Polytechnique (2009)

Expected more

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

It is difficult to be able to speak/write about films like this that cover events to say the least dramatic and, given the indelible mark they leave in global history but especially the place where they occurred, important. Because if misunderstood you risk appearing disrespectful to those who have passed through their skin those certain tragic events; and the same is true for those who make them. However, after this premise, I will try to review this "Polytechnique", a film that had all the potential to be an unforgettable masterpiece but that is content to undoubtedly be a good film without excelling and exploiting all its potential. Definitely Villeneuve as a director does an excellent job that confirms once again his great skills that will then find their maximum splendor in his subsequent films, such as "Arrival", "Blade Runner 2049" and "Sicario"; with excellent shots and beautiful long shots, his direction proves to be mature, conscious and very clear, the black and white, here really beautiful, is then a touch of class. Needless to say, the film hits and excites, especially in the scenes in which the massacre takes place, with images, implicit and explicit, strong and difficult to absorb. We must admit, however, with the maximum respect possible, that a film with a true story of this type and this importance to the shoulders, can easily moves. It seems that this was also understood by Villeneuve himself and the writers that for the rest of the film, so all that comes before and after the massacre and not during, treat every aspect superficially, also because of an excessively short duration. A film that then leaves too little space and time to the true emotions of the characters, before and after the fact, and that then analyzes and explores the psychological aspect of the event in a too hastily way. The same figure of the murderer is not analyzed and characterized satisfactorily; his motivations, his person / figure, what made him get up to that point and that turned him into a killer, all this is addressed in a way that does not convince enough or while some of these aspects is not really considered . The same applies to the other protagonists of the film, they are very poorly characterized and this makes it impossible to identify with them the psychological impact suffered both during the massacre and afterwards too superficially. Very good, however, the melancholic soundtrack that seeks, together with the images, to create an intense and suggestive atmosphere, in this we say that it manages however remains an atmosphere too thin, easy to break, in fact we are easily distracted, and not manages to remain constant or incisive enough to remain even after the end of the film. Also for this reason the film, although objectively of excellent quality, at least technical, is too superficial and short, which makes it weak and easy to forget. Too bad because it could be a true masterpiece.

Pure and simple, this film is a response to our societal violence against women. I'm surprised by some of the reviewers here particularly from diomavro, trying to belittle the events or claim exaggeration on the film's part. Yes, the film is a fictionalized account, but the actual events are nearly note-for-note the same. All one has to do is read the Wikipedia article, École Polytechnique Massacre. The killer was very clear in his intentions, and he in fact cornered a group of women and told them he hated feminists and hated them for pursuing careers in engineering. Yes, it did cause a "media scandal" precisely because this was a massacre based on misogyny. That is what happened, there is no "grey area" here. Villeneuve has honoured and represented this event faithfully and truthfully. The Polytechnique massacre was a shocking reminder to Canada that men and women are still not equal, and there are those who will fight a perceived loss of privilege to the death. To try and cover this up, and claim that the murders were about anything other than a hatred of women, is to spit on the victim's graves.

From the opening scene of students busy doing their copying in front of an array of copying machines, and the sudden disruption caused by a burst of gun fire, Polytechnique grabs the viewers by the collar and placed them right in the middle of this horrific event that took place in Montreal in 1989.The film claimed to be a fictionalized account of the massacre, in which 14 women were killed and many others were wounded, and I don't know to what extent it adheres to facts. But that does not matter. As far as story telling goes Denis Villeneuves did it with skill and without fanfare. B/W images, and a restraint use of dialogue and music add to the mood of this film, which is not an uplifting experience by its very nature. Acting was good by the several male and female leads. Editing was excellent.Overall, I look at this films as Canadian cinema at its best - despite the depressing nature of the subject matter.

The movie starts off with a bang and if you don't know what this is about (like me when I watched this, I hadn't read anything about it), then you will be awed by this very strong beginning. While it's almost like a documentary, it is very strong and has very good natural performances! It's not for the faint hearted and it will be a very intense and strange watching experience. You can't say that it will entertain you in the normal sense of that word, but it will be gripping and it will be a movie that you won't forget that easily. Whether you like it or not, it is grim and it is down and dirty.