1991

This is the latest installment in the Ricardo Trogi autobiographical trilogy, and it is the best one. Since 1981, Ricardo Trogi has been able to take real event from his life, and dramatize them in a very fun and lighthearted manner.

Like the two previous film, 1991 follows Trogi, but now he embarks on a quest to conquer the "love of his life" in Italy. The change of setting is a great idea, because not only does it gives the film a beautiful backdrop, but it feels fresh and new within this series.

The film is very fun, fast paced, and feel good. In a way it is nothing more than what we've come to expect, but every technical aspect of the film is strong enough that it remains engaging and entertaining.

The acting from Jean-Carl Boucher is great. He plays very well the fun and "likable loser" type of character, but he also did a good job with the more dramatic stuff. The actress playing is mother is very funny, even though she is so over the top, it's a little too much at times.

Writing wise this is an easy film, in the sense that it is filled with narration, jokes that we see coming and cliché storylines. The thing is that Trogi writes with such vulnerability and creates such likable characters that it doesn't really matter.

He basically creates a exaggerated version of himself, and he went to place I didn't expect with the character. We get to see his weaker side. How stupid or pathetic he can be sometimes, which is nice, because it gives the film a feeling of raw authenticity.

Also the movie knows what it is, and it never tries to pretend to be more important, nor does it ever manipulate the audience in a cheap way. So all of the weaknesses in the writing are easily forgiven.

What makes this film so enjoyable is the clear love for cinema from Trogi. There are multiple references to Fellini and other great director. His passion truly shines on screen.

Overall, this is a fun, easy to watch movie. It manages to be accessible and appropriate for the whole family, without restraining anything or trying to censor itself constantly. This is a trilogy I will revisit again.

Rating: 7/10

There are tons of movies with 80s music. Tons with 70s, 60s & 50s music. Alas, what about the poor 90s? Apparently the 90s was such a musically unidentifiable decade that imdb doesn't even have a soundtrack listing for this movie. But to anyone who remembers the 90s, the music is the key to this great flick. More on that in a sec, first let's talk about the plot.

In this 3rd film of writer/director Ricardo Trogi's epic autobiographical saga, we plant ourselves in the year 1991 at age of 21 as our hero "Trogi", a socially maladjusted college kid from Quebec, impulsively runs off to Italy chasing the (3rd) girl of his dreams. The story unravels in a quirky, comedic way as he deals with the pains of lone travel in foreign countries, a swiftly evaporating budget, a premature bald patch, and of course a girl of his dreams who seems far more interested in shady Spanish men than him.

I probably just named a bunch of things that don't apply to your life (unless you happen to be a prematurely balding 21 year old wandering around European train stations), so you might be wondering why you'd want to watch this flick. Well, back to my original point about the music, that's what bridges the cultural/age gap and pulls us into this great nostalgic trip even if we've never been there. With its opening scene of a girl annoyingly lip-synching Technotronic's "Move This" ("Shake that body"), to the ironically sexy use of Enigma, to heartbreak à la Roxette ("Must Have Been Love But It's Over Now"), the music is what connects us to this story. Songs are given to us in generous doses, not just a 10 second clips here & there like in most throwback films but in a way that really pulls us into the experience as if it's our own; we all remember where we were when we first heard these songs, and this film uses that device to powerful effect.

As the story unfolds we realize that, despite its specific time and setting, this tale is timeless and universal. It's about the awkwardness of young adulthood, the awkwardness of being a fish out of water, whether you're a French-Canadian stuck in Italy or whatever/wherever you may be. Like the 2 films that preceded this one, this is a story with a lot of heart even though it's presented as a quirky fast-paced comedy. The themes aren't limited to laughs, love & growing up, but here they begin to develop into questions of one's purpose in life. "We're going to change the world!!" one character shouts in a memorable scene as a crowd looks on silently and dismissively. The subtle message being, I'm guessing, that before you can change the world you have to figure out who you are.

I highly recommend the entire Trogi-logy ("1981", "1987" and "1991") which by the way you can watch in any order and still enjoy. Looking at my watch I'm thinking it's about time for "1997" to be released, in which case I'll be in the front row waiting to hear some Nirvana, Ace of Base, and *cringe* Oasis "Wonderwall".

As an ex Montrealler of mixed cultural heritage, I connected with the principal actor and the story line. Enjoyed the humour and empathised with the heart ache. Merci!