Un crabe dans la tête

One could compare the scenario of "Un Crabe" the best with Dostoevski's novel, "The Idiot". We see our "hero" Alex, who we could regard as an idiot, but nevertheless, we see that he becomes the centrepiece in the scenario, just like Dostoevski's main character in "The Idiot". And all seem to need him very much, in their own special way.

His very best friend, Sam, welcomes him with open arms since he's so happy to have him back in his life. Another friend, Audrey, dares not to leave her flat and trusts him with her "business". And of course, the gallery director who says "je t'aime" to Alex. Need we mention as well that Alex sort of stopped his relationship with his "wife"?

We also see Alex make new friends, namely the cold and distant Marie; Sara (the girlfriend of Sam) with whom Alex gets on very well; Armando, the lonely rich kid who has nothing else better to do than to spend his fortune on drugs.

The scanario is very original and very well written. And like in Dostoevski's "The Idiot" we seem to ask ourselves, who is really the idiot here ... Alex or the society around him.

If you're in the mood to see a mainstream Hollywood film, with the basic Hollywood script of action, braindead violence and the cool happy end, this isn't the film for you. However, if you want to see something original and with much insight, you will enjoy your time spent watching this film.

Vive la differénce ;)

m.

This was a fine film and a good study of a benign narcissist. Alex has clearly suffered some major trauma, not just the recent witnessing of dead people trapped in a shipwreck under the Indian sea, but something primordial that we, and he, can only guess at. For this, despite his immaturity, he remains sympathetic. He is not the blowhard narcissist or manipulator, but rather the childlike one. He tries to make everyone love him, and in so doing, loses all their love. At the same time the film was ingenious in showing how those around him use his narcissistic vulnerability. They are attracted to his eternal youth, bring him into their lives, and spit him out when he is unable to follow through on their demands. In other words it takes two to tango. It is too simple to see the other characters as having been disappointed by an immature man. My heart really went out to this fragile man trying to negotiate the terrain of an emotionally tumultuous world. No wonder he wanted to flee to the dark and silent ocean bottom.

Definitely,this movie is surprising! Although the pace seems long at the beginning, we get into that movie impressively well. The cast and the characters' background is such well-developed. David La Haye is absolutely tremendous in that performance, and as great as French-Canadian viewers got used to see him in along the years. In response to some comments I read about this film, I'd only tell that this movie is based on the characters' psychology, and not the theme that represents each of them. Thus, this movie is of course not an arts movie. If you expect such, I understand you maybe don't like it.

Another great pride of Quebec's cinema! 8 out of 10!

Un crabe dans la tête tells a good story and tells it well. The characters are acted well and convincingly and the camera work communicates atmosphere effectively. A few details (the Biosphere scene near the end?!) are weaker or confusing, but are easily forgiven. Like many films made by Montrealers (Maëlstrom, Eldorado, Un zoo la nuit ... among many others), this one also feels like real-life Montreal with just a little extra fantasy added. There's nothing untrue about the depiction of the city. (In contrast, a Hollywood production set here, such as The Score, looks and feels like Montreal as seen by tourists from the U.S.)

Alex's main characteristic - excess desire to please combined with an incapacity to say no - is ladled on a bit thickly. He does become frustrating and even annoying to watch by the middle of the film. But his behavior, in less extreme form, is not at all uncommon (at least among Canadian Gen-Xers!). The film will have well served its purpose if it incites us to recognize the tendency and snap out of it.

Andre Turpin's "Un crabe dans la tete" is a vibrant, fresh and enigmatic film that proves once again that some of the best new films in Canada are coming out of the Quebec scene. Turpin's vision takes the visual playfulness of Denis Villineuve's "Maelstrom" one step further, while elminating some of the latter film's pretentions in the process. "Un crabe" is very free-form and incidental in structure, with its protagonist, Alex (David La Haye) playing a sort of existential Don Juan, who just cannot say "no" to anyone or any situation. While the tone is generally light and the pace is brisk, Turpin slips in a few serious, introspective moments that ground the film in reality. Amidst the sometimes fantastic picaresque journey, there are moments of devastating reality and repercussion.