Robert Lepage's debut feature, last year's Hitchcockian suspense chiller Le confessional (The Confessional) met with a critical acclaim that belied the Canadian director's theatrical background. After it premiered at Cannes, Nick James wrote in Sight and Sound that “the director's use of colour, design, character and editing are so sumptuous and compelling as to make the prospect of future Lepage films a truly exciting one.
Le polygraphe begins when Judith (Josée Deschênes), a filmmaker who is haunted by the violent death of her friend Marie-Claire two years earlier, decides to make a film about the unresolved case. Its lead, Lucie Champagne (Marie Brassard, Suspect no 1, Upside Down), discovers her neighbour François Tremblay (Patrick Goyette, Le confessional) is a prime suspect in the murder investigation. François does not actually know if he is guilty or not, but when sub-jected to the polygraph - a lie detector - he begins doubting his own memory of events. Maria de Medeiros, of Pulp Fiction fame, appears as François' lover, Claude.
Lepage's visual and storytelling style is all there, but this film has mainstream crossover potential due to its more standard, whodunnit storyline,” says Marie-Claude Poulin, vice- president of international distribution and sales agents CFP. Poulin also points out that this US$2.6 million production - principally financed by Canada's Téléfilm, France's CNC and Germany's Berlin-Brandenburg Film Board represents a considerable achievement both for Canadian cinema and CFP: two Canadian directors are at Venice this year (the other being Bruce McDonald with Hard Core Logo), both being represented by CFP, which is still in its first year. Adam Zunker
Prod co: In Extremis Images, Cinéa, Road Movies Dritte Produktionen
Prods: Bruno Jobin, Jean-Pierre St-Michel, Philippe Carcassone, Ulrich Felsberg
Dir: Robert Lepage Scr: Robert Lepage, Marie Brassard
Ph: Guy Dufaux Prod des: Monique Dion
Cos: Luc J Béland
Mus: Robert Caux
Ed: Emmanuelle Castro, Jean-François Bergeron
Cast: Marie Brassard, Patrick Goyette, Maria de Medeiros
Running time: 97 mins
International sales: CFP International
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