Set Me Free

Hanna (Karine Vanasse) is a Canadian teenager in the early sixties.And she shapes her own identity. Her parents escape from their responsibilities: her father prefers playing chess to working; and her mother is a depressive woman (several suicide attempts). That's why she decides of leading her own life. But Reality is stronger than she expected: Life bites hard...

Emporte-moi is partly an autobiographical movie. Léa Pool presents an interesting analysis of the familial relationship and adolescence. Well, this melancholy movie is very touching. Even the scene of the abandoned dog moved. Anyway, the acting is quite perfect and right. Karine Vanasse is magic, Miki Manojlovic surprising in comparison with his performance in "Underground".We can just regret the underemployment of Pascales Bussières, which is paradoxical given the closed relationship between Hanna and her mother.

Well...I have to say that anyone get out of the cinema before the closing credits:a surprise is awaiting you. I put a 8 out of 10.

Lea Pool is a brillant director, but sometimes, her films are a little bit boring. But this one is absolutely her best work. A good story, a wonderful sense of image, and the actors are all very well directed. I think this is an effort for Pool to go mainstreem. But, for me, as an historian, this movie have big problems... The story is set in 1963 (the song Mockingbird, heard in the movie, tells me that.) The way Leo Pool describes Quebec society and the culture of the French Canadians of the time had nothing to do with 1963. It's all look like 1973-76. It had no historical respect of the facts of 1963. For example, Lea Pool shows us the Jean-Luc Godard movie Vivre sa vie, and the young Karine Vanasse identifies herself to Anna Karina in that movie. In the early sixties, most of the nouvelle vague French cinema (like this Godard film) were not released in Quebec. By that time, censorship was very strong and I'm sure that the prostitute character of miss Karina in that Godard film was banned from the Board of Censorship. The Godard movie is from 1962. By that time, French movies always takes three, and sometimes four years to get to Quebec's movie theatres. For me, it's impossible that this movie was shown in Quebec in 1963. Let's also say that in 1963, the legal age to go to a movie house was 16. But Karine Vanasse is 13 in that movie! Also, the way the father of Karine Vanasse wear his hairs is< absolutely 1973-75! The facts that most of the young girls wore trousers is also strange! So is the girl kissing Karine, her brother kissing her, in a so natural way is simply impossible. Lea Pool was born in Switzerland. She cames to Quebec en 1978. Critics says that Emporte-moi was about her life as a young teenager. It could be better if the film was set in Europe. In Europe, the Godard film was shown, the cultural aspects of the people were more liberal than in Quebec, who was still a very Catholic and conservative society, by that time. These little facts annoyed me. When you make a movie set in the past, it's very important to respect the period. Leo Pool didn't. I don't mean that Emporte-moi is a bad movie. Not at all! It's fanastic and young Karine is superb, so is the great Pascale Bussières (our best actress in Quebec and Canada.) But if an historian was part of the crew to tells miss Pool what's illogic, it could be a lot better.

If you're looking for an uplifting film, you won't find it here. Without knowing anything about the director, I'm assuming this movie is, at least somewhat, autobiographical. It feels extremely personal, and I did experience a sense of kinship in its coming-of-age elements.

I don't know how old the teenagers were during filming; but if made today and the lead actors were under 18 years of age, it's highly likely someone would be charged with a crime. Despite its exploitive moments, it does somehow capture the innocence of discovering physical affection during pubescence. Nothing explicit, mind you, but enough to make me uncomfortable--and rest assured, I'm no prude.

I definitely liked it, but I won't watch it again. Recommended only for film junkies.

Excellent coming-of-age story. It feels really lived in. I'm not sure if it's autobiographical, but it sure feels like it. Karine Vanasse plays 13 year-old Hanna, a girl from Montreal with kind of a rough family life. Her parents are unmarried and poor, and along with her older brother they all live in a cramped apartment. Hanna falls in love with Godard's Vivre sa vie, and inspired by it, she is led down a dangerous path. As you might expect with the genre, there are moments of joy along with the pain. Novelist Nancy Huston plays Hanna's teacher, who reminds her of Anna Karina - she looks so much like Karina I spent the whole movie thinking it was her. The only big problem of the film is that Vanasse is not convincing as a 13 year-old - the actress is a couple of years older than that, and looks it. She is very good, though, as an actress.

"Emporte-moi" is the latest Léa Pool movie. I was invited to the premiere in Montreal at the Loews theater. I was stunned! It's one of the best movies I've ever seen. Newcomer Karine Vanasse (who I had the chance to meet) does to this movie what Tori Amos does for her albums. What I mean is that she brings the movie to life and supports it all magnifically on her back. This is the new talent out of Quebec for the year 2000. Also, you can not put aside the brilliant performances by Pascale Buissière and the rest of the cast. To conclude, go see it right away or if you ever get your hands on a copy when it goes to video, don't waste your chance of seeing this genius movie.