LES BONS DEBARRAS Movie Review

Michelle (Marie Tifo) is the unmarried mother of the 13-year-old Manon (Charlotte Laurier), who live in near poverty outside of Montreal. Almost obsessively in love with her mother, Manon becomes enraged and desperately jealous when she learns that her mother has become pregnant by a local cop (German Houde). Directed by Francis Mankiewicz, this is an intense and weird little psychodrama that never exactly takes off, yet its portrait of the lives and environment of the protagonists is so indelibly sketched that you almost don't mind. Tifo and Laurier are lively and often startling in their roles, and cinematographer Michel Brault (Mon Oncle Antoine) has provided a rich but desolate look. Winner of Canada's Genie Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actress (Tifo), and Supporting Actor (Houde).

NEXT STOP … Mon Oncle Antoine, Proof, La Cérémonie

1981 114m/C CA Marie Tifo, Charlotte Laurier, German Houde; D: Francis Mankiewicz. Genie Awards '81: Best Actress (Tifo), Best Director (Mankiewicz), Best Film, Best Supporting Actor (Houde). VHS NO