I must give praise to the director, Félix Dufour-Laperrière, for this experimental/animated film for its use of both traditional animation and found footage mixed media. Beautiful images flow around while two disembodied voices wax philosophical in French about the physical and metaphoric trappings of land.
The imagery doesn’t always coincide with what is being said and that is a major distraction. The non-linear story telling doesn’t help either, but you get the sense that the man and woman speaking are two people who spent an extended period of time in Quebec and love the area, but ponder about what makes this place more special than others.
With aspects of a documentary, Archipel is a visually stunning, tranquil trip to the great north that makes you pine for a quiet trip to a small town to get away from the stress and noise of a major, obnoxious American city.
Review – ‘Archipel’
Reviewed online (screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam), February 4, 2021. Rating: TBC. Running time: 72 min.
PRODUCTION: A L’Embuscade Films production. Producers: Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Nicolas Dufour-Laperrière.
CREW: Director/screenplay/editing: Félix Dufour-Laperrière. Score: Stéphane Lafleur, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux.
CAST: (voices) Florence Blain Mbaye, Joséphine Bacon, Mattis Savard-Verhoeven.