“Mistral Spatial”: a cinematic UFO that is worth seeing
A Quebec cinematographic UFO is presented in theaters from Friday. Its name: Mistral Spatial, first feature film by Marc-Antoine Lemire, who directed the short Pre-Drink.
After a breakup, Sam (Samuel Brassard), the main character of the film screened in its world premiere at the Festival international du cinema en Abitibi-Témiscamingue in the fall, returns home on foot and, in progress road, loses consciousness for an unexplained reason.
He wakes up a few hours later in the middle of the street.
As a result of this event, a melody constantly resounds in his head and blood sometimes flows from his right ear, to the point where he wonders if his health has not been greatly affected by his separation.
Another hypothesis is soon on the horizon: what if he had been the victim of an alien abduction?
According to Larousse, the word “mistral” designates a “violent, cold, turbulent and dry wind, which blows from the northern sector, over Mediterranean France”. < /em>
An unusual proposal
A Quebec film that addresses the issue of alien abductions, let's face it, it's quite unusual in our cinematic landscape. Mistral Spatial does this quite successfully.
One of director Marc-Antoine Lemire's good ideas is the presence of a theremin, a musical instrument that sounds very Twilight Zoneand that we make work thanks to the waves. Sam tries to communicate with the extraterrestrials through this theremin, reproducing the melody he hears in his head.
These sequences are obviously reminiscent of the feature film Encounters of the Third Kind. However, in an interview with Métro, Marc-Antoine Lemire claims not to have seen this Steven Spielberg classic before the shooting of Mistral Spatial.
< p>In his feature film, the breakup serves as a context, he explains. The primary objective is rather to follow the quest for the inexplicable, extraterrestrials being the perfect tool to approach this theme.
The film, divided into three acts clearly indicated on the screen, is initially more claustrophobic, even anxiety-provoking, but the last part is rather bright and frankly funny.
No need to trip on science fiction cinema to appreciate Mistral Spatial, since Marc-Antoine Lemire takes the viewer completely elsewhere in the third act.
< p>The film stars Samuel Brassard, Alex Trahan, Véronique Lafleur, Catherine-Audrey Lachapelle (who fansof District 31 will recognize, since she played Virginie Francoeur ) as well as the excellent actress Marie Brassard, who we recently saw in Stéphane Lafleur's Viking, a film that also flirted with science fiction. The singer Lydia Képinski also plays a small role.
Mistral Spatial, a film which is really worth seeing, is presented at the Beaubien cinema and the Parc du Parc from January 20.
