A routine memory piece about long-buried family secrets that bubble back to the surface to wreak havoc.
Emile (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:8
Fresh:2
Rotten:6
Average Rating:4.9/10
Theatrical Release:Feb 18, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when... Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when he was young, Emile makes a last attempt to reconnect with his only living relatives. Director Carl Bessai seamlessly blends the past and present in retelling Emile's life story. Much of the film's key events are examined through flashbacks, with the real and imaginary intersecting throughout. Emile's fragile state of mind is reflected through this interweaving of the past and present, suggesting that he may never escape the past enough to really be present in the current moment. Exploring the conflict between wanting to be independent from one's family, and feeling the need to be connected, EMILE is a well-written and extraordinarily well-acted drama that deals with the complexities of human emotions. [More]
Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan
Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan
Studio: Castle Hill Productions
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Reviews for Emile
Confusing the profound with the pretentious, director Bessai packs the story with elliptical, ominous flashbacks that undercut all the advances he makes with the contemporary tale.
Sir Ian McKellen is at his tweediest and most persnickety as the title character in Emile, the portrait of an eminent scientist who returns from England to his homeland, Canada, to receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.
It's appropriate that the director calls this the final chapter in a trilogy about struggling with one's identity -- he shows none of his own while mishandling someone else's.
At heart a reverie, a meditation on the past and its treacheries, the ways in which people become flawed, and the eternal though often elusive possibility of forgiveness and redemption.
The films of Carl Bessai are remarkably similar on two fronts: (1) They all have a single name for a title -- first Johnny, then Lola, now Emile; and (2) They just aren't getting much better.
McKellen, as one might expect, is brilliant in the role of a 60-something man re-inhabiting his earlier life on a farm in Saskatchewan and visiting the imagined life of his brother and his niece during the period when he has been living in England.
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| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
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| 90% 90% | District 9 |
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