Le piège américain

It's a little hard to follow unless you lived through the era. It may even be bit of a stretch linking the Canadian mafia to the JFK assassination. But this is a brilliant film nonetheless. It's a shame that so few people have seen it, judging from the number of hits on the site. There is a brilliant blending of historical news footage and the movie scenes. The film recaptures the "feel" of the fifties and sixties. Much of it is shot in in very harsh and contrasty colour. I don't know why it works, but it does. The cinematography with contrasty lighting and unconventional angles adds to the underlying tension of the script. Colm Feore, brilliant in everything from Trudeau to Hamlet, impresses me yet again by acting here in both English and French. Indeed the bilingual technique in the film breaks down the language barrier that so often separates Quebec cinema from the rest of the country.

If you recall the beginning of Oliver Stone's film JFK, a young woman is tossed out of a car on a deserted highway. She is picked up by State Police, claiming that she is aware of a plot to assassinate JFK. This movie picks up this strand where Oliver Stone leaves it. A perfect addendum to JFK, the film fills in many blanks and does not repeat nor contradict what has gone before.

By looking more closely at the CIA/Mafia links, the viewer gains a greater understanding of the background preparation concerning the hit on JFK and shines a far greater light of the CIA's use of the mob and Corsican hit men to do their work on American soil.

Also illustrates Canada's position as the ideal escape corridor for subversive activity. Definitely worth a close look.