Quebec-Montreal (2002)

Directed by: Ricardo Trogi | 104 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Patrice Robitaille, Jean-Phillipe Pearson, Stéphane Breton, François Létourneau, Isabelle Blais, Julie LeBreton, Pierre-François Legendre, Tony Conte, Patrick Baby, Benoît Gouin, Brigitte St-Aubin, Alexandrine Agostini, Bernard Arene, Melanie Beaulne, Linda Gagné, Marie-Ginette Guay, Dana Klyszejko, Catherine La Haye, François L’Écuyer, Marc Poirier, Geneviève Rochette, Catherine-Anne Toupin, Ricardo Trogi, Norman Yap

‘Michel Gauvin, Mike Gauvin’, is how playboy Michel Gauvin answers his car phone. He’s on his way to Montreal, like so many others. Michel Gauvin plays a small but important role in this French-Canadian mosaic film. He depicts the unscrupulous modern man, who can shape the world to his own will.

The protagonists are not that far yet. They also drive, divided over three cars on the road from Québec to Montréal, but everything runs a lot less smoothly with them. During the journey, they discover something about themselves or about the other occupants that they might rather not have known. A young couple is arguing in a car. Their dialogues are so realistic that anyone who has once been out and about with their partner will recognize the situation. They are both stubborn and irritable, but there is a deeper problem in their relationship.

In another car are three friends. They talk to each other like men about women and sex. However, the driver is unaware that his friends are hiding something from him. When you, as a viewer, find out what’s going on, the conversations between the three boys take on a different meaning. There are two colleagues in the third car. They go to a conference together. During the ride, the male driver questions his pretty female colleague about her seduction techniques. The tension also rises in this car.

Also on the road is a red convertible containing the ideal couple: a smiling blond woman who resembles Barbie and a perfect brown-haired man, who resembles Ken. They pass the other cars like a dream, smiling, knowing they are being stared at in amazement. This mosaic film starts a bit slowly, but is full of exciting dialogues and small intrigues.

The ridiculous scenes with Michel Gauvin and the dreamy scenes in which the perfect couple drives by, make the film mild even though it is about the misery of human relationships. With everything that goes wrong between the protagonists, director Ricardo Trogi seems to want to say: This is life, you have to make do with it. He himself briefly reappears as the cop who arrests one of the protagonists. At times, the film sinks in a bit, but it’s still worth watching for the well-written dialogue and believable acting.