An almost operatic tribute to youth, Philippe Lesage's Genèse uses an unconventional structure to capture the discomfort of adolescence. Its nonlinear timeline follows three interconnected experiences wrought by tragedy and cosmic coincidences. Its images, which carry the dreamy incandescence of brightly coloured satin, combine with a recurring chorus from TOPS' "Outside" - "thoughts of you running through my mind" - to form a unifying force in a deep examination of first love, real and imagined, in a confused and often cruel world.
Genèse is a quasi-sequel to Lesage's Les démons - a selection in Canada's Top Ten 2016 - and includes an out-of-chronology narrative about that film's main character, Félix (Édouard Tremblay-Grenier), but the main focus here is on step-siblings Charlotte and Guillaume (Noée Abita and Théodore Pellerin, in remarkably strong performances). Wracked with uncertainty and insecurity in their respective romantic pursuits, these characters show little regard for their own well-being, as if lingering at the edge of a cliff. This is an intimate, quietly transgressive, and unsettling portrait of desire.
22 авг 2024
