Polytechnique (2009)
When you sit down to watch a movie about a real school massacre, you know it is not exactly going to be pleasant. And even though you know what is coming, you are never fully prepared. It is impressive how Villeneuve here manages to show both restraint and absolutely no restraint. It is intense yet also calm. He breaks up traditional narrative in a very creative manner, that makes a story that can only go one way when it is started, into something that still shows unexpected turns and doesn’t always go where you thought it might. It handles the controversial subject matter way better than Elephant did.
It was a very odd experience full of conflicting thoughts. At first I appreciated how the movie didn’t go all in on the brutality, until it did exactly that. It had the desired provocative effect on me, because it just heightened the uneasy feeling of not really knowing where the movie will take you. I was also at times a bit annoyed that since this was a massacre that specifically targeted women, then why should we have so much screen time of one of the male survivors. Though that was thankfully redeemed later in a respectful meaningful way.
It is not a movie that gives closure or settle anything, and it shouldn’t. It is meant to leave you in a state of unease and unsettledness. It actually left me somewhat worried and angered, because while this is a movie from 2009 about events in 1989, it is hardly out of date. My wife and two daughters are sleeping upstairs, and with the recent election of Trump across the Atlantic ocean, mysogonestic trends are on the rise and with a powerful backing like never before. It is impossible not feel numb and scared with this movie in that context. Thankfully the movie ends on an inspiring quote on that point.
Rating: 4