Polytechnique

Polytechnique is a 2009 Canadian drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Villeneuve and Jacques Davidts. Starring Maxim Gaudette, Sebastien Huberdeau, and Karine Vanasse, the film is based on the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre (also known as the "Montreal Massacre") and re-enacts the events of the incident through the eyes of two students (Huberdeau and Vanasse) who witness a gunman (Gaudette) murder fourteen young women.Honestly, I could speak to the Praises I have of this film all day and because of that I would like to start with my biggest criticism of it. I am not sure if this is a complaint for a pet peeve of mine, but this film would have benefited from the director being more explicit in making the audience aware of how much time is theoretically passing in this film. In doing my own research it has been claimed that the average amount of time that lapses during a school shooting is approximately 12.5 minutes and the average amount of time it takes for emergency Personnel to respond is a little more than 18 minutes. The reason I bring this up as a point is because the totality of life that is stolen in such a brief amount of time speaks to the amount of trauma and loss that can occur in what may feel like the blink of an eye. I fear that this shortcoming is easily exploited by people that consistently discredit the witnesses and victims of these horrendous actions, and that warrants Some challenges being posed to the collaborative effort needed to make ‘Polytechnique’ as successful as it ends up being.Many times after these events occur one question is often posed: Why? These tragedies conjure our curiosity, and the inability to get straight answers is naturally frustrating. The honest and yet sad truth is that there is rarely ever one element to “blame” for thebehavior seen in this film, and the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may have contributed are meaningfully explored in what is sometimes a subliminal way. it is made quite clear that the GunMan has experienced some amount of rejection in his life - In both romantic and professional contexts - and it becomes easier over time to accept this as a incestious desire to have control over this arguably troubled individual's surroundings. The film does not stop here, however, and makes the point of inserting interactions the victims and survivors have with people that are not the gunman that paint a bigger picture in regards to the ideologies and belief systems that make this behavior seemingly justified (I should emphasize - justified by the perpetrator). This draws some briefly noted empathy for someone we dare not compare ourselves to; notably, there is one particular interaction where one of the survivors is exposed to an explicit amount of sexism in a moment that is arguably and brazenly inappropriate. Scenes like this one - regardless of how frivolous they are in nature - pose a serious question to audience members that are willing to think deeply about the interactions they have with other people;we must stop and ask ourselves: I may not be shooting the gun, but am I accidentally providing the metaphorical ammo for it?I want to know whose decision it was to make this film entirely in black and white and give them an award myself. This choice alone speaks to the amount of Engagement the director is hoping to compel out of audience members. When the color of a scene is taken out of the equation viewers have no choice but to process what is going on without drawing any inferences that may be hastily made otherwise. It encourages audience members to accept these events as conceivable and elevates every intentional moment of silence with a terrifying echo.My heart pounded. My soul raced. The very fiber of my existence was forcibly exposed.Rest in peace to Geneviève Bergeron.Rest in peace to Hélène Colgan.Rest in peace to Nathalie Croteau .Rest in peace to Barbara Daigneault.Rest in peace to Anne-Marie Edward.Rest in peace to Maud HaviernickRest in peace to Maryse LaganièreRest in peace to Maryse LeclairRest in peace to Anne-Marie LemayRest in peace to Sonia PelletierRest in peace to Michèle RichardRest in peace to Annie St-ArneaultRest in peace to Annie TurcotteRest in peace to Barbara Klucznik-WidajewiczI am so sorry that your beautiful lives and the gifts you were ready to share with the world were so violently taken from you.‘Polytechnique’ can be described as many words I don’t often find myself using to describe a film:Raw. Powerful. Exceptionally rare.I would recommend!

During the 2012 presidential election, the Left used tactics that I thought were beyond dirty pool: the assertion of the Right's so-called "War on Women." Naturally, this would be at least an implied and unfair ad hominem (not to mention severe overgeneralization), one that everyone should have rejected due to these logic issues alone. But when it comes to love and war -- politics IS war, by the way, and don't forget it -- there are no rules, and so while the Right surely wasn't appreciative of the slam, I suppose that the Left wasn't completely stupid by using this tactic. After all, it seemed to work. The end does not justify the means, however, and it didn't in this case.Of course, women's rights -- or lack, thereof -- have been discussed for far longer than just the last election, and I can see women's point, even if I am a man. But I will assert that things have been carried too far; I'm all for women wanting equal rights, but with equal rights come equal responsibilities. I have seen many women who seem to want it "both ways," and many that want to have it better than men. That's when I cry, "Foul."And in this sense, I can also see the point of the antagonist portrayed in this film, but only to a point. In a short segment early in the first act, he recites his manifesto (but only to the audience) which describes why he hates feminists and why they must die. His position reminds me a bit of the one taken by Ted Kaczynski, in the sense that, while Mr. Kaczynski is beyond intelligent -- he is still alive in prison with an IQ over 170 -- he rationalized bad behavior that derived from that "logic," which is always problematic. It is ironic that Mr. Kaczynski used technology to counter the technology that he supposedly hated, which of course was a huge contradiction. Here, the antagonist at least rationalizes bad behavior, but while using some valid reasoning behind it. There are valid arguments, and there are sound arguments as well; but for an argument to have true merit, it must meet both. It is the case that, if a valid argument arrives at an invalid conclusion, at least one premise must be faulty. The antagonist surely failed somewhere along the line.I didn't know much about this story before watching, and I have no idea how close it follows real events. It is interesting though that this transpired almost exactly 10 years before Columbine. If this is true, why was the "Columbine Massacre" so heavily covered, while this didn't seem to get even a blip in the US media? Sure, it was in Canada, and sure, most US citizens don't seem to care much about news outside of their own borders. But if this film is to be believed, I think that more people may have died in this incident than Columbine.One reviewer on this site complained about this being filmed in black and white. I disagree. In particular, the outdoor scenes when it is snowing are quite beautiful. Also, seeing blood only in black seems to be more powerful. This film doesn't have an overabundance of dialog, and I liked that a lot; instead, the audience is required to feel how the actors feel mostly through movement and expression. Furthermore, I actually really liked how some scenes were repeated at different points during the film, but seen through different actors' eyes, as then you are able to feel what's happening from different actors' perspectives. I can't recall a film offhand that has used this technique before, and it was quite a brave and smart choice, since initially I will admit I was somewhat confused. But not for long.Well, even though the Left used the "War on Women" to their advantage during the last election, I think that they trivialized the subject in reality, making it difficult for those later that have a valid complaint. If you want to see a true "War on Women," watch "Polytechnique" instead. You might gain a better perspective -- or better yet, perspectives -- on what really might be going on.

An astonishingly underrated film from French-Canadian cineaste Denis Villeneuve, based on the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. Faithful to the victims, survivors and their families, this is a powerful story about what could have been a better outcome had things happened differently that day. I also recommend Villeneuve's other French/Quebecois film Incendies (2010) along with his other English-langauge features Prisoners and Enemy (both 2013)

Not sure this was brand new as the video had a few marks on and kept freezing.The film itself was rather disappointing - the film just ended but it didn't really finish the story. Could've elaborated more on the motives of the killer and on the impact on those who survived...

We really enjoyed this movie told by the 2 students who were actually there for this horrific event. More acting than dialogue, but story is well done. One thing that was disappointing was the quality of the DVD being Blue Ray, not as clear as it should be.

Very informative as to the actual events

Brutal, profound and affecting....Even with what seems at times a dearth of dialogue. I was greatly moved by this story, which was excellently (and non-linearly) presented.