Daniel Grou
Daniel Grou (born August 19, 1967), frequently credited as Podz, is a Canadian film and television director. His credits include the films '' 10½'', ''L'Affaire Dumont'', ''7 Days (Les 7 jours du Talion)'', '' Miraculum'', '' King Dave'' and '' ...
and written by Claude Lalonde. It premiered at the
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (English: ''Festival of New Cinema'') is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring independent films from around the world. Over 160,000 people attend each year. One of ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. The story involves a ten-year-old boy called Tommy in the youth-protection system in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
Synopsis
' follows several child psychiatrists, including
Claude Legault
Claude Legault (born May 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor and television writer from Quebec.
Biography
Legault was a star (2000-2003) of the Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation and has since appeared regularly on television, stage and film. He was part ...
's Gilles, as they attempt to break through the brittle exterior of a seriously ill-tempered young boy (Robert Naylor). The movie captures the unpleasant reality of life within a halfway house for juvenile delinquents.
Cast
Reception
In a review for ''
The Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', Brendan Kelly called the film "gripping" and praised the performances of Claude Legault ("so good as Gilles") and Robert Naylor ("a revelation"). He noted, however, that due to the nature of the story, the film was "not much fun to watch".
Accolades
The film won the 2010 Main Award of Mannheim-Heidelberg at the 59th
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (german: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the citi ...
. At the 2010
International Film Festival Bratislava The Bratislava International Film Festival (also known as Bratislava IFF) is an international film festival established in 1999 and held annually in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Apart from the international competition programme, it also regularly featur ...
, the film won the
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
Jury Award and the Student Jury Award. For his role as Tommy, Robert Naylor won the award for Best Actor. Claude Legault won