Well, I just got back from the theatre, where I saw this movie with my sister. We both loved it.
Right from the very first scene, I was reminded of another québécois film that takes place in the 1960s: Léolo. It was obvious that we were entering a similar, somewhat dark, vision of childhood. A few things even made me wonder if this opening scene wasn't a conscious, deliberate homage, most notably the character's name (Léon in this film, Léo in Léolo) and the way the mother comes rushing out, yelling, "Léon, Léon, respire!" (i.e., breathe, Léon). That's right... the film opens with Léon in the process of hanging himself ("accidentally'" according to his parents, though we have good reason to doubt that), and that line from the mother is almost exactly the same as the one in Léolo when his grandfather tries to drown him in the pool. (In this film, we also learn later that the family used to have a pool, but they decided to get rid of it after Léon "tried to take a nap" at the bottom of it.)
But in spite of these recurring suicide attempts - and there will be others before the end of the film - the film doesn't feel too dark or heavy. In fact, it's a lot "lighter" than Léolo, and not as "weird" (to use a word that certain members of this site have used to describe that film). In fact, there's a lot of humour in the film, especially in the first half, and for a while the audience was laughing out loud at almost every other line. Léon's narration is not at all the kind of poetic, existential, mostly abstract voice over that we heard in Léolo. It's a lot more direct, and consists mostly of sarcastic and biting observations on just how messed up everything around the character seems to be. (It's also delivered in the voice of the character as a child, as opposed to the adult voice heard in Léolo.)
A lot of other things reminded me of Léolo, such as the character's relationship to his mother, and the way he keeps dreaming about Greece (in Léolo it's Italy, and for different reasons).
Everything about this film was top-notched, including the writing, direction and cinematography. But in particular, I was impressed with the acting, and especially the performance of Antoine Lécuyer, who plays Léon and virtually carries the film on his own. He provides the voice-over and appears in every scene. He even plays piano (according to the credits, he really did perform at least some of the pieces we see him play in the film). In all respects, he does an amazing job and is always a pleasure to watch and listen to. (The other actors in the film, though not quite as spectacular, do a decent job as well.)
I've been comparing the film to Léolo a lot, but that's not to say it lacks originality, or that other films didn't come to mind. I was also reminded of Rushmore and my sister was reminded of Harold and Maude, and in one scene especially, Antoine Lécuyer physically reminded me a lot of Régis Arpin in Je suis le seigneur du château.
I can't recommend this film enough. I hope it gets released in your countries and you get a chance to see it. It's the best film from Québec I've seen in a very long time, and it's probably also my favourite boy-related movie of the past few years. The last film I got this excited about was Son of Rambow, but I think I liked this one even more.
10/10
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