Un crabe dans la tête

I worked as the festival coordinator for the Toronto Environmental Film festival in 2001 -- this was definitely the most powerful and entertaining piece to be shown on the screens. The audience response was very similar and I've watched it several more times over.

The characters, the conversations and the twists together form a genuine and intriguing film -- something we all could relate to and I truly believe some of the choice made are similar to reactions I would have in the same position.

This film is very human and very french - but worth every moment.

Please try it. Mitchell

This is a very good film from Quebec. The acting was nice, it was a really understated drama but at the same time had really strange (in a good way) elements to it and it had something to say. Can't go into too many details without spilling the beans but it's a good story about a guy who's kind of a knob and who has a lot of trouble with relationships both with women and just friends in general.

One could compare the scenario of "Un Crabe" the best with Dostoevski's novel, "The Idiot". We see our "hero" Alex, who we could regard as an idiot, but nevertheless, we see that he becomes the centrepiece in the scenario, just like Dostoevski's main character in "The Idiot". And all seem to need him very much, in their own special way.

His very best friend, Sam, welcomes him with open arms since he's so happy to have him back in his life. Another friend, Audrey, dares not to leave her flat and trusts him with her "business". And of course, the gallery director who says "je t'aime" to Alex. Need we mention as well that Alex sort of stopped his relationship with his "wife"?

We also see Alex make new friends, namely the cold and distant Marie; Sara (the girlfriend of Sam) with whom Alex gets on very well; Armando, the lonely rich kid who has nothing else better to do than to spend his fortune on drugs.

The scanario is very original and very well written. And like in Dostoevski's "The Idiot" we seem to ask ourselves, who is really the idiot here ... Alex or the society around him.

If you're in the mood to see a mainstream Hollywood film, with the basic Hollywood script of action, braindead violence and the cool happy end, this isn't the film for you. However, if you want to see something original and with much insight, you will enjoy your time spent watching this film.

Vive la differénce ;)

m.

Definitely,this movie is surprising! Although the pace seems long at the beginning, we get into that movie impressively well. The cast and the characters' background is such well-developed. David La Haye is absolutely tremendous in that performance, and as great as French-Canadian viewers got used to see him in along the years. In response to some comments I read about this film, I'd only tell that this movie is based on the characters' psychology, and not the theme that represents each of them. Thus, this movie is of course not an arts movie. If you expect such, I understand you maybe don't like it.

Another great pride of Quebec's cinema! 8 out of 10!

From reading the above comments, I imagine that most these people are so used to a "hollywood" movie structure that when they're presented with something that shifts away from that, they just can't make sense out of it. The characters are fully developed, and I think the protagonist, Alex, is extremely believable. He has sympathy towards people who might not deserve it and then he can't get a hold of himself when he's about to put one of his precious relationships at risk. So what? That's exactly how we behave in real life too.

The cinematography is awesome, the music is beautiful, the plot is extremely interesting. And all the characters are so...French-Canadian.... I think you have to be French to understand that those situations are not unrealistic.

That's why I like Canadian movies - they are different, and tell the story as it is, without trying to embelish situations or try to tie the knots for the viewer... they assume the viewer is intelligent enough to take his own conclusions. Well, not all of them anyway...