L'affaire Dumont (2012) - Absolutely authentic - 8/10 (04/11/12)

"L'affaire Dumont" is a French Canadian drama movie that is inspired by true events where a poor and shy guy gets accused for a rape he doesn't seem to have committed.

The movie completely focuses on the portrait of the desperate suburbs and their inhabitants during the nineties and in particular the life of the main character who goes through hell and heaven and back again. He had a very tough childhood with an brutal and abusive father and an ignorant mother, has no permanent job and struggles to have enough money to live a comfortable life, lives a very difficult separation from his ignorant ex-wife and his beloved children that are not very well treated by their mother's new boyfriend, gets to know that those who seemed to be his friends don't do anything to get him out of trouble, faces a corrupt trial of justice and many issues with his untalented lawyer and goes through a rough time in prison including abuse and hatred committed against him. During all this time, he claims to be innocent and finds one person days before the start of his prison sentence that will never stop fighting for him and becomes the love of his life. Their relation grows and the never give up the idea of a brighter future.

The movie completely puts aside any action scenes, special effects or spectacular moments. The flick concentrates on the excellent actors incarnating very profound and credible characters. The movie is filled with cold images thanks to a few light effects and inflexible camera angles which add a desperate atmosphere to the already quite uneasy story. The film includes a big load of dialogues but sometimes they take some time to pull off and are interrupted by moments of uneasy silence, little emotional breakouts or hesitating stuttering. These lengths are a wanted effect by the production team as they add even more authenticity to the film that almost feels like a documentary where we witness real life people and not simple actors. This is a big prove for the excellent acting.

This kind of movie might not be a highlight for everybody but anybody who adores slow paced dramas with authentic characters and true emotions should try anything to watch this movie. I'm usually not all too much into this kind of movies but the gripping story and the outstanding acting really touched me. It's because this movie is different from popular flicks that it really stands out as one of the very best films I have seen so far this year. If I had to chose a candidate for the foreign language category of the next Academy Awards, I would without a doubt pick this little gem from Quebec, the province where the best Canadian movies happen to be done for quite a while now. If you get the chance to watch it, take it and pick it up.