The Descendant

This film has great intentions but fails in areas too major to ignore: acting and script. When I saw it at a film festival, the audience repeatedly laughed at the corny lines ("I can't believe I just witnessed that.") and overwrought, one-dimensional acting. The director apparently told his cast to look menacing, and oh, did they look menacing. The actress who played James' girlfriend was so awful that I felt embarrassed for her. Some of the "horror" elements were amateurish and silly, again eliciting uncomfortable giggles. The cinematography is beautiful but often not in sync with the theme (such as a character gliding through golden cornfields). Too bad, because the basic story is fascinating.

Philippe Spurrell's feature debut is an intriguing story revolving around a small community and its shared secret past history, and how an outsider pushes those secrets to the surface for all to see.

Since the film does rely on the element of surprise for it to work as a mystery, I will not be too explicit on the story itself, but will concentrate on the crafting of the film.

I saw this shot-on-35mm film digitally projected in a setting that did not in any way detract from the lush images on the screen.

The story begins in Montreal with the main protagonist, James, finding a few details of his past via an old shoebox, left to him by his mother, full of old photographs and birthday cards from his grand-parents whom he had no contact with since he was 3 years old. His partner, Kim, suggests that he should go and visit them to re-establish contact with his past, and possibly find answers to the reasons his mother exiled herself from her family.

When James reaches the small isolated community of St-Harmonie, Quebec, he finds himself warmly welcomed by an old friend of his Mother's, but looked on with suspicion by others in the local bar.

James meets up with his Grand-Parents at their farm, and intends to stay for a few days. He proceeds to unearth stories about his Mother's past, and finds deep secrets that the community collectively keeps buried deep in their history.

The film makes for a very good mystery, and succeeds on many other levels as well; but to reveal those would be to give too much away.

The cinematography by Lorenzo Negri and Ivan Gekoff (CSC) is quite sumptuous and serves the story well. The muted colours and close attention to the surface details and textures of the surroundings is very reminiscent of Kim Ki-Duk's "The Isle" (the look of the farmhouse and the wood specifically).

The art direction, the costumes that were created for the inhabitants of the little community literally transports the viewer in a past era; trucks and vehicles being the only details of a vague contemporary setting once James is at the farm.

There are fabulous shots over the farm's windswept cornfields that beg the question of how they were achieved with such a small budget (I did not want to ask the question of how they did it in order to maintain the illusion in my mind).

The actors delivered very convincing performances that at first glance appear off-kilter, but as the film progresses, you realize how true they are for the characters involved; I would say almost Lynchian in subtlety (especially the grand-father played by Jim Reid).

The sound design by Dan Lagacé and music by David Kristian are absolutely outstanding; he does not overwhelm you with recognizable themes, and the background sound effects are so subtle that they induce the mohawk effect (as one of "The Exorcist"'s sound designers was referring to his own sound work was meant to achieve in that film); the hair at the back of the neck definitely rises.

For a film that was shot over the span of 5 years on a shoestring budget, the continuity is spot on and doesn't betray the lack of funds.

Philippe Spurrell has really achieved a great deal with this film which is garnering interest across a broad spectrum of History and Film scholars, and the public at large.

The story explores a little known part of our local history, and makes a strong case for re-examining it in greater detail so that future generations realize how similar we (as a nation) were to our American neighbors.

The filmmakers should congratulate themselves on a job exceedingly well done. I strongly urge the public to go and see this film wherever possible; one of the best Quebec English Canadian films (yes they are distinct from the rest of English Canadian films) I've seen in a long while.

These sorts of indie films are either hit or miss, especially when little is known about the film from a lack of costly pre-hype publicity. So, for me, this taut little drama was a brilliant surprise. The film doesn't rely on clichés and in fact seems to steer clear of them. The pacing drew me in alongside James, the main protagonist (played convincingly by talented newcomer Tadhg McMahon). We are only as aware as he is of the unfolding truth and we react as he does with curiosity, surprise and ultimately, horror. I was riveted from start to finish accompanied by a well-crafted soundtrack along the way. Can't wait to see what this director has in store for us next!

Having been addicted to films for some 30 years I am just as happy watching something made for £1M or £100M , but I don't expect them to be the same. I only expect them to be interesting The concept and realisation of the Descendant along with the strange and ,to me, previously unknown subject matter made the film compelling. The tension that develops between the fey protagonist (James) from the modern world and the serious reserved characters James discovers in his family's past is very well played in large part and I had a growing feeling of discomfort as the film progressed. Horror films that develop discomfort from the milieu (The Wicker Man)rather than with bloodied bodies and slick CGI ( Nightwatch )seem to stick longer in the memory and this is one of the former.

The Descendant is a tense and surprising film about a part of Canadian history few people know about. It is not gory or superficial, but instead deals with a topic never before considered in Canadian film. It's supported by the familiar pattern of a suspense plot: a young man from Montreal goes to his grandparents' farm in rural Quebec to learn more about his mother's life, but discovers unpleasant truths about his family and the history of the area.

I've seen the film twice, once at the Fantasia Film Festival, and once at a screening at the National Film Board. One viewing is sufficient to get the basic story, but the film is subtle enough to reward another. Director Philippe Spurrell has included interesting camera shots and soundtrack motifs, along with great music found on old 78 records, to satisfy a critical audience. The actors portraying the aging villains are especially enjoyable to watch, with their sidelong glances and raised clenched fists.

The Descendant is good not only because of its tactful presentation of a shameful part of Canadian history, but also because it is a well made, well paced suspense film.