Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
gradyharp
Canadian writer/director Sébastien Pilote has created a fine little film that in many ways plays like an elegy to times past. The film moves slowly, like a gentle stroll in the Canadian countryside, the action is spare, the acting is excellent and the message is exquisite. Canadian farmer Gaby Gagnon (Gabriel Arcand) tends his sheep on his lovely little farm in northern Quebec and much of the essence of the film is his interaction with the land and the animals that have been his life. He has named the highly regarded farm Bouchard & Sons, hoping his farm will be passed to his sons. But instead of sons he has two daughters – Frédérique (Sophie Desmarais) and Marie (Lucie Laurier) - and both have moved away from the farm to Montreal and into different lives. Marie and her 2 sons visit Gaby requesting financial support: she has left her husband Steve and needs to buy Steve's half of the house to maintain her family. Gaby wants to help her but realizes that the only source of money he has is Bouchard & Sons, which would mean essentially ending Gaby's home and way of life. It is a conflict well resolved by the writer/director.The sense of isolation, need, seclusion and yet camaraderie with his fellow farmers who know and love nothing more than the life of a farm makes this a very nostalgic film. Gabriel Arcand is luminous as Gaby and every moment of his struggle we feel intensely. The film score by Serge Nakaushi-Pelletier is at once simple and eloquent and the cinematography by Michel La Veaux captures the essence of the Canadian countryside. In all, this is a gentle, quiet, slow moving film about emotional decisions and family commitment and traditions and it plays very well indeed.
Reno Rangan
This is the story of a Canadian farmer which was told in a quite realistic mode. A man who lives in the countryside and his way of life was presented beautifully on the screen. It also speaks the value of the family members even though each of them are spread out to different places seeking a better life and future. I had seen many movies that depict the farmers' lives around the world, but this part of the world probably first time for me.The story of a father who live alone in a country farm on which he raises livestocks. Among the best in the surrounding area and people are jealous of it. One day one of his daughters comes asking financial help. As a father how he reacts to the circumstance to give support to his daughter. For that he has to sacrifice his way of life he led in the last 40 years, which ends in a high note emotion.I am quite happy for choosing this. It was an heartwarming melodrama. Many touchy lines reached real deep into me. The character Gaby was the highlight of the movie. The actor who did that role was fantastic, must recognize and acknowledge it. The movie was too slow though well executed in every part of the story. Strictly for drama movie fans and family audience. It was a simple and good movie. There's nothing more to talk about than a watch and to know it yourself.
supadude2004
When people call a film 'intelligent' I usually shudder. Nonetheless, this one is clearly made for intelligent people. There is no doubt about that. Here is an inspired and contemplative movie about an old farmer's life, played excellently by Arcand, which moves along at almost a sedate pace. Yet, it's still very cleverly exacted - insofar as few scenes, if any, are served without building upon overall purpose. Story too is carefully crafted, and I mean 'crafted' in the sense that there was definitely much thinking going on, in the director's mind, to craft such a sublimely ruminative movie out of its many transcendent elements. In particular, regarding its screenplay - had this movie stated that it was 'based on a true story', then I wouldn't have blinked an eyelid. Need more be said? The reality is also that few viewers will like it. Mass appeal and this movie will 'ne'er the twain meet' - as there are no bangs, 'naughty affairs', nor 'action sequences' herein; unless, that is to say, the shearing of a sheep counts as an 'action sequence' in your life! On that note, please know that I'm not someone whose attention is easily maintained. Nonetheless, despite my declaring as much, I can still assure you that here is a movie which still held my attention from its beginning to its end.Here is a sensitive movie which should be watched by anyone who truly appreciates the true art of narrative driven, independent cinema. That is to say, if you need an adrenalin hit from your movies, then steer well clear of this one. For those few of us, who can appreciate when much thought and sensitivity has gone into the making of a movie, this is nothing less than quite masterly, in almost all respects - from its lilting musical score to its direction and acting. Even the movie's supporting roles were played with absolute credulity.A 'near' masterpiece perhaps? Had its ending been better, that is, more conclusive and satisfying, then I would unquestionably have give it the full '9/10'. For in only that respect (its weak and inconclusive ending) can one point towards a negative; but please don't let its only weak-point put you off. Instead, please revel in the ninety five percent of the movie which equates to true cinematic greatness - in the tradition of independent European cinema; A cerebral landscape - where realistic narrative drives the movie's increasingly reflective story forward: sort of 'Rohmer comes to Canada'! In conclusion, at (its current) 7.x out of ten, this is, alas, one of the minority of movies on IMDb which is rated fairly. Yet, were it not for its inconclusive ending, then I'd have had no difficulty in calling it a 'masterpiece'. Still, I gave it an 8/10 for the foregoing reasons. Savour and Enjoy.
maurice yacowar
In Sebastien Pilote's The Auction, the aging sheep farmer's daughter Frederique (Sophie Desmarais) may be playing Cordelia on a Montreal stage but her father is an anti-Lear. Farmer Gaby Gagnon (Gabriel Arcand), his advancing age reflected in the orange sunsets and autumn landscapes, divests himself of his modest "empire" not out of vanity, selfishness, and the desire to keep only the trappings of power, but out of a genuine devotion to his two daughters. Despite their callousness towards him and their known manipulation he gives up everything he has for them. Lear wants to keep taking. But for Gaby, "A father needs to give to be happy."At the end Frederique has a sense of his sacrifice but the primary beneficiary, the spoiled Marie (Lucie Laurier), remains blissfully unaware of how much her father has given up for her convenience. The farmer's trade in sheep gives his farming a Christian reference, which is bolstered when some black Moslems buy a sheep for a sacrifice and feast on his farm. Though Gaby seems to be living for the wide open spaces of his rolling acreage his world is constantly defined by fences and pens. That's the extent of the good father's freedom. For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.
