Archive of films 32nd Day of August on Earth / Un 32 août sur terre
Canada
1998, 88 min
Section:
Tribute to Denis Villeneuve
Year: 2011
When 26-year-old Simone (Pascale Bussières) falls asleep while driving to the airport, crashes her car, and miraculously survives the accident, she decides to ask her best friend, Philippe, who has been in love with her for years, to make her pregnant. A visually outstanding existential comedy with elements of a road movie, which might not lead to a happy ending.
Synopsis
26-year-old Simone (Pascale Bussières) crashes her car when she falls asleep while driving to the airport, but she miraculously survives the accident and determines to reevaluate her life. She gives up her job as a model and asks her best friend, Philippe (Alexis Martin), an eternal student, to make her pregnant. Philippe, for whom Simone has been an unattainable femme fatale for six years, jokingly replies that he will meet her demand, but only once they’re in a desert. And so, the following day, they find themselves in Salt Lake City, Utah, surrounded by desolation. But even outside the desert they both feel like tiny grains of sand, like ghosts overlooked by other people, whom they in turn ignore. This existential comedy with road-movie elements might not lead to a happy ending: both protagonists are afraid to live with the person they love most, and their fear can be defeated only by a threat from the world around them. How will they behave toward a taxi driver who intends to leave them in the desert? How will they cope with the discovery of a charred corpse near the highway? How will they pass the night at a "cosmic” airport hotel? And will September ever come when August has been extended by five days? The film’s excellence lies in its dialogues and in the performances of the lead actors, while André Turpin’s inventive camerawork intensifies the existential atmosphere. Villeneuve’s first feature film was presented at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section and brought the director a nomination for a Genie Award.
Contacts
Telefilm Canada
360, rue Saint-Jacques, Suite 600, H2Y 1P5, Montreal, Quebec
Canada
Tel: +1 514 283 636 3
Fax: +1 514 283 236 5
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.telefilm.gc.ca
Echo Bridge Entertainment
Wilshire Blvd. 8383, Suite 530, 90211, Beverly Hills
United States of America
Tel: +1 323 658 790 0
Fax: +1 323 658 792 2
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.echobridgeentertainment.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
Section: | Tribute to Denis Villeneuve |
---|---|
Director: | Denis Villeneuve |
Screenplay: | Denis Villeneuve |
Dir. of Photography: | André Turpin |
Music: | Nathalie Boileau, Pierre Desrochers |
Editor: | Sophie Leblond |
Producer: | Roger Frappier |
Production: | Max Films Productions |
Cast: | Pascale Bussières, Alexis Martin, Ricgard S. Hamilton, Paule Baillargeon, Serge Thériault, Evelyne Rompé |
Contact: | Telefilm Canada, Echo Bridge Entertainment |
Guests
Brigitte Hubmann
Film Institution Rep.
Denis Villeneuve
Film Director
Carolle Brabant
Film Institution Rep.