''Summit Circle'' (french: Contre toute espérance) 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 Broadcastin ...
. The second in his trilogy of films on the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity, which began with ''
The Novena
''The Novena'' (french: La Neuvaine) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Bernard Émond and released in 2005.
An exploration of faith, the film centres on the interaction between Jeanne ( Élise Guilbault), an atheist doctor who is suffering fro ...
(La Neuvaine)'' in 2005 and concluded with ''
The Legacy The Legacy may refer to:
* '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux
* The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment
* ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament
...
(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
Guylaine Tremblay (born October 14, 1960) is a Canadian actress from Quebec. She is most noted for her performance in the film '' Summit Circle (Contre toute espérance)'', for which she won the Prix Jutra for Best Actress at the 10th Jutra Awa ...
) is a switchboard operator whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband, Gilles (
Guy Jodoin
Guy Jodoin (born 1966 in Sherbrooke, Quebec) is a Quebec comedian. He is best known as Capitaine Charles Patenaude in ''Dans une galaxie près de chez vous'' and ''Sucré Salé''.
In 2020 he appeared in '' Escouade 99'', the Quebec television ad ...
), 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 th ...
) 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."