L'affaire Dumont

"L'affaire Dumont" is a French Canadian drama movie that is inspired by true events where a poor and shy guy gets accused for a rape he doesn't seem to have committed.

The movie completely focuses on the portrait of the desperate suburbs and their inhabitants during the nineties and in particular the life of the main character who goes through hell and heaven and back again. He had a very tough childhood with an brutal and abusive father and an ignorant mother, has no permanent job and struggles to have enough money to live a comfortable life, lives a very difficult separation from his ignorant ex-wife and his beloved children that are not very well treated by their mother's new boyfriend, gets to know that those who seemed to be his friends don't do anything to get him out of trouble, faces a corrupt trial of justice and many issues with his untalented lawyer and goes through a rough time in prison including abuse and hatred committed against him. During all this time, he claims to be innocent and finds one person days before the start of his prison sentence that will never stop fighting for him and becomes the love of his life. Their relation grows and the never give up the idea of a brighter future.

The movie completely puts aside any action scenes, special effects or spectacular moments. The flick concentrates on the excellent actors incarnating very profound and credible characters. The movie is filled with cold images thanks to a few light effects and inflexible camera angles which add a desperate atmosphere to the already quite uneasy story. The film includes a big load of dialogues but sometimes they take some time to pull off and are interrupted by moments of uneasy silence, little emotional breakouts or hesitating stuttering. These lengths are a wanted effect by the production team as they add even more authenticity to the film that almost feels like a documentary where we witness real life people and not simple actors. This is a big prove for the excellent acting.

This kind of movie might not be a highlight for everybody but anybody who adores slow paced dramas with authentic characters and true emotions should try anything to watch this movie. I'm usually not all too much into this kind of movies but the gripping story and the outstanding acting really touched me. It's because this movie is different from popular flicks that it really stands out as one of the very best films I have seen so far this year. If I had to chose a candidate for the foreign language category of the next Academy Awards, I would without a doubt pick this little gem from Quebec, the province where the best Canadian movies happen to be done for quite a while now. If you get the chance to watch it, take it and pick it up.

The subject matter of the film and many of its scenes are dark-filled spaces. The film is based on a true story and includes actual transcripts of a trial in the case of a man mistaken as a rapist. From the statements made by the film makers towards the end of the film and indeed from some of the TV footage included in the film, the case of Michel Dumont must have been something of a cause célèbre in Canada. The film is highly critical of the judiciary and lawyers involved and rightly so.

Michel Dumont is a quiet man caught up in a maelstrom that leads to him being found guilty of rape and incarcerated. The film charts the effect this has upon him and those in close proximity to Msr. Dumont. The consequences are pretty horrific as Dumont and his children suffer abuses of various kinds, mostly the direct result of his fate. The source of hope in the film is Dumont's second wife Solange Tremblay whose devotion to resurrecting his case for judicial reconsideration is awe-inspiring and a testament to a type of love that is so scarce in the lives of most of the characters.

It is clear that the film makers sought actors who bore a strong resemblance to their real life counterparts. Marc-Andre Grondin, who plays Dumont, is exceptional and playing against the type of character for which he is famous. The woman who plays the rape victim was well chosen too and although Dumont's guilt was based upon her evidence she is portrayed sympathetically as befits her story that emerges in the film.

This is a tough watch because misery after misery is heaped on Dumont and each time he seems to be rounding a corner another stretch emerges. Whether that be a judicial obstacle or learning of more abuse suffered by his children. Even at its conclusion the film offers little sense of triumph as those members of the judiciary seen as culpable in the miscarriage of justice against Dumont appear to have been promoted and moved on to better and brighter things. The film is a salutary lesson about incompetent lawyers, prejudiced judges and assuming guilt based upon little evidence in emotive crimes such as rape.