It’s still enlightening. Even before its release (October 5th), Denys Arcand’s film will, divided, polarized and sparked debate. We must already applaud Arcand, who has managed to make a film that is not shallow, not consensual, not gnangnan, not “benevolent”. But we also have to applaud him because Everyone is talking about ithe started a resounding, a liberating, a powerful ” fuck off ! “. Oh. My. God. That. That. Did. Of. GOOD.
Shut up, monuncle
Is Arcand an outdated uncle who hurts little rabbits by laughing at the word “author,” or a relevant and timeless artist who plows his furrows and doesn’t care about fashions? Since the press screening and media premiere, there has been a generational change. We don’t perceive Testament in the same way if we are a young tattooed girl with a compound first name who is bottle-fed in ethics and religious culture courses, or if we are a pure product of the classical course that is still around that stolen referendum mourns from 1995. But what Whether you’re a Context: Denys Arcand’s transgender son Carter makes a brief appearance in Testament. Guy A. Lepage therefore asks Arcand whether he “consulted” his own son for the scenes in the film in which he talks about non-binary people. “No, I am absolutely against it. I think that creation is something absolutely personal. It’s something that comes from deep inside. It’s like asking Shakespeare, “Have you been to Italy to see the Capulets and the Montagues?” Would they agree with your interpretation of Romeo and Juliet?” Fuck off! » He then continued: “Consultations are held for governments, they are held for unions, they are held for municipalities that want to know whether we are going to close the Camilien-Houde road.” You can get advice on this. But not when writing! »
What a masterful lesson in creation! Yes, writing a film, painting a canvas or composing a song is a personal act. We have never seen a “committee” produce an interesting work of art. And I don’t know of any “advisory commission” that has brilliant ideas. Art is not meant to be consensual, to flatter, to comfort. “If you want a friend, buy a dog,” said Gordon Gekko on Wall Street. If you want comfort, buy a Harlequin novel or listen to elevator music.
Yes, Denys Arcand makes a joke (or rather a joke) about non-binary pronouns in the will. But don’t call the Ni-Lui-Ni-Elle League’s Tripartite Defense Advisory Council in Eastern Quebec. There is no malice in this harmless joke.
PU KAPAB
Yesterday on Radio Pravda I heard a culture columnist call Denys Arcand a “reactionary” and describe Testament as a downright “irresponsible” film “that gives ammunition to those who take intellectual shortcuts.” I just wanted to tell him: “Fuck off !” »
