Il confessionale

Robert LePage is, in my opinion, a film-making genius. "Le Confessionel" has some of the best photography I have ever seen on film. The plot, the characters, the pacing, and the editing all come together perfectly to make a compelling and visually stunning film. I know Mr. Lepage has done a lot of work in the theater, as well as acting in film (e.g. "Jesus of Montreal"). He is multi-talented and truly gifted.

Strange, gray and power. Chain of stories. Puzzle in cruel colors. A mother. Twoo priests. A movie. A great director. A taxi driver. Twoo brothers. A hotel. And a sick boy. Slices of universes and feeling of a rain circle. A museum with very old objects. A labyrinth with a lot of mirrors. A flavor of lost carnations. A piano song in a very deep room. The story is not very important. The point are emotions. Searches. Slices of hope. And the warm expectation. A film in which the spectator is part. Not another actor but a small bone of show. A show who exists in himself. So, it is not possible to be the outsider. Beautiful in a form without words,"Le confessional" is a interesting lesson about appearances and masks. About the cruelty of past and the red of present. About run and the Japanese refuge. About the death like huge shadow and the truth as oil drop.

...but it was so confusing, so boring and without a real plot leading.

"I Confess" by Hitchcock is one of my favorite movies and it made me visit Québec City 4 times in my life.

I even stayed over night at the Château Frontenac Hotel (it was with $ 700 per night my most expensive hotel ever).

And I took the guided tour through this famous hotel twice, once in English and once in French.

So I would have expected to enjoy this film, but I didn't.

Actually I'm amazed it got 7 stars in the imdb.

My advice: rather watch "I Confess" with Montgomery Clift. That's true movie art. This one is chaos without a real story line.

I work in a video store, and when people ask me if I know a great movie, I am inclined to recommend Le Confessional. This film has got it all: drama, comedy, sex and mystery. Lepage has written an amazing screenplay, which is greatly compelling for the viewer. As a film student, I was also very appealed by the visual aesthetics of Le Confessional. Lepage has used a lot of color symbolism, which is truly eye candy. On the downside, the story is at times confusing, namely because of the two different time frames, but hey, it's Canadian. Overall, I highly appreciated this film and I think you should see it.

A complicated family past haunts two brothers in search of the truth. Via flashbacks we meet the family in turmoil, coincided with the making of Alfred Hitchcock's I CONFESS. With the creative use of past and present interweaved, we slowly find the truth that has been sitting under our noses at all times. Very clever and a very effective piece of cinema story telling.