''Summit Circle'' () is a 2007 French-Canadian feature from

Bernard Émond Bernard Émond (born 1951) is a Canadian director, screenwriter, novelist and essayist working in the French-language. He studied anthropology at university and lived for several years in the Canadian north where he worked for the Inuit Broadcas ...

. The second in his trilogy of films on the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity, which began with ''

The Novena ''The Novena'' () is a 2005 Canadian drama film, directed by Bernard Émond. An exploration of faith, the film centres on the interaction between Jeanne (Élise Guilbault), an atheist doctor who is suffering from clinical depression and wants to ...

(La Neuvaine)'' in 2005 and concluded with '' The Legacy (La Donation)'' in 2009. It was screened at the

2007 Toronto International Film Festival The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissio ...

Synopsis

Réjeanne ( Guylaine Tremblay) is a switchboard operator whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband, Gilles ( Guy Jodoin), suffers an apparent debilitating stroke. The film transpires in the past and the present, as a police officer (

René-Daniel Dubois René-Daniel Dubois, OC (born July 20, 1955, in Montreal) is a Québécois playwright and actor. Biography Movie career He is best known for his 1985 play '' Being at Home with Claude'', which was adapted into an award-winning film in 1992 and t ...

) in the latter tries to solve Gilles's suspicious death (did Réjeanne kill her husband or not?), while the former shows the deterioration of the couple's marriage. A sparse, deliberately paced film, shot in a cinéma-vérité style that continues director Bernard Émond's exploration of the theological themes of faith, hope and charity.

Critical response

*"''Summit Circle'', with its deliberate, undifferentiated calmness, is a prime example of soporific filmmaking, not because it's dull (it's not) but because it's determined that no outbursts, whether of joy or sorrow, will muss up the benumbing tranquility. A little shake-up would have gone a long way toward making this tragedy a more affecting work." –''Variety'' *"''Contre toute espérance'' is a movie one lives instead of watches. It affirms Émond's position as one of Canada's – and the world's — great humanist filmmakers."

Awards

Prix Jutra – Best Actress (Guylaine Tremblay)

References

External links

* 2007 films Films directed by Bernard Émond Canadian drama films French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films Films scored by Robert Marcel Lepage {{2000s-Canada-film-stub