambert had a meager budget of less than 2 million dollars while the sanitary rules were very strict. It’s hard to believe that the many in-car scenes were shot at MELS studios. Hat.
For the record, know that the vineyard on the screen is not in Ontario, but in Magog, on the lands of Pinard et Filles. Frequent commuters on Highway 10 will also recognize the former Spaghetti Ranch Motel from exit 115.
There are many good ideas in niagara, as well as exterior scenes of high cinematic quality, but we sometimes try to understand how certain choices of direction feed the narrative purpose or the artistic intention of the film. And while the performances of all the actors are noteworthy, it sometimes feels like they’re not starring under the same direction.
In short, we sometimes feel distracted during niagarabut we are nonetheless seduced, amused and touched by the story of these three brothers who question themselves after the departure of their father.
Drama
niagara
William Lambert
Francois Pérusse, Eric Bernier, Guy Jodoin
1:46
Indoors