The heartbreak kid

This article originally appeared during the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

Its the balmy Quebec summer of 1968. The sky is blue and the wind is rustling through the trees of a suburban backyard as 10-year-old Lon Dor puts a noose around his neck and tries to hang himself.

'I wanted to make a film about being 10. At this age, youre starting to ask metaphysical questions. You are creating your identity and starting to confront your demons.' Philippe Falardeau

Thats the opening scene of Montreal director Philippe Falardeaus third feature, Ce nest pas moi je le jure (Its not me, I swear!), whichmade its world premiere at theToronto International Film Festival. Like Lon himself, the film is both tragic and funny. When Leons brother discovers him trying to commit suicide yet again he and their horrified mother (Suzanne Clment) pull Lon down in a comic frenzy reminiscent of a Laurel and Hardy routine.

"I didnt want to portray Lon as a victim. Hes not. Hes very intelligent. Hes a survivor," the 40-year-old director told me last summer, while sitting in his favourite caf on Mont-Royal Street in Montreals east end. "I wanted to make a film about being 10. At this age, youre starting to ask metaphysical questions. You are creating your identity and starting to confront your demons."

The films central drama is the abandonment of Lon and his brother by their mother, a frustrated artist who tells her children shes leaving for Greece because the sky is always blue and shes "suffocating." Although Falardeau penned the script, the story is based on two autobiographical novels: Cest pas moi, je le jure! (1997) and Alice court avec Ren (2000), both by Quebec writer Bruno Hbert, the son of well-known author, civil liberties advocate and Senator Jacques Hbert.

The Hbert family story is also the subject of La Pools entry this year at TIFF, Mama est chez le coiffure (Mommy Is at the Hairdressers), which was written by Brunos sister Isabelle.

Left with a righteous and emotionally distant father, Lon mournfully collects a stone for each day his mother stays away. Although her absence is a constant presence in this frequently melancholic film, the imaginative and canny Lon gets on with life. He falls in love with the girl next door, La; he vandalizes neighbourhood homes, dirtying up walls, breaking dishes and peeing in closets; and he hangs out at the local bowling alley. He and La come up with a scheme to rob a neighbour so Lon can buy a ticket to go visit his mother in Greece. They manage to get the money, but cant find a travel agent.

Falardeau, who grew up in Hull, Que., had an unusual entry into filmmaking. After studying political science and international affairs, he entered a filmmaking contest, La course destination monde, when he was in his early 20s. The now-defunct program sent novice directors around the world. "I was surprised that I was picked," Falardeau says now. "I kept thinking they were going to discover I had no idea how to make a film."

His first two features, La moitie gauche du Frigo (2000) and Congorama (2006) are fast-moving and clever, but raw emotions are usually deflected by the directors dry, almost British wit. "I hate melodrama. It terrifies me. I dont like manipulating the audience that way. I dont like using the tools of cinema to give them what they want. That doesnt interest me. I want to surprise them," he says.

While humour permeates Ce nest pas moi je le jure, Falardeaus latest film does in fact delve into the emotional lives of his characters. "I abandoned myself in the writing. I let myself go. I couldnt apply my tendency to be too intellectual to children. Kids dont experience the world that way. They experience it through emotions."

Although Lon is clever and sharp-tongued, Falardeau doesnt shy away from the boys deep-seated pain and anger. One of four brothers himself, the director is clearly at ease peering into the mind of an exceptionally intelligent 10-year-old. The performance itself is brilliant. Lcuyers facial expressions, and the way he inhabits his tiny, angular frame, communicate his emotional trauma. In Lons pumped-up swagger, we see a boy struggling not to be so small.

While Lon seems powerless and is ignored by adults, he has a singular personality and in many ways out-thinks the grown-ups around him. In one sequence, after vandalizing a strangers house, Lon slices his chest open with a knife so that his father will believe he had a serious accident.

"I think at certain points in our lives we go through rites of passage on our way to becoming who we are. And we do this without parents. Its important to break the family circle," says Falardeau.

Falardeaus script is nuanced and witty, and Patrick Watson contributes an exquisite soundtrack, but the film occasionally falls flat. The driving force of the drama is Lons relationship with his mother, yet Ce nest pas moi je le jure only hints at the depth of their connection. Before she flees to Greece, they lie together on her double bed, holding hands like lovers. But when she actually departs in the car with Lon running after her, crying the scene is oddly detached. By not communicating the intensity of their love, the film avoids some dark, interesting corners. Clement, who is a fine actress, is strangely wooden as Madeline; her inner turmoil is expressed only through hysterics and far-off looks. As a result, we dont really understand why she would abandon her children. Falardeaus avoidance of melodrama should be applauded, but his restraint prevents him from tapping into the storys dramatic potential.

Interestingly, most of the films difficult feelings are communicated through Lons older brother, Jrme, played by Gabriel Maill. He doesnt act out like Lon or storm around like his parents, but his longing is acutely obvious. Its Jrme who forces his mother to tell him shes abandoning the family. And while he tears up a postcard she sends him, he also begs a family friend for his mothers phone number, and tries nightly to reach her. In one of the most moving scenes, he pleads with his brother Lon, in hospital after yet another suicide attempt: "You have to be happy! I just want you to be happy!"

"Its like Lon has nine lives," says Falardeau. "Ultimately, he discovers that although he tries to escape from life, it keeps coming back to grab him."

Ce nest pas moi je le jure (Its not me, I swear!) opens inToronto on Feb. 27.

Patricia Bailey is a writer and broadcaster based in Montreal.