Official Selection - Out of Competition 2013 / Whitewash / Canada 2013
As Bruce Landry (Sideways’ Thomas Haden Church) zips along through a blizzard on his tiny snowplow, he knows very well he won’t avert tragedy. But while hiding in a snowy wood, this lone wolf keeps discovering more possibilities for dealing with his future. Which one will the hero of this dark comedy choose?
Winters in northern Québec are cruel – especially when you’re alone like Bruce (Thomas Haden Church of Sideways fame), a Western-ready tough guy, and especially when one blizzardy night you slam into an inconvenient neighbor with your snowplow and then disappear the body. But although things are not as clear-cut as they seem, the protagonist can take a moment to contemplate what to do next – while hiding out in the forest. That is to say, however much of a bind he’s gotten himself into, he’s got enough ideas and plenty of time to extricate himself from the pickle he’s in. In fact, the less it seems his story will end happily, the more we want to cross our fingers for him. While the picture is conceived as a very dark comedy and although watching the hero in action is quite entertaining, it functionally succeeds in relativizing the issue of his guilt(lessness). He may have messed up a thing or two but it’s not hard to sympathize with him. Bearing a hint of inevitability, the movie benefits not only from the limited space Bruce is forced to inhabit but also from the ambiguity of the situation and the protagonist’s state of mind.
88 min / Color, DCP
European premiere
Director Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais
/ Screenplay Marc Tulin, Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais
/ Dir. of Photography André Turpin
/ Music Serge Pelletier
/ Editor Arthur Tarnowski
/ Producer Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
/ Production micro_scope
/ Cast Thomas Haden Church, Marc Labrèche
/ Contact Entertainment One Films International
Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais graduated in film studies from the University of Montréal. He is a renowned director of commercials, and many of his hundreds of ad campaigns have been presented at specialized festivals in Cannes, New York, London, and Toronto where they have regularly won prizes. He is also a three-time winner of Québec’s Créa advertising award. Before beginning to direct, he set his film career in motion as an editor and actor (e.g. The Day After Tomorrow, 2004). His short movie Marius Borodine (2010) sparked interest at international film festivals around the world and was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Short Film. The black comedy Whitewash is his feature debut as a writer and director. At present he is at work on another picture, Birthmarked.
Entertainment One Films International
175 Bloor St. East, Suite 601, North Tower, M4W 3R8, Toronto
Canada
Phone: +1 416 646 2400
Fax: +1 416 979 5824
Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais
Film Director
Luc Déry
Producer
Kim McCraw
Producer
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
