Change Your Image
bumscratcher
Reviews
Le ring (2007)
Yet another stunning film from Quebec which has had little or no release outside of Francophone Canada.
Jessy, age 12, dreams of becoming a wrestler. Already, life is a daily fight; home is chaotic and his innocence is quickly disappearing. Reality hits hard in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, a poor area of Montreal, but it can't compete with the Friday night wrestling that gives Jessy the courage to escape his destiny. "Le Ring" tells the story of a little fighter determined to make his own way.
Maxime Desjardins-Tremblay effortlessly plays the lost soul Jessy in his acting debut; he is from the same neighbourhood where the story is set, perhaps giving him the ease before the camera one would expect from a veteran performer.
Tough, gritty, and sometimes difficult to watch, "Le Ring" takes the viewer deep into an alien world that is in reality only a few miles away
Much of the dialogue seems to be in Joual, the urban dialect of Montreal, which is also a rarity in film. (Think "Glasgow English")
Chizkeik (2008)
A great example of the new direction in Russian 'Indie' film making
Three people from totally different backgrounds are cast in a commercial promoting a wholesome dessert: Mikhail the physician (Sergei Chonishvili), Natasha the professional actress (Olga Lomonosova), and thirteen-year-old Alyosha, cast "right off the street". They portray such an idealized family for the ad that Alyosha decides that he will stop at nothing to make his life as perfect as the one he 'played on TV'...
Director Eugene Zvezdakov's deft hand guides the subtle script by Elena Dolgopyat to slowly and carefully bring the viewer to the surprising ending, aided by a fine score by Daniel Kalashnik.
A great example of the new direction in Russian 'Indie' film making; an outstanding performance from Pavel Melenchuk, virtually unknown outside of Russia, as Alyosha, anchors this beautifully made psychological thriller, a sleeper even in Russia.