''Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves'' (french: Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) is a 2016 Canadian drama film directed by

Mathieu Denis Mathieu Denis is a Canadian screenwriter and film director from Quebec. He is best known for his films '' Corbo'', which was a Canadian Screen Award and Quebec Cinema Award nominee for Best Picture in 2016, and ''Those Who Make Revolution Halfwa ...

and

Simon Lavoie Simon Lavoie (born May 15, 1979) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Quebec.

. It stars

Charlotte Aubin Charlotte Aubin (born September 4, 1991 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian actress from Quebec. She is most noted for her performance in the film '' Isla Blanca'', for which she received a Prix Iris nomination for Best Actress at the 20th Quebec ...

, Laurent Bélanger, Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez and

Gabrielle Tremblay Gabrielle Tremblay (born July 27, 1990 in La Malbaie, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian actress and writer, who received a Canadian Screen Award nomination as Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress at the 5th Can ...

as four young people, veterans of the 2012 Quebec student protests, who have been disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and now engage in small-scale public

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...

. The film competed in the Platform program at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won for Best Canadian Film. It was also nominated for three

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

, including Best Motion Picture.

Cast

as Giutizia *Laurent Bélanger as Tumulto * Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez as Ordine Nuovo *

as Klas Batalo

Production

The film was conceived by co-directors

and

Simon Lavoie Simon Lavoie (born May 15, 1979) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter from Quebec.

, inspired by the 2012 Quebec student protests. The directors claimed they spoke with students during the protests while showing their film ''

Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, althoug ...

(Laurentie)''. Denis and Lavoie said they often wondered what happened to these students in later years. Denis stated his conviction that the protests were important but unsuccessful, noting the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

, which governed in 2012, was back in government after the 2014 Quebec general election. While showing ''Laurentia'' in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, Denis and Lavoie considered partnering on another project. Lavoie was particularly influenced by

mug shot A mug shot or mugshot (an informal term for police photograph or booking photograph) is a photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law e ...

s of four young people who placed

smoke bomb A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce a large amount of smoke upon ignition. History Early Japanese history saw the use of a rudimentary form of the smoke bomb. Explosives were common in Japan during the Mongol invasions of the 13 ...

s on the

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...

during the protests. The title was a phrase used by

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 17679 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the Fr ...

, a leader of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, and was initially intended as a

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

. For the film, the directors sought a youthful cast, securing Aubin, Lussier-Martinez, Bélanger and Tremblay. Lussier-Martinez had previously acted in the TV series '' 19-2''. Aubin stated the screenplay attracted her for how the characters symbolized larger ideas. For the

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

character of Klas Batalo, Denis and Lavoie searched for a real-life transgender performer, and found Tremblay, a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. Tremblay said she idolized the protest for creating a social movement, and drew on personal experiences to portray her character. Production was continuing through January 2016, and Denis estimated the last of the editing would occur in the spring or summer of 2016.

Release

The film screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in September 2016, and has been selected for the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as President of the Jury. ''Django (2017 film), Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear ...

. A wider release was planned for the spring of 2017. The Quebec release was later scheduled for 3 February. The film was included in the travelling Top Ten Film Festival, screened in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

from 13 to 26 January 2017. Plans were made for screenings in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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 ...

and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

between 13 January and 29 January 2017.

Reception

Critical reception

On 7 December 2016, it was named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top 10 list. In '' La Presse'',

Nathalie Petrowski Nathalie Petrowski (born 1954) is a French-born Canadian journalist and writer living in Quebec. She was born in Paris, lived in the Lorraine region and came to Canada at the age of five. She attended the Collège International Marie de France an ...

wrote the film was unusual, amazing and occasionally shocking, and was long but not dull at any time. Odile Tremblay, writing for ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', called the film poetic, and said the film received applause at TIFF but was also divisive. Martin Gignac called the film dense and unrestrained, with great cinematography. Outside Canada, Scott Tobias, writing for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', called it "a tense, mournful, and profoundly ambivalent portrait of radicalism". Adam Cook of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "unapologetically abrasive and politically charged".

Accolades

For producing the film, Hany Ouichou received the Canadian Media Producers Association's Emerging Producer Award, a $5,000 prize conferred by a jury headed by

Robert Lantos Robert Lantos, CM (born 3 April 1949) is a Hungarian-Canadian film producer. Life and career Lantos was born on 3 April 1949 in Budapest, the son of Ágnes (Bodor) and László Lantos, a mechanic and truck company owner. Lantos spent much of hi ...

. Tremblay became the first

nominated for the

Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actress in a Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrati ...

References

External links

* {{TIFF Best Canadian Film 2016 drama films 2016 LGBT-related films 2016 films Canadian drama films Canadian LGBT-related films Films about revolutionaries LGBT-related drama films Films directed by Simon Lavoie Films about trans women French-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films Films directed by Mathieu Denis