Léolo

Perversity. Strangeness. Absurdity. Violence. Insanity.

Just like real life, eh? While many may feel "Lèolo" is way over the top, the film doesn't contain a single incident (excepting "Leo's" conception) that couldn't have happened. Some families are simply stranger than others! And what is one man's reality is another man's nightmare...

Add to that, a soundtrack of unmitigated brilliance, Tom Waits and those basso-profundo Mongolian bison-impersonators (or something). The auditorium was shaking in its foundations!

For the cutting edge of the term "bizarre", look no further.

I'd heard of "Léolo" years ago, but just now got the chance to watch this masterpiece. This film is really one of a kind, bizarre, dark, amusing at moments (but should never be classified as a "comedy"), and extremely poignant. With a fantastic visual style, reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Fellini ("Amarcord", especially), but also a complete original, and a mind-blowing soundtrack (that includes Tom Waits and The Rolling Stones), Jean-Claude Lauzon created the two worlds of young Leo Lauzon (played by Maxime Collin; the name Lauzon is not a coincidence): his real life with his (very) dysfunctional family in Montréal, and his imaginary life as Léolo Lozone, son of a Sicilian peasant.

"Léolo" isn't, however, a cute story of a child with vivid imagination. It is definitely not for kids, and its dark extremes (attempted murder, sexual awakening, etc.) can shock even some adults. Jean-Claude Lauzon (1963-1997) died on a plane crash five years after its release, having made only two films, "Night Zoo" (1987) being the first. It's a sad loss of an extremely promising, iconoclastic artist, who managed to create a masterpiece in his second feature. There's an interesting anecdote about "Léolo" leaving the 1992 Cannes Film Festival with no awards: according to Ken Turan of Los Angeles Times, "Léolo" would've probably won the Golden Palm if Lauzon hadn't made an obscene suggestion to Jamie Lee Curtis, one of the jurors. Lauzon himself would've told Turan that he found himself next to Jamie Lee at the buffet at the Hotel du Cap, introduced himself and said: "What the boy in the film does to the piece of liver, I want to do to you". Apparently, Curtis wasn't that flattered...

With or without the Golden Palm or an Oscar for best foreign film, "Léolo" is one of the 'lost' masterpieces of the 90s that deserve to be discovered (Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel included it on their list of 100 greatest films of all time). A must see for anyone who loves unique film-making. 10/10.

Which came first, the disturbing or the disturbed? This is a difficult film for me to assay. Certainly I did not enjoy "Leolo" but then there are many films I have appreciated which I did not enjoy. Despite being tagged as such, this film was never a comedy for me, outlandish scenes too often were tainted by a ring of tragic truth. Well, I should clarify and say "at least an emotional truth."

This film reminded me of Baudelaire and Rabelais. I remember in my late teens, seeking out those poets feeling that I should appreciate them from the little I had heard about them. Someone probably mentioned Iggy Pop in the same breath with 'em. Anyways, their poems never did connect with me, I remember thinking that something in translation or in the transatlantic crossing was lost upon me. This film has many moments like that (despite a shorter journey down from Canada), but cast amidst shining gems of genius. One example, the recurrent use of the refrigerator light, and other illumination, shining over Leolo's shoulder.

This film slips and dips into the "rabelaisian" in the reduced definition, i.e. a fecal focus. A childhood is deprived more than depraved, but a little of both. If any sexual appetite is offensive for you, than this film is not for you... Spend your time on some counseling instead.

And yet for me, much of the film was grotesque...and I think that's a nearly perfect word for it, what with its stylish franco-suffix... gracefully covering over its seamier stewings. Like a sauce over spoiled meat.

But as I think more about this film: the merd, the bugs, the dead dog in the canal...all of that waste, is not wasted. Instead the images, the reviling of an earthly existence drive us off the screen and into the voiced-over poetry of Leolo. Even in translation and subtitle, the words had a precise beauty. A beauty I feel was intentionally and successfully accented by the sordid scenarios stitched together.

It would be an interesting test for someone to read the poetry from the screenplay first and then watch the film. Would the words be strong enough without the sights, sounds and implied smells of Leolo's world to suffice?

While I cannot honestly recommend this film (too many times I found myself hoping that a fade-to-black was final), it would be interesting to hear/read others' comments. I'll come back to the reviews here, and maybe the film in the future.

Til' then, I 'll give it a 6/10

PS Interesting. In posting my review the "s-word" now appears to be banned...so let them read "merd."

Echoes of the magnificent THE TIN DRUM reverberate through the stunning, lyrical French-Canadian LEOLO.

The late Jean-Claud Lauzon's masterwork filters a dysfunctional family through the eyes of a dreamer who imagines himself to be Italian.

The film is filled with gorgeous cinematic studies of childhood cruelty, sexual abuse, eccentricity, first love, first self-love, insanity, obsession, unusual uses for meat products, and familial bonds.

As Leolo, Maxime Collin is without peer, delivering a truly amazing performance as a young boy on a difficult journey of discovery and exploration.

A wonderful Tom Waits cue anchors the soundtrack and eccentric supporting performances bring vivid color to the drama.

The film is photographed and directed with such amazing precision and passion that you can not help but be propelled by it.

In every sense an original, emotional work, and one of the best films ever made.

An obscure modern classic.

I was completely unprepared for this movie. There is an alchemy in which sadness and humor are made into something more. I was left in a very different world at the end of this movie. An absolute must see. By the way, the score is way cool, Tom Waits, Lorena Mckennit, etc.