IT’S NOT ME – I SWEAR!/ C’EST PAS MOI, JE LE JURE

Canada, 2008, 110 minutes, Colour.
Antoine L’ Ecuyer, Gariel Maille, Catherine Faucher, Suzanne Clement, Daniel Briere.
Directed by Philippe Falardeau.

The I of the title is a Canadian boy aged nine. He lives on the outskirts of Montréal. The parents quarrel and are on the point of divorce, the mother deciding to go to Greece. The father does not have the capacity to bring up his children well.

There are two boys, one older than Leon, the boy of the title.

Leon has an imagination, is emotionally disturbed, tells lies, gets away with it and, manifests his discontent by destructive behaviour, literal destruction, and an alliance with a young girl was also searching for her absent father and who has the same instincts as Leon.

The film is a character study and a portrait of bizarre behaviour in a dysfunctional family. The director, Philippe Falardeau who was to make the excellent Monsieur Lazhar, about a teacher from Algeria in Canada, a film of great understanding and compassion.

1. Audience interest in the slice of life, tragedy, comedy, tragedy-comedy? Pictures of childhood, adulthood? Family, dysfunction? Neighbours? And the importance of truth and lies?

2. The Canadian settings, the outskirts of Montréal, the 1960s, re-creation of the period, the historical sense, the cultural background, the role of religion, Catholicism, the changes in Catholicism, in French- Canadian religious imagination? Images of change, meanings and values?

3. The house in the street, comfortable, the school, the hospital, the river and woods, the Gypsies? The authentic feel? The images and score?

4. The title, the reference to Leon, the opening, the focus on the Word, evolution, the role of God? Leon, the issue of truth, lies, bad lies, lies badly told, consistency? Issues of God, death and light? Jesus, the cross?

5. Leon, his age, the voice-over, articulate? His life and growing up, the family? The difficulties? His mother spoiling him, the experience of life and death, his father? Normality, Leon not normal, Lea and her bond, being like Leon? Comparisons with Jerome?

6. The experience of death, language, the pool, the mother and the knife, the shop, the continued lies? The death wish, dangers, yet facing life day by day, motivation? The leap, tenpin…? The motives for death, life and choices?

7. The picture of the parents, the mother, painting, her experience of the lies, frustration? Fighting with her husband, divorce, Greece? Leaving, painting, the gifts and postcards? Jerome and the phone call? Jerome and Lea, fatalities? In reality – in dreams?

8. The father, his attitude towards the world, home, clashing with his wife, Jerome, the vocabulary? Leon, the search, leaving? At home, meals, piano, glasses? Principles, apologies? Restitution, the mother’s address? And his living in the world of lying?

9. The bad effect of his mother leaving? Suicidal thoughts? Destruction and mayhem?

10. With Lea, her collaboration? Her searching for her father – business trip for two years?

11. Leon growing up? Possibility for change? Hope?