Listening platforms are full of Quebec films and series to watch. Here are some suggestions.
Posted at 5:00 p.m.
Can you hear me ?
The project of depicting marginalized people living in a very poor environment could have turned into a caricature. The approach full of humanity adopted by the two creators of Can you hear me ? however, saved them from falling into the trap of miserabilism. Yes, the protagonists had troubled childhoods. But the strength of their friendship pulls them out, little by little, of the deficient models that they no longer wish to reproduce. It’s all very beautiful.
Hugo Dumas
Watch on Club illico, Netflix, Tou.tv, as well as on the Télé-Québec app and website.
The Blue House
After a checkered first season, The Blue House has really found its way to go. Its delirious sequel, currently broadcast on ICI Télé after having been offered for the first time on ICI Tou.tv Extra in the spring of 2021, makes us laugh out loud with each episode. The actors obviously have something to do with it. The pleasure with which they bite into every line by authors Ricardo Trogi and Daniel Savoie is contagious.
Marc-Andre Lemieux
To see on Tou.tv and Tou.tv Extra, in the case of the first and third season.
That’s how I love you
The intelligent writing of François Létourneau, capable of childish gags as much as finesse and sensitivity, is similar to that of the Coen brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), but funnier. This brilliant author has a way of talking about love – the central theme of That’s how I love you – by plunging its characters into completely absurd situations. Really, François Létourneau, supported by directors Jean-François Rivard and Robin Aubert, makes great, great quality television.
Hugo Dumas
To see on Tou.tv Extra.
The Perfect Family Guide
The film has certain qualities that get the message across and will resonate with many viewers. They will recognize themselves, to varying degrees, in one or other of the characters. And they will have various reactions: laughter, discomfort, perhaps even anger. Some will draw lessons and reflections from it. The artisans will then be able to say: mission accomplished. We must recognize the Morissette (screenplay)/Trogi (director) duo for the nobility of making films anchored in the Quebec universe that speak to us and touch us. Films that also smell of the times.
Andre Duchesne
Watch on Netflix.
drunken birds
Based on the magnificent musical score of Philippe Brault, the filmmaker Ivan Grbovic draws from his quartet of actors performances of great finesse. Of particular note are the compositions of Hélène Florent, whose stripped-down playing harmonizes perfectly with the quest for a woman unable to blossom, and of Claude Legault, in the skin of a man a little overwhelmed by everything that happens in his family life. And around.
Marc-Andre Lussier
See it on Crave. Available for rent on iTunes, Club illico, Le Clap, Cinéma Moderne, Cinémas Beaubien, du Parc and du Musée online, Apple TV+ and Vimeo. On Super Screen 4 on 1er July.
Maria Chapdelaine
With a duration of 2h 38min – 3 minutes longer than Dunes ! –, some viewers will no doubt find the contemplative experience a bit long, but Sébastien Pilote offers here a work that will go down in history as the indisputable and definitive version of Louis Hémon’s novel in the cinema. This fourth version, produced by a filmmaker who himself carries this story in his flesh, is thus fully justified.
Marc-Andre Lussier
See it on Crave. Available for rent on Illico, iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, mk2 Mile End, Google Play, Apple TV+, Vimeo and the Cineplex platform. On Super Ecran 2 on June 24 and July 4.
The Vinland Club
Mainstream film, period film, The Vinland Club is a tribute to Quebec educators. A wink is also made to them in the end credits where, next to the name of each of the main actors, is that of a real teacher, religious or secular, inspiring. Decidedly, this film is woven of beautiful ideas until the end.
Andre Duchesne
See it on Crave. Available for rent on Illico, Apple TV+, iTunes and Vimeo. On Super Screen 2 on June 24.
A criminal case
Céline Bonnier is dangerously close to a Gemini award thanks to her role as a combative and dysfunctional mother in the miniseries A criminal case, Crave’s new high-caliber detective offering. It’s very good television, punctuated with nice touches of humor. Already, a second season is concocted. It will not be a sequel, because the investigation ends in the eighth episode, but another dormant affair (a cold box) to be solved, by a different team.
Hugo Dumas
See it on Crave.
Cerebrum
It’s so good, Brain 2. It’s better than the first season, which was, let’s remember, very successful. It’s a clever combination of crime thriller, psychological suspense, and so-called classic medical series. It’s speckled with twisted David Fincher stuff with a splash of Flight over a cuckoo’s nest and several puffs of levity, which allow the series to breathe and lower its anxiety levels.
Hugo Dumas
To see on Tou.tv Extra.
Plan B
Plan B is a brilliant, moving, sometimes very harsh production that uses a techno-futuristic gimmick to tackle complex subjects like teen suicide or feminicide. The third season is not a real police show. It’s a psychological drama about a wounded woman (Anne-Élisabeth Bossé) who tries to fix others in order to fix herself.
Hugo Dumas
To see on Tou.tv Extra.