Curling

This is a story about a not-so-interesting father and his daughter, who has been shielded from external influences for 12 years. It goes as far as not even having attended any school. The film opens with that remarkable conclusion by an optometrist, who is asking questions why she comes so late with her eye problems, because she should have had problems long before with the blackboard during classes. From that moment on, this peculiar situation (for us) enfolds step by step.

The situation in and around the house is portrayed in a number of short scenes, where indeed (as they say) pictures tell more than 1,000 words. I very much admire that part of this film. The same recipe is followed when showing where the father works, and the barely existing relationships with his colleagues. We are showed around in 50 minutes, while we all are wondering what is going to happen. A lot of extra tension is particularly created when the daughter finds a pile of dead bodies in the woods.

However, the story reaches a dead point after the first (promising) hour. I did not see it heading anywhere, and I see no moral nor a conclusion either. We see no real progress in the contacts with his colleagues. And neighbors are kept at a safe distance (at best) or chased away (often). And what may be the purpose of the father leaving his house and wandering around, without showing any concern how his daughter will cope alone in the house.

I wonder about all these open ends. Maybe I expected too much after having read the intriguing synopsis? I think that the given plot could be turned much more in our advantage. All the binding elements were there, only to be picked up and mixed in order to create a compelling film.

Denis Côté both wrote and directed this very strange yet intriguing film CURLING. The film is a thinking person's film, rather slow, in a minimalist approach to story and filming, yet the theme is universal and important - self-imposed isolation, fear and connection between people as exemplified by a bizarre father daughter relationship. Of note, the father and daughter of the film are in real life father and daughter. That adds. The title? Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. So be ready to past together the fragments of the film that are at times disturbing and at times humorous.

Set on the fringe of society, in a remote part of the countryside, CURLING takes a keen look at the unusual private life of a father and his daughter. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean- Francois Sauvageau (Emmanuel Bilodeau) devotes an awkward energy to Julyvonne (Philomène Bilodeau). The two are isolated, with the father blocking his daughter by projecting his inhibiting lack of life into her, keeping her safe by making her stay small. She doesn't go to school, doesn't have any friends, doesn't have much contact with the outside world and so she is naively dependent on her shy introverted father to provide her with nothing - no TV, no computer, no mobile phone, the occasional rationed out bit of music from the Hi-fi. The fragile balance of their relationship will be jeopardized by some very dreary circumstances: Julyvonne finds a pile of frozen bodies and seeks some sort of solace to keep going back to be with them; a little boy goes missing; a trucker checks out of a motel room and leaves blood splattered everywhere. No real resolution to any of these incidents - and that fits the film - Little fragments that dangle in the wind like weird wind chimes that make this examination of isolation in today's society refreshingly unique. In French with English subtitles.

I can't tell you that there is something that is rather terrible or not at all. I do know that the father and daughter are also actually in private life and within the film as well although I'm also not sure about the wife and daughter but it seems likely that she is but is in prison. We do not know why. The young girl doesn't go to school and it seems she doesn't have much education at all but we are not sure that the father had much either. The girl is on her own most of the day and sometimes goes out looking around as they live in a rather desperate, fringe of society within the remote part of rural Quebec and it is very snowy. The daughter finds a tiger in a cage in the snow and looks wonderful although her mother was annoyed and maybe she knew that it was just imaginary. And what about the bodies in the snow that she finds so interesting and then the blood trails he finds where he works at a motel and another body that he hides? It is a slow film but I enjoy it and I think that I will find out what is going on but it is not so although for some reason, it is still okay. Oh and there is a little curling we see although it may not always be real.

What you have here with Curling is a rather unclear look at a rather atypical family life between Father, Jean-Francois (aka Moustache), and daughter, Julyvonne. Immediately your alarm should be going off, but hold on now, it's not like that. Well, it might be, but that's up for you to decide.

The Father is a hard-working and shy man who seems to going through the motions. At times it appears that this routine and mundane lifestyle is really his cup of tea, but then things begin to sour. He doesn't allow his daughter to go to school or venture outside at night, and his strict rules around the house instinctively suggest a curious double-take. Even with outside influences questioning him, he still holds steadfast to his ways, and it's this puzzling aspect of the Father that's the backbone of the film.

Like a peek behind-closed doors, the viewer is given a glimpse into this strange working life, but there's still something else going on...something fishy. Many questions circle about, like why is the father so protective of his daughter? Why does the character Rosie erupt and exclaim that Lucyvonne is soulless? What's the deal with the music scenes, and why is the Father so tentative and secretive? There are many questions to be asked during the film, and although interpretations may vary, the questions appear to echo back sinister motives.

More so than anything else, a lot of film-goers may have issues with the film's seeming lack of solution, but that's not really the case as the film does develop and bring about varying conclusions. My gripes with Curling are slim to none, but that's not to say I really enjoyed it. It's a strange film that possesses a strength which rewards the inquisitive thinker. Just a heads up: be careful to whom you recommend this to; even though the film has a similar tone to other bizarre flicks (like Dogtooth, for instance) I would say it's even less accessible. If you don't like films that urge you to clue things together, then I'd say go ahead and skip this.

There are many, many things said and shown on screen that'll have you flip-flopping between thinking if it's all innocent and relatable, or if it's all devious. One thing you will be certain of concerning this Father-daughter duo is that it is indeed strange and troubling. As I mentioned above I'm leaning towards the sinister side because it's more fun, but let's be serious here, that moustache ain't helping nobody.

The best thing about this film is the Jucifer song in the end credits. There is a strong idea here, but I suspect that it ended up overshadowed by an inexplicable desire to make "Curling" a collection of bizarre inconsistencies. Trying to explain better what I mean, when David Lynch fills us with bizarre situations, we feel an authenticity that justifies them, here I don't feel the same because the bizarre aspects exist in isolation without building something authentic. The desire to do something ... different is so strong that it overlaps the narrative. But not everything is bad, there is a subtle and intelligent mood that survives and that made me see the whole movie without suffering and pain.