Emporte-moi (1999)

Director:

Léa Pool

Writers:

Nancy Huston (screenplay)
Léa Pool (writer)

Release Date:

28 July 1999 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Canadian/Swiss/French production that tells the tale of Hannah, a tomboyish 13 year-old hitting puberty in 1963. An unhappy and uncomfortable family life leads Hannah to seek escapism in the world of cinema. Specifically, she repeatedly watches and appears enthralled by Anna Karina, the character from Jean-Luc Godard's "Vivre sa vie" (1962) about a Parisian woman's descent into prostitution. Her confusion surrounding what is real leads to a crush on her female teacher and her actively pursuing what it's like to be a prostitute for an evening.

Plot Keywords:

Puberty | Prostitution | 13 Year Old | 1963 | Teacher

Awards:

15 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Karine Vanasse	...	Hanna
Pascale Bussières	...	Mère de Hanna
Miki Manojlovic	...	Père de Hanna
Alexandre Mérineau	...	Paul, frère de Hanna
Charlotte Christeler	...	Laura
Nancy Huston	...	Professeur
Monique Mercure	...	Grand-Mère de Hanna
Jacques Galipeau	...	Grand-père de Hanna
Carl Hennebert-Faulkner	...	Martin
Neil Kroetsch	...	Prêteur sur gage
Michel Albert	...	Gardien de sécurité
Gary Boudreault	...	Boulanger
Marie-Hélène Gagnon	...	Propriétaire
Suzanne Garceau	...	Infirmière
Normand Canac-Marquis	...	Client de Hanna

Also Known As:

Emporte-moi (France)
Set Me Free (USA)

Runtime:

Canada:95 min | Netherlands:94 min

Country:

Switzerland | Canada | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:U | Germany:12 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Catpics Coproductions

Movie Connections:

Features Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962)

An historian is missing on the crew

Lea Pool is a brillant director, but sometimes, her films are a little bit boring. But this one is absolutely her best work. A good story, a wonderful sense of image, and the actors are all very well directed. I think this is an effort for Pool to go mainstreem. But, for me, as an historian, this movie have big problems... The story is set in 1963 (the song Mockingbird, heard in the movie, tells me that.) The way Leo Pool describes Quebec society and the culture of the French Canadians of the time had nothing to do with 1963. It's all look like 1973-76. It had no historical respect of the facts of 1963. For example, Lea Pool shows us the Jean-Luc Godard movie Vivre sa vie, and the young Karine Vanasse identifies herself to Anna Karina in that movie. In the early sixties, most of the nouvelle vague French cinema (like this Godard film) were not released in Quebec. By that time, censorship was very strong and I'm sure that the prostitute character of miss Karina in that Godard film was banned from the Board of Censorship. The Godard movie is from 1962. By that time, French movies always takes three, and sometimes four years to get to Quebec's movie theatres. For me, it's impossible that this movie was shown in Quebec in 1963. Let's also say that in 1963, the legal age to go to a movie house was 16. But Karine Vanasse is 13 in that movie! Also, the way the father of Karine Vanasse wear his hairs is< absolutely 1973-75! The facts that most of the young girls wore trousers is also strange! So is the girl kissing Karine, her brother kissing her, in a so natural way is simply impossible. Lea Pool was born in Switzerland. She cames to Quebec en 1978. Critics says that Emporte-moi was about her life as a young teenager. It could be better if the film was set in Europe. In Europe, the Godard film was shown, the cultural aspects of the people were more liberal than in Quebec, who was still a very Catholic and conservative society, by that time. These little facts annoyed me. When you make a movie set in the past, it's very important to respect the period. Leo Pool didn't. I don't mean that Emporte-moi is a bad movie. Not at all! It's fanastic and young Karine is superb, so is the great Pascale Bussières (our best actress in Quebec and Canada.) But if an historian was part of the crew to tells miss Pool what's illogic, it could be a lot better.