The Pianist
A filmmaker who is utterly unique in Quebec’s cinematic history. Starting in the 1970s, he expressed his singular perspective by travelling to Japan to direct Keiko, the story of an arranged marriage in parallel with a gay love story. He has built a coherent filmography, bringing fully realized directorial skills to explorations of marginal and complex situations, exposing social issues seldom seen in our films, including Indigenous issues (Visage pale, 1985) and the lives of people with disabilities (Kenny, 1987). Discover the work of a filmmaker who is still working, and in tune with our time.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director
Jean and her sister, played by Macha Grenon, have a life long infatuation with the Japanese Pianist who once lived across the street from them during their high school years. The film is set during the family's reunion on Vancouver Island and flashes back and forth over the last 10 years. By coincidence, Yoshi who is now a world famous Pianist is giving a concert in Vancouver and Amy is anxious to see him again but her sister curiously is not at all interested. The girls explore old passions, stalking, sibling rivalry and wrong life choice based on the fantasies of their youth. When Amy discovers her sister over the years, had nearly 7 or 8 sexual encounters with Yoshi, she is devastated. Inspite of the fact that Amy had chosen a career path which relocated her to New York City in order to increase her chances of a possible relationship with the handsome, exotic and gifted former neighbour, she never did meet Yoshi so her passions for him continued to smolder right up to the time of the family reunion. Will they meet Yoshi, will he now choose Amy? A delicate but not precious slice of life with unusual plot twists and turns which inspires the audience to ask of themselves, what have my life influences been and were my choices reasonable and wise?
This film print comes from our collections.
Claude Gagnon
Claude Gagnon (born 1949 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who frequently works in both Canada and Japan. His most noted films include Keiko (1979), Kenny *(1988), *The Pianist (1991), Kamataki (2005) and Karakara (2012). He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award in 1979 for Keiko. (Wikipedia)
