Winner of the Best First Canadian Feature at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, French-educated Quebecois director Noël Mitrani's debut "has all the earmarks-pink from cold though they may be-of a confidently assured and dangerously promising new talent" (Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star). "A deadpan tragicomedy that fits snugly in the tradition of Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch...French actor Laurent Lucas plays a washed-up soccer star who, paralyzed by grief and guilt after the suicide of his lover, becomes a very incompetent criminal. The backdrop for his misadventures is a wintry, eerily depopulated Montreal. The slow-motion gags and moments of casual absurdity are anchored by a quiet sense of grace and genuine depth of feeling.
"Four stars." -Jason Anderson, eye Weekly.
"A debut feature that gives hope for Canadian cinematography."-Chloe Roubert, Montreal Mirror
Producer, Writer and Director: Noël Mitrani
Born in Toronto in 1969 of French parents, Noël Mitrani discovered, during his adolescence, the super 8 home movies made by his father 15 years earlier, and was struck by the power of nostalgia exercised by the thin ribbon of celluloid. From that day on, it became his dream to use film to capture the passage of time.
A graduate of the Sorbonne in History and Philosophy, Mitrani worked for some time as press illustrator, and in 1999, wrote and directed his first short film, After Shave a moving comedy set in a suburban supermarket. Three other short films followed, the last of which, Les Siens, addresses confusion between dream and reality.
In 2005, Mitrani established his own production company, StanKaz Films, and produced his first feature length film, On the Trail of Igor Rizzi, with actor Laurent Lucas. Despite the limited budget, Mitrani made it a matter of principle to shoot on 35 mm film. His life is marked by his split cultural identity, French and Quebecois, his fascination for the 1970's and his compulsion to depict solitary figures fighting to overcome their torments. |
