The 12 labors of Imelda | amazing comedy

Imelda Turcotte Villeneuve has not said her last word. She may be 89 years old, she has “things to settle”. And she does not go there with the back of the spoon. For 12 years, she will put some order in her life, even if it means disrupting that of her children.

John Siag
The Press

There are films that come to us from left field – unexpected, unconventional and a bit crazy. And then there are those to the left of left field. The 12 labors of Imelda falls into this category.

This autobiography by Imelda Turcotte Villeneuve, filmed (without a budget!) like a fiction by her grandson Martin Villeneuve, recounts the last 12 years of her life. Edited from several shorts, the film opens with the celebration of 89^e Imelda’s birthday to end with her death, at age 101.

First convention to accept: Martin Villeneuve’s interpretation. Because it is he who embodies the central character of his grandmother (by wearing her clothes!). Destabilizing during the first scenes, it takes a certain amount of abandonment to appreciate this comedy.

Martin Villeneuve reproduces the colorful prose of his grandmother, who did not have her tongue in her pocket and who could be very disagreeable. It is also impossible not to draw parallels with Auntie Danielle.

If we have the impression that he plays around at times, Martin Villeneuve is also capable of being moving. It must be said that he observed her closely, his grandmother, who affectionately nicknamed him (!) “my little criss”, and we feel, in his interpretation, a lot of tenderness for the one he loved. To tease.

The common thread of these “works”? Imelda has some things to settle before switching the weapon to the left.

With his boys André and Jean (Michel Barrette and Robert Lepage); his daughter Diane (Anne-Marie Cadieux); “big Simone” (Ginette Reno); with a certain Herman Landry too, whom she knew before getting married… Imelda will thus reveal some family secrets kept sealed until then – some more painful than others – before leaving.

One of the great assets of this film is based on the quality of acting of its performers. Martin Villeneuve has pulled off a tour de force by surrounding himself with excellent actors (Yves Jacques and Antoine Bertrand also make appearances).

A film that completes a cycle of almost 10 years for the director, who pays his grandmother an ultimate tribute to his image: both funny and dramatic, and completely disconcerting.

Indoors

Comedy

The 12 labors of Imelda

Martin Villeneuve

With Martin Villeneuve, Robert Lepage, Michel Barrette, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Ginette Reno

1:44

7.5/10