April 17, 2012

Cinéma québécois: Le Vendeur (The Salesman)

Centre Culturel Franco Manitobain, 340 boulevard Provencher
April 23, 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
In French with English subtitles
Special guest : Director Sébastien Pilote
$8 

Les Rendez-vous du Cinéma québécois et Cinémental presents 
Le Vendeur (The Salesman)
With: Gilbert Sicotte, Nathalie Cavezzali, Jean-François Boudreau et Jérémy Tessier

Marcel Lévesque is a dapper, silver-haired, silver-tongued car salesman. Perennially "Salesman of the Month", he takes great satisfaction in the ritual of persuasion. Selling is his calling and preoccupation.  That and watching over his beloved daughter and grandson are his sole raisons d’être. 

But in the humble working-class town of Lac Saint-Jean, Québec, the impending paper plant closure is making car buying seem absurd. As more men are laid off, change swoops into Marcel’s life, too, and he must come to terms with the consequences of his obsession.

The Salesman applies restraint to mount subtle moments into an emotionally crushing story.  A heartbreaking, exacting performance by Gilbert Sicotte, one of French Canada’s greatest actors, is the exquisite engine driving this meditation on our need for safety and routine in the face of life’s inevitable instability.

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