Emporte-moi

"Emporte-moi" is the latest Léa Pool movie. I was invited to the premiere in Montreal at the Loews theater. I was stunned! It's one of the best movies I've ever seen. Newcomer Karine Vanasse (who I had the chance to meet) does to this movie what Tori Amos does for her albums. What I mean is that she brings the movie to life and supports it all magnifically on her back. This is the new talent out of Quebec for the year 2000. Also, you can not put aside the brilliant performances by Pascale Buissière and the rest of the cast. To conclude, go see it right away or if you ever get your hands on a copy when it goes to video, don't waste your chance of seeing this genius movie.

This movie is just great!

It explores with subtlety the very complicated emotional relations between a young girl, her catholic depressive mother, her jewish father, her brother, her new "girl" friend. Entangled in her newborn exploding sexuality and her rebellious thoughts, she tries to deal with the great issues of life in 1963.

The acting is so precise and touching, and the direction, efficient and delicate, it's a must see movie. A great one.

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.

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.

Excellent coming-of-age story. It feels really lived in. I'm not sure if it's autobiographical, but it sure feels like it. Karine Vanasse plays 13 year-old Hanna, a girl from Montreal with kind of a rough family life. Her parents are unmarried and poor, and along with her older brother they all live in a cramped apartment. Hanna falls in love with Godard's Vivre sa vie, and inspired by it, she is led down a dangerous path. As you might expect with the genre, there are moments of joy along with the pain. Novelist Nancy Huston plays Hanna's teacher, who reminds her of Anna Karina - she looks so much like Karina I spent the whole movie thinking it was her. The only big problem of the film is that Vanasse is not convincing as a 13 year-old - the actress is a couple of years older than that, and looks it. She is very good, though, as an actress.