The Novena
Screened at Locarno International Film Festival In Competition
Bernard Emond's The Novena is a profoundly moving meditation on aspects of faith and the question of how hope can exist if there is no belief in God.
Set in the beautiful Charlevoix region of Quebec, the film has the pace and mood of an autumnal fugue as two strangers deal with death in separate ways that achieve extraordinary harmony as they come to know one another.
The Novena will appeal to anyone seeking first-class drama on a topic that is challenging but seeks to illuminate the dilemma of whether a non-believer may find spiritual peace equal to that claimed by the truly faithful.
Elise Guilbault gives an unforgettable performance as a Montreal doctor, Jeanne, who is deeply traumatized by an act of violence towards two of her patients. She also lives with the loss of her own son at a young age. Tempted by suicide, the doctor flees to the riverbanks of the St. Lawrence and stops near the basilica of Saint-Anne-de-Beaupry.
There, she encounters a young man named Francois (a fine Patrick Drolet) who has come to pray for his dying grandmother, who has raised him since his parents were killed in a car accident.
Jeanne is a non-believer but she responds to Francois' simple kindness and his observation that Your soul is in anguish.
Flashbacks reveal the extent of Jeanne's trauma while the young man's earnest goodwill leads her to meet his grandmother (Denise Gagnon) who believes that one person's death does not matter, it is only transition. When Jeanne responds quickly and efficiently to provide CPR to a man having a heart attack at St. Anne's, Francois believes she can save his grandmother too.
Emond offers no easy answers save that simple goodness can be all the answer that's needed. Deliberately paced and often deeply melancholy, The Novena is as intelligent and rewarding as films get, and a kind of sanctuary in itself.
Bernard Emond's The Novena is a profoundly moving meditation on aspects of faith and the question of how hope can exist if there is no belief in God.
Set in the beautiful Charlevoix region of Quebec, the film has the pace and mood of an autumnal fugue as two strangers deal with death in separate ways that achieve extraordinary harmony as they come to know one another.
The Novena will appeal to anyone seeking first-class drama on a topic that is challenging but seeks to illuminate the dilemma of whether a non-believer may find spiritual peace equal to that claimed by the truly faithful.
Elise Guilbault gives an unforgettable performance as a Montreal doctor, Jeanne, who is deeply traumatized by an act of violence towards two of her patients. She also lives with the loss of her own son at a young age. Tempted by suicide, the doctor flees to the riverbanks of the St. Lawrence and stops near the basilica of Saint-Anne-de-Beaupry.
There, she encounters a young man named Francois (a fine Patrick Drolet) who has come to pray for his dying grandmother, who has raised him since his parents were killed in a car accident.
Jeanne is a non-believer but she responds to Francois' simple kindness and his observation that Your soul is in anguish.
Flashbacks reveal the extent of Jeanne's trauma while the young man's earnest goodwill leads her to meet his grandmother (Denise Gagnon) who believes that one person's death does not matter, it is only transition. When Jeanne responds quickly and efficiently to provide CPR to a man having a heart attack at St. Anne's, Francois believes she can save his grandmother too.
Emond offers no easy answers save that simple goodness can be all the answer that's needed. Deliberately paced and often deeply melancholy, The Novena is as intelligent and rewarding as films get, and a kind of sanctuary in itself.
- 8/8/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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