Polytechnique (2009)

A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.

Director:

Denis Villeneuve

Writers:

Jacques Davidts (scenario and dialogue), Denis Villeneuve (collaboration)

Stars:

Maxim Gaudette, Sébastien Huberdeau, Karine Vanasse

16 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maxim Gaudette	...	The Killer
Sébastien Huberdeau	...	Jean-François
Karine Vanasse	...	Valérie
Martin Watier	...	Jean-François (voice)
Evelyne Brochu	...	Stéphanie
Johanne-Marie Tremblay	...	Jean-François' Mother
Natalie Hamel-Roy	...	Jean-François' Mother (voice) (as Nathalie Hamel-Roy)
Pierre-Yves Cardinal	...	Éric
Pierre Leblanc	...	Mr. Martineau
Francesca Barcenas	...	Injured Student at Copier
Eve Duranceau	...	Student with the Ear Injury
Mathieu Ledoux	...	Injured Student
Adam Kosh	...	Killer's Roommate
Larissa Corriveau	...	Killer's Neighboor
Manon Lapointe	...	Killer's Mother

Storyline

On December 6, 1989, a lone gunman walked into Montréal's École Polytechnique, a post-secondary institution focusing primarily in engineering, and began a shooting massacre. This event and its aftermath are shown from the perspective of three people. The first is the shooter himself, who blamed the problems in his life on who he considered feminists, such as female engineering students, who were his primary targets. This event was the culmination of a seven year plan, which had a self-defined end. The second is female mechanical engineering student Valérie, who earlier that day had an interview for her dream internship, working on an aerospace project. The interview process itself was a disturbing one for her in the stereotypical view by the male interviewer, who did not believe that females could work in the business and still have aspirations to have a family. And the third is Jean-François, Valérie's friend and fellow mechanical engineering student, who was one of the few who did ...

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Plot Keywords:

misogynist | gunman | in medias res | montreal quebec | insanity | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Release Date:

15 January 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Politechnika

Filming Locations:

Sir George-Étienne Cartier Monument, Montreal, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

CAD 214,419 (Canada), 8 February 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Remstar Media Partners, Remstar Productions, Don Carmody Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was screened for the family members of the victims before being released commercially. The film was released with their blessing.

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Quotes

Valérie: If I have a boy, I'll teach him how to love. If I have a girl, I'll tell her the world is hers.

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Alternate Versions

In addition to the French-Canadian language version, an English language version was also shot (back-to-back).

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Connections

References Pour la suite du monde (1963)

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Soundtracks

To Build a Home
Written by Patrick Watson
Performed by Patrick Watson and The Cinematic Orchestra
With permission of Secret City Records Inc.

User Reviews

Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi was the birth name of Marc Lepine

I have to mention what the movie reviews (and news media) ignored. Mark Lepine was born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi. His father was Algerian. It is weird and creepy that Canada's multicultural media (and its movie productions) ignore this bit of information. I only learned of it by a chance glance at wikipedia and I was shocked--since I had no idea he was biracial. The news media never mentioned this in 1989. They framed the entire issue around gender hatred. This appears dishonest and deliberately so.