Jour de chasse is amazing

I love this movie. I love this movie. I love this movie so goddam much. I saw Annick Blanc’s first feature after a long series of disappointing Quebecois titles. And to tell the truth, I was prepared to pack it in for local filmmaking for a while; even the more celebrated efforts were mainly embarrassing pastiches of better movies. But the trailer for Jour de chasse was undeniably good, so I decided to catch an afternoon showing last August at the Parc. I was, sadly, the only person in the theatre. But from the very first frame I knew I loved this movie. Nahéma Ricci’s Nina, so furious, so dangerous, seething in front of a slate rock face blasted through country hills to make way for a rural highway, is a teeth grinding icon of female rage. She’s frickin’ rad, man.

But more than just a hip exercise in style, Jour de chasse is an unblinking and all-to-rare disassemblage of a particularly Quebecois expression of authoritarian cultural myth. The high-vis armbands worn by the hunters –– armed men –– are all the more chilling in this context.

I had started this post soon after seeing the movie last year, and it’s been lurking as a draft until now. I was distracted by work and life, and it wasn’t until I saw Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language when I was finally spurred to finish it. And to be completely truthful, Blanc’s film is slightly marred by one ho-hum (and yet expensive looking) VFX shot. But Jour de chasse is nevertheless a triumph of independent cinema and all those who worked on it. I cannot wait to see her next movie. The second feature is often tough on a young director, so I hope she takes the time she needs to fully commit to her next project. Just not too much time, I hope.