Corbo

By Christopher Redmond

Mailed on September 10, 2014


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Dear TIFF

Dear TIFF,

The October Crisis has inspired some of Canada's finest films. Michel Brault's Les ordres and Pierre Falardeau's Octobre are the most notable, and despite their propaganda-like levels of sympathy for the FLQ and Quebec sovereignty movement, they're undeniably great cinematic experiences. Corbo may not achieve such heights, but it's certainly worthy of being grouped in this elite class of "distinctly" Quebec cinema.

The film canonizes teenagers in the 1960s who were willing to kill complete strangers to promote the separatist movement. This makes the film's inclusion in Canada's premiere film festival sound strange on paper, but adding Corbo to the line-up is far from a political statement. It's a well-crafted period film that takes its characters and politics dead serious. I haven't seen (or even heard of) writer and director Mathieu Denis' only other feature film, Laurentie. But after seeing Corbo, he's one to watch out for. In a good way.

Sincerely,

Christopher

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