Leolo (Canada)
 

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...D.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Tomato impregnation, Canadian satire, and a Cannes entry?? Well, I am interested in hearing more about the quality of this DVD release (eXcentris?)!!

Review linky:
http://www.time.com/time/2005/100mov...,leolo,00.html

Ciao,
Pro-B

It's been a few years since I had the Canadian DVD but I recall it had more grain than Kanas. Overall, one of the worst DVD releases I've seen. Framing, sound and subtitles reminded me of the glory days of VHS.


Have you seen the film Pro? I thought it was truly awful. Ebert who I often agree with disagrees. The only reason it was talked about in the UK was because it would have been banned had it not be censored.

Canadians seem to struggle badly when they try to make 'French films'.


DVDsoon stock it.

That DVD sucks and so does the Spanish R2. The film however is excellent and one of the landmark films of the 90's. And this from a french canadian who isn't a big fan of french canadian cinéma in the first place. It is a mostly autobiographical story of a young boy trying to escape reality. Impressive, ambitious with strong ideas but flawed because of the overabundance of stylistic effects, the film reflects the no compromise approach of a director who didn't care about conventions. You could argue that he took on more than he could chew but I'd take the originality and energy of a director with a vision over technical proficiency any day.

And there's nothing 'French' about this film. The French critics themselves saw Lauzon as someone with the potential to become a Wenders or a Kusturica, a filmmaker able to transport you into their world. Too bad he had to die in a plane crash.

That's the problem with 'French' Canadian films. They are just North American productions where they don't speak English. I notice lately French Canadian rubbish getting made where the French Government and the EU part finance it. I don't like my British tax money going on a non-EU country's dire film industry.

In the UK there's a film saying "Euro-pudding" which means too much mixed cultural input. That can rarely work (L'Auberge espagnole) but usually (9.9/10) it does not. Most FC films stink and I'd rather not pay for them.


I never understood the clammer for Léolo but I will return to it should a hi-def transfer appear.

I still think it falls into my poorly made 'FC' category though.


BTW, I'm not attacking FCs -no problem with them at all.

Thank you for the info. I typically avoid Canadian releases as I have been let down by them about 9 out of 10 times but this older film sounded very interesting.

Regards,
Pro-B

I'm not quite sure what this is supposed to mean... French Canadian films typically have a strong sense of cultural identity which distinguishes them from "North American" films. First you say Canadians do badly when trying to make 'French films' and now you argue that they are too 'North American'. make up your mind. :)

Co-productions are becoming the norm, if you don't like them it's not my problem. :p Actually they often do result in diluted crap like Nouvelle-France which, I gather is what you typically get to see.

And the dire film industry is the english Canadian one, not the french Canadian one. No wonder french Canadian films keep sweeping the Genie (Canadian film)Awards every year.

Yup, "pudding" like the aforementionned Nouvelle-France. However you can't judge French Canadian films based on those. They are in a minority and absolutely do not reflect the current status of french Canadian cinema. Unfortunately, my guess is that these are the only ones you get to see unless some film like Barbarian Invasions wins some awards at festivals. And Léolo certainly does not fall into the "pudding" category.

Hey, there is some good Canadian productions from Atom Egoyan and Cronenberg of course. I like Canada and I have lots of relations in the English speaking North American bit.


I can't think of one single French Canadian film though that has touched me. To claim they are important and award winning in [some parts of] Canada misses the point and anyway they would win prizes in their native country as nobody else is interested -except for African French speaking TV stations looking for budget fillers.

Good films translate into international cinema easily. Real French films flood the British arthouse circuit and DVD distribution and I'm very appreciative of very many of them.

I just don't see that from FC. Les Invasions barbares is a recent example of an awful FC film. I've seen lots more but I'd imagine you would have more problems listings the good ones than I would the bad ones.

But hey, I'm always open to new films so if you can list the great FC films I'll take a look. Oh, and nothing with the sick-making Lothaire Bluteau svp! :D

If you call "Les Invasions Barbares" awful and include such films in your list of "bad ones", I'm quite sure your list would be longer than mine. It woudn't have much credibility but that's another story. :)