In a CEGEP in Montreal, Étienne teaches philosophy, that of Spinoza in particular. Passionate, he loves his subject as much as his students. But one day, one of them, Nacira, opposed the grade received for her essay. Reason for failure: she cites the Koran, while the instructions prohibited the use of religious texts. Seizure of the file, the administration invites Étienne to review the note, with an implicit threat of dismissal if he does not comply. Presented at the opening of the Cinemania festival on November 2, A revision is Catherine Therrien’s first feature film.
The screenplay was co-written by Louis Godbout and Normand Corbeil, themselves former professors of philosophy. It was Denys Arcand who, after reading it, showed it to his producer wife, Denise Robert. She, in turn, had it read to Catherine Therrien.
“What is topical in the film is not only the stormy relationship, the stance of the two protagonists, but also the instrumentalization by the establishment of this discourse of inclusion at all costs”, explains the director at a conference held after the press screening on Monday.
Thus, in A revision, not two, but three visions clash against a background of freedom of education.
“This theme, inclusion at all costs, the instrumentalisation of good thinking, of politically correct discourse, that interested me a lot”, continues the filmmaker.
Half nothing
While between Étienne (Patrice Robitaille) and Nacira (Nour Belkhiria) a real dialogue continues intermittently, a concept at the heart of the film, both unwittingly become pawns in a game that surpasses them all. of them.
“Louis and I stylized the state of things in education,” reveals Normand Corbeil. We are heading towards that horizon in some colleges: guaranteed success, “don’t worry, what matters is that you go further, no matter how …” “
In the film, Sylvie (Édith Cochrane), the director of studies who has Étienne in her professional sights, leaves the professor silent when she tells him that a project for the students to self-correct their work is underway. At one point, we witness the installation of a panel inviting students to participate in the development of lesson plans.
All of this, however, is more of the context than the subject. At the base, to specify Louis Godbout, there was this desire to stage an old opposition, that “between reason and belief, between knowledge and faith”.
“You can be half a philosopher and half a believer,” he says. But what sets Étienne and Nacira apart, and what makes them very close to each other, is that they don’t do anything halfway. Étienne is a radical philosopher, Spinozist, who believes in the work of reason and in salvation through reason, while Nacira, her faith is not ardent, but it is demanding; she doesn’t want to pretend to believe […] This leads him to question, to doubt, and to look for an opponent, and at the same time a confidant, at his height. “
Modern and courageous
For the actress Edith Cochrane, the film is in this case a balm.
“In this polarized society, we suddenly see two opposing, rigid discourses, between which a dialogue takes place, with a lot of love. “
A vision shared by Catherine Therrien, who insists: “We made a film that opposes two people of convictions, and not a film that opposes a white teacher and a Muslim student: that’s not it. “
Moreover, we understand that the scenario has been worked on for a long time in order to include as much authenticity and nuances as possible. Catherine Therrien mentions a teacher friend who is Muslim: “I call her my believing friend. She helped us to understand the character of Nacira, her reality: the immigrant family, the Algerian single parent … There are many stock for which I wanted an interlocutor more able to speak to me about this reality. “
Actress Nour Belkhiria also participated in the development of her character. She describes Nacira as modern and courageous.
“I was thrilled to audition for a character like that, which is not cliché. It felt good that a character of Muslim faith was portrayed in a less caricatural way than what we usually see. She is in a pacifist approach, but is very tormented, and even if she is sometimes harsh in her words towards Etienne, there is a lot of admiration and envy for the freedom that philosophy brings: the freedom of thought. “
This is what constitutes, according to Nour Belkhiria, Nacira’s ultimate goal.
“Because that’s the taboo: when you’re of a certain religion, you don’t have the right to ask yourself certain questions,” she argues.
Here again, the film does not pass a religious judgment. Rather, he questions the motivations of the administrative structure, which comes to accuse and judge Étienne without worrying too much about what Nacira, the main interested party in the case, wants.
“The straitjacket is not where we think, summarizes Catherine Therrien. The straitjacket in the film is not Islam, it is the establishment that guarantees success at all costs, it is clientelism. The character of Nacira is very well integrated, but he is made infantilize, instrumentalised by people who have a good background: Sylvie has the success of her students at heart, but this success is guaranteed. “
An outstretched hand
According to Louis Godbout, A revision is not there to provoke or take a political position, but to denounce what he calls ease.
“Ease is what brings together all the antagonists of Étienne and Nacira: there is a difference between believing, having principles, and believing that one believes. It goes for religious belief […] and this also applies to the principles – I do not want to enter into this debate – which we group together under the term “wokism”: there are things that are very valid in this, but there is a difference between really believe it and adopt a surface discourse. “
Again, in this regard, the film does not target students or some militant faction, but the establishment and its supporters.
“I have the impression that in teaching, there is a fear … The establishments free themselves from their accountability, and this reluctance gives rise to situations that can be absurd”, notes Patrice Robitaille, who concludes from same breath about Étienne and Nacira: “It’s such an outstretched hand, an exchange. In the end, both characters evolved. “
The film A revision premieres on November 4.