Fortheoriginalityofitscontentandmanneroftelling,GaelMorel's"LeClan"deserveswideart-housedistribution.Itdoes,however,needabetterEnglishtitle.Lifemaybedifficultforpeopleinthefilm,buttheyarenotslavesandmakechoicesthatattempttobettertheirsituations,ifnotalwayshappily.Whynotsimply"AClan,"sincenobodyremembersGriffith'ssecondtitlefor"BirthofaNation,"or"Brothers"?TwoboyspracticeaNorthAfrican"slavedance,"butforsportandrelease. Thetightlyeditedmoviecanbethoughtofasshortstoriesaboutthreebrothersandtheirfather.Withrapidshiftswekeeplearningnewthingsaboutthecharacters.Sometimesonewonderswhatwentonduringagap,butusuallyonecanfigureitoutandthedialoguethatwouldhaveworkeditthroughwouldhavebeensentimentalandoutofcharacter. Oneshotofthebrothershuddledtogetherwatchedbytheirfatherisdifficulttojustifyrealistically,butitworksasasymbolicrepresentation.Ifmeanwhileonewantseverythingspelledoutandsweetened,thereistheQuébecfilm"C.R.A.Z.Y."Thebrothersdomaintainenormousfami
2024-10-02
