RVCQ’09 Review: Un été sans point ni coup sûr

The summer of 1969 was abound with wonder. Humankind landed on the moon and hundreds of thousands celebrated peace and love at Woodstock. For a summer of firsts, Martin, 12, only has an interest in the first season of the Montréal Expos and making the local baseball team. Un été sans point ni coup sûr is a movie all about baseball, but moreso about a father-son relationship; because there actually is very little baseball played, and the little there is really isn’t terribly interesting. As light summer family fare, it’s worth a look. ‘Cute’ may best describe Francis Leclerc’s latest.

Baseball, baseball, baseball! That's what Martin likes.

At a formal level, Un été offers some appropriate visuals and sounds. Most impressive at a graphic artists level were the ending credits, in which baseball cards are shuffled revealing creased corners where the cast is billed - this was a nice ending touch. There are plenty of montage sequences with some well known covers of era songs (including House of the Rising Sun). These montages were either cleverly worked over in post-production or were filmed in old film cameras that give the sequences a genuine 1960s fuzzy glare. The home 60s home movie feel brings the audience back to that era, and truly places the characters in a type of memory. For many Québecois who grew up in this period, such scenes are likely to invoke heavy nostalgia for what seemed to be a more innocent time for youth.

While this is primarily a family film, some of the tougher issues of the period are only seen in passing, a cursory glance that may pass the notice of a twelve year-old. One such is the relationship between Martin’s parents, Charles (Patrice Robitaille) and Mireille. His father, while a very decent husband and father, is blind to the change of the times - a sort of harmless old fashioned attitude. Meanwhile, Mireille, also a good wife and mother, seems to be more in tune with new attitudes of the day (during a party she partakes in a joint and a kiss with a guest, while Charles awkwardly refuses). While this never turns into a full-fledged B story, it provides a background to Charles’ character, important for the development of the main relationship: that between Charles and his son.

The rivalry doesn't really amount to much dramatically - but look, Roy Dupuis!

Briefly, Charles, who at first displays a dislike for baseball, turns to his fatherly instincts when his son does not make the local team. He decides to form a team with all the rejects, and win or lose, whether there are hits or runs, the summer will not be a loss for Martin. The feel-good harmless aspect of the film is what will attract the most. It’s only too bad the baseball segments seemed superfluous, and the pseudo competition with the local A league team is actually bit of an anti-climax. Frankly, the sporting portions lack the excitement of a Bad News Bears or even that Rookie of the Year movie, so don’t expect a full-fledged baseball film. Instead, if you are looking a nice calm way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and especially a father-son afternoon, Leclerc’s film is not too shabby.

The film plays again on the last day of RVCQ’09: Saturday, February 28th at 7pm at Cinema du Parc. English-speaking audiences would do well to attend this screening as it will also have English subtitles. Click here for more information.

Other Links to this Post

1. Cinestrata - Montreal Film Resource » The Last Days of RVCQ’09 — February 26, 2009 @ 1:04 am