Disappearing Lines | Images about generations must be put to an end

Picture Disappearing lines Coming soon to our screens. It would be embarrassing to present as The The Fall of the American Empire Tess Y. How unfortunate that this is seen as a “generational film”.

I tell you this because I’m afraid some people will find it difficult to define the work of the trio of Catherine Chabot, Miriam Bouchard and Emile Godreault (in all transparency) in our penchant for putting sunkist labels on everything that moves. a friend).

I loved the play created at the Theater d’Aujourd’hui in 2019. Our adaptation for cinema has been very successful. What is raised in the theater is shown on the screen.

For starters, we follow six characters in a karaoke bar or pharmacy. As for the closed session that gets the alcohol flowing and loosens the tongue, all the elements (the text, the gameplay, the production) contribute to creating a moment that keeps us nailed to our seats for 45 minutes.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been so moved by a movie.

But the question remains: Does the fact that all six characters are in their thirties make this a film about Generation Y?

Not a single piece.

Since the rise of the concept of youth in the 1950s and 1960s, we have come to believe that works of fiction or cinema are a singular reflection of a generation because they bring together characters of the same age.

This is what we tried and are still trying to see Riot without a cause, graduate, The Big Chill, Tea Breakfast Club, Thirty, The Fall of the American Empire, Children, friends, how I fought. And many other movies and TV series.

But to say that a few characters speak of Southern Comfort or a collective bottle succeeds in painting the picture of an entire generation, like saying that the basket of strawberries of Île d’Orléans represents the seasonal harvest of all berries. In Quebec.

What each character tells us Disappearing lines There is a purpose beyond the cage we want to lock them in. This is the strength of this film. As Talita says, being twice their age, I saw myself completely in their fears, their criticisms of society, their carelessness, their rage, their wounds, their confusion and their many contradictions.

We realize that we all carry a part of these characters within us. I am this spitting columnist who, at her convenience, sometimes socialist, sometimes capitalist, dreams creative, “philosopher” who thinks about serious things in life, throws out great things. Who should pay for it, I’m this apparently normal guy who finds happiness easily, I’m like someone who worries about the future of the planet, who thinks about how the children born in this time will live.

Like these characters, a walker and taker who wants to improve the fate of the planet, feels guilty for only making small daily gestures, sometimes says nothing, likes chaos. A bus and subway but also a car driver, who loves museums but doesn’t hesitate to mock the incomprehensible creation, proud of his culture but hates being isolated with our nationalism.

No generational films. Signs become so in the eyes of those who need them. A boomer, a macrame, a disco, a punk, a new wave, an emo, a hipster, an X, a Y, a Z… It’s very reassuring to know who you’re hanging out with.

But beyond these marketing formulas, generation after generation, we all want the same thing: to have our place. From the creators’ point of view, it often goes through scenes that reveal disappointment, in a sort of “I’m finally telling you what I think about you” session with the camera sessions piling up. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

We want to take our place, we want to be, we want to say we are, as the young actors did at the recent premiere night at TNM. Just like the cast of a normal Grand Cirque 50 years ago (in a more creative way).

This is what is beautiful and touching in man. Without this ability to rage and cry in dismay, he is just an animal like everyone else.

This is the characters Disappearing lines Provide us. With them, 1 hour 30 minutes, you feel alive. Less alone. And ageless.

Suddenly, we were no longer part of a bad group.

As Olivia’s character, this anglophone from British Columbia swings solidly across Quebec during a difficult scene, “Ah, worse, f… generations! »

Disappearing linesFrom July 6