In the lead up to the 7th Canadian Film Festival in Australia (August 2012), join us as we countdown the Top 100 Canadian Films of the past 30 years. We'll be posting one film a day leading up to Canada Day on July 1st 2012. Do you agree with our staff favourites? Let us know your thoughts!
Free-spirited aerobics instructor, Michèle, decides to leave her husband and gambling debts behind to run away to California to start a new life with her teenage daughter. Totally broke, the pair only make it as far as the home of childhood friend, Janine. Janine has a teenage daughter of her own and seems to be living the suburban dream. The very different women are bound to clash, yet they may have more in common than they think…
You’d be forgiven for expecting a run-of-the-mill chick flick, but Archambault’s insights into female identity and family dynamics go further than the premise promises. The sitcomish set up doesn’t prepare you for the gritty honesty with which the big issues are tackled.
The humour percolates through the drama, unforced and heartfelt. The film’s best moments happen when Archambault shrugs off the dramatic stakes and lets loose with her sly, incisive sense of humour.
The director shows a keen understanding of pacing. The film hits the ground running, wisely dispensing with traditional back-story elements or heavy-handed psychological context to explain everyone’s behaviour. The audience is smart – is the assumption – they’ll catch up. The screenplay knows when to slow down too, letting the emotional ramifications of each decision sink in, building slowly to that rare thing in ensemble pieces: a great ending.
- Matt Ravier
“Steering well clear of soap opera, the film offers a slice of life that women will surely recognize and men would no doubt benefit from seeing..” – Hollywood Reporter
Familia had its Australian premiere at the 1st Possible Worlds Film Festival in 2006, in the presence of filmmaker Louise Archambault.
To see the other films in the countdown so far, click here.