Léolo (1992)

Young Leo Lauzon is torn between two worlds - the squalid Montreal tenement that he inhabits with his severely dysfunctional (and largely insane) family, and the imaginative world that he ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Claude Lauzon

Writer:

Jean-Claude Lauzon

Stars:

Maxime Collin, Ginette Reno, Gilbert Sicotte

8 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gilbert Sicotte	...	Narrator (voice)
Maxime Collin	...	Leolo
Ginette Reno	...	Mother
Julien Guiomar	...	Grandfather
Pierre Bourgault	...	Word Tamer
Giuditta Del Vecchio	...	Bianca
Andrée Lachapelle	...	Psychiatrist
Denys Arcand	...	Director
Germain Houde	...	Teacher
Yves Montmarquette	...	Fernand
Lorne Brass	...	Fernand's Enemy
Roland Blouin	...	Father
Geneviève Samson	...	Rita
Marie-Hélène Montpetit	...	Nanette
Francis St-Onge	...	Leolo, age 6

Storyline

Young Leo Lauzon is torn between two worlds - the squalid Montreal tenement that he inhabits with his severely dysfunctional (and largely insane) family, and the imaginative world that he constructs for himself through his writings, where he's Leolo Lozone, son of a Sicilian peasant (conceived in a bizarre act involving a tomato). And his experiences of growing up (especially his sexual development) affect his response to both these worlds...

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Plot Keywords:

hereditary insanity | mental illness | obsessive compulsive | tomato | dark humor | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

-Bande annonce

Country:

Canada France

Language:

French

Release Date:

2 April 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Leolo

Filming Locations:

Taormina, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Box Office

Gross USA:

$610,488

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Films Corporation, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the last film of Jean-Claude Lauzon.

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Quotes

Narrator: Because I dream, I am not.

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Alternate Versions

The UK censors made 2 cuts totaling 32 seconds. One showed young boys stroking a woman's breasts. The other was for cruelty to a cat.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Game/The End of Violence/L.A. Confidential/The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997)

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Soundtracks

Cold Cold Ground
Written and performed by Tom Waits

User Reviews

By body betrayed, by poetry saved...

Which came first, the disturbing or the disturbed? This is a difficult film for me to assay. Certainly I did not enjoy "Leolo" but then there are many films I have appreciated which I did not enjoy. Despite being tagged as such, this film was never a comedy for me, outlandish scenes too often were tainted by a ring of tragic truth. Well, I should clarify and say "at least an emotional truth."

This film reminded me of Baudelaire and Rabelais. I remember in my late teens, seeking out those poets feeling that I should appreciate them from the little I had heard about them. Someone probably mentioned Iggy Pop in the same breath with 'em. Anyways, their poems never did connect with me, I remember thinking that something in translation or in the transatlantic crossing was lost upon me. This film has many moments like that (despite a shorter journey down from Canada), but cast amidst shining gems of genius. One example, the recurrent use of the refrigerator light, and other illumination, shining over Leolo's shoulder.

This film slips and dips into the "rabelaisian" in the reduced definition, i.e. a fecal focus. A childhood is deprived more than depraved, but a little of both. If any sexual appetite is offensive for you, than this film is not for you... Spend your time on some counseling instead.

And yet for me, much of the film was grotesque...and I think that's a nearly perfect word for it, what with its stylish franco-suffix... gracefully covering over its seamier stewings. Like a sauce over spoiled meat.

But as I think more about this film: the merd, the bugs, the dead dog in the canal...all of that waste, is not wasted. Instead the images, the reviling of an earthly existence drive us off the screen and into the voiced-over poetry of Leolo. Even in translation and subtitle, the words had a precise beauty. A beauty I feel was intentionally and successfully accented by the sordid scenarios stitched together.

It would be an interesting test for someone to read the poetry from the screenplay first and then watch the film. Would the words be strong enough without the sights, sounds and implied smells of Leolo's world to suffice?

While I cannot honestly recommend this film (too many times I found myself hoping that a fade-to-black was final), it would be interesting to hear/read others' comments. I'll come back to the reviews here, and maybe the film in the future.

Til' then, I 'll give it a 6/10

PS Interesting. In posting my review the "s-word" now appears to be banned...so let them read "merd."