Emporte-moi

"Hanna: My father is Jewish, my mother is Catholic... Judaism is passed down through the mother, so I'm not Jewish... Catholicism is passed down through the father, so I'm not Catholic either.

Teacher: Okay, I'll register you as Catholic for school."

Religion, if not religion, then the state, if not the state, then society... Down to its smallest cell... The molds they try to force us into and the labels given to us without asking our opinion...

The year is 1963 (nothing has changed today), and Hanna is growing up in Montreal. She just had her first period, which makes her life even more complicated than it already is. Also, they have no money at home because her father, the breadwinner, is a penniless writer and a Holocaust survivor. Hanna has a difficult relationship with her father and her mother, who provides the income. Hanna is also an outsider at school, an immigrant. Jean-Luc Godard's film "Vivre sa vie" is her way of escaping the world... Today, people ask me how I watch so many films... That's exactly how; when I was a child, a teenager, I was constantly listening to music and watching films to escape reality...

Despite being made in '99, the greatest success of "Emporte-moi" is that it manages to give the feeling of being a film from the 60s, the time in which its story takes place... Director Léa Pool, herself a stateless person born in Switzerland and teaching film at the Université du Québec à Montréal, has surely added biographical touches to the script.

The film is quite underrated because Roger Ebert, in his usual cantankerous manner, mercilessly criticized the film, and therefore the film was announced as Canada's Academy Award nominee for Best International Feature Film at the 72nd Academy Awards but was not nominated...

I am reminded once again why I don't care about those microorganisms called film critics.

Caught between childhood and the adult world, in a time similarly challenged by change, Karine Vanasse is enchanting as a girl coming of age in 1960s Quebec. Parents, teachers, sex, philosophy, obsession with a film character, running away -- we've seen it all before, but this is a loving remembrance, shot in warm colours, with a thoughtful script and excellent performances, richly evoking the emotion, confusion and excitement of adolescence.

This is a sometimes touching, sometimes disturbing, and sometimes funny look at a girl's transition from childhood to womanhood. Hanna's (the main character) life story closely mirrors the development of Quebecois society, and the film's 1963 setting furthers that idea. Hanna is caught between her father's Jewish background and her mother's traditional, Catholic upbringing. She spends her summers in rural Quebec while living in the rapidly changing city of Montreal. Also, she is influenced by Jean-Luc Godard's now-classic Vivre sa vie, and Hanna attempts to emulate the behaviours of that film's prostitute protagonist. This is a film very concerned with the beauty of self-expression while also acknowledging the challenges such pursuits present to us all (seen especially in the father's tormented dream of being a poet). Though the film deals with some very traumatic subject matters, it also leaves us with a glimmer of hope that is beautiful in its ambiguity.

Lea Pool's direction wavers between high degrees of realism and stunning experimental styles, and she weaves them together seamlessly to reflect Hanna's state of mind. Lovers of classical cinema will certainly enjoy this film. Some of the camera work--such as the film's opening few minutes, and Hanna's flight through the streets of Montreal--are nothing short of spectacular.

Finally, the acting of the film's central three characters (Hanna, her father, and her mother) is exceptional. Hanna's exchanges with her exhausted mother are genuine and heartfelt, while the fits of rage directed toward her father are equally so. Both parents play their roles with enough pathos to be convincing, but they stay well away from overacting or exceeding what the script requires of them.

Young people may struggle to identify with the themes of the film, but a slightly older audience will certainly be left with much to reflect upon.

Young Karine Vanasse is astounding. Her stillness, poise & expressiveness - combined with youthful yearning and curiosity - completely draw you in.

Pascale Bussières, as always, doesn't disappoint.

Set in 1963, Montreal, and fourteen year old Hanna, (Karine Vanasse), journeys through a bad patch in life. Her mum is mentally ill, her father is a dead end poet and her brother a little rebel but going through the same turmoil as she is. When reality fails you, you turn to the movies. In this instant, Hanna discovers Jean-Luc Godard's VIVRE SA VIE, a little gem about the exploits of a Parisian hooker, (Anna Karina). Taking on that film's persona to heighten her life, she falls into sexual misadventures. This all under the caring direction of Lea Pool, who throws in a few classic tunes of that era to brighten the mood.