Fauve

'Fauve' (translation: wildcat) is an excellently timed 17 minute short movie. A complete but raw boyhood experience, flowing in perfect cinematic prose- rising to a crescendo, with time enough on the other side, to catch your breath. The humanity is this- you are off screen together with the second youngster, searching for assistance, not wallowing in the mud, to witness the inevitable finality. I thank the director, Jeremy Comte, for such grace. This, combined with spot-on casting of the youths, is icing on the cake.

It helps to be bilingual. The Canadian French flowed easily. Just once, it was punctuated with a classic "F..k You" in American English. A total riot, for the linguists out there!

Fauve is a must see for everyone.

Greetings again from the darkness. Two young boys, obviously good friends, are spending the day just hanging out and exploring the area on the outskirts of town. They are engaged in an ongoing game of one-upmanship as they spontaneously compete over a string of mindless pranks to see who is the bravest or toughest.

Director Jeremy Comte places Tyler (Felix Grenier) and Benjamin (Alexandre Perreault) in common situations that most of us (at least from my generation) easily recognize. A vacant lot or deserted train car are easily turned into a playground as the mischievous boys deal with their unchaperoned independence. We find ourselves chuckling at their harmless teasing ... well, harmless until it's not.

Even with a run time of only 14 minutes, director Comte doesn't rush the set up. It's just a lazy, care-free day until the boys make their way into an open-pit mining zone. For someone with a quicksand-phobia (thanks to those early Tarzan movies), the shift in tone delivers an emotional gut-punch. A terrific final scene caps off a powerhouse short film that deserves the festival accolades it has received. From Canada with French dialogue, expect this one to receive even more award consideration.

Childhood, beauty, loss, death, time and nature. Really good short. The child performances are great, the cinematography is at times fabulous and I really loved its message. When the best things happen, playing with your friend in the green fields, something can happen and ruin your life. But even when that happens, no one will be there to really understand your pain and sorrow and time will move on and things will keep going while you feel guilty and sad. And nature will be destructive and beautiful at the same time. But, that's how life is. When you least expect it, nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spots. Its a small, quiet, but poetic short

It reminds me the short stories by Dumitru Radu Popescu. Same atmosphere, same construction of tension, same end. A game in, maybe summer holiday , familiar to large public. Two boys, a train, an open - pit. And something changing the innocence of run, jokes, joy. Admirable young actors and inspired presence of the fox. Great cinematography and wise use of symbols.

As soon as I realized what was going to happen I got chills everywhere. The acting was extremely moving and the cinematography was unreal. Beautiful piece!