Ah, Children.  All Sweetness And Light ... And Drinking And Smoking And Violence ...

As I’ve mentioned in these pages from time to time Canada may as well be two distinct nations when it comes to film.  There’s English-speaking Canada, which produces a handful of titles of wildly varying quality every year, films that are generally destined to fail unless they’re from Cronenberg or Egoyan or attached to some major US company.  And then there are the films from French-speaking Quebec, which has a thriving local industry, a local star system and where people actually turn out to support their home grown product.  Quebec produces a lot of stellar film every year, virtually none of which is ever exhibited in the rest of the country.  How separate are these two worlds?  In the International Village at the film market in Cannes - the place where different countries set up pavilions to promote their films and attract outside production dollars - there are separate pavilions for Canada and Quebec.  Yeah, we’re a bit dysfunctional up here.

Unfortunately at this year’s TIFF - one of the only chances to see the current crop of Canuck film on screen - my schedule didn’t allow me to get to any of the Quebecois titles screening despite their being a good number of them that I really wanted to get to.  But from what people I trust have told me the cream of the Canadian crop this year was - no surprise - from Quebec, Philippe Falardeau’s C’est Pas Moi, Je Le Jure! or It’s Not Me, I Swear!, a film that has a far better chance of being seen overseas than it does anywhere in Canada because the production outfit that was meant to distribute it here has just gone under.

Leon is ten years old, has lots of problems and an overly fertile imagination. In the summer of ‘68, when Mom decides to leave everything behind to start a new life in Greece, Leon is prepared to do anything to kill the pain. Destroy the neighbours’ house, become a professional liar and even, why not, fall in love with Lea. Together, they will overcome the pain of growing up when you feel abandoned.

Call me crazy but misanthropic ten year olds are funny, particularly when you put a smoke in their mouth and have them spout off strings of ridiculous lies.  The trailer has finally arrived online and it’s looking like good stuff.  Check it in the Twitch Player below the break.