Review of Congorama (2006) by Sarah S — 02 May 2008

CONGORAMA (2006).

Directed by Philippe Falardeau.

Starring Olivier Gourmet, Paul Ahmarani, Gabriel ArcandCongorama shows what French-Canadian films are all about. Not only does Philippe Falardeau borrow the Dardenne brothers's favorite actor - Olivier Gourmet - but he also uses their style and as surprising as it might be it works perfectly well even for a dramedy.Congorama is clever from beginning to end and it touches many themes. Its about family, grief, finding the truth, etc ... Every single character is perfectly drawn with psychology that evolves permanently but a psychology that is always credible. Those characters are real, you get to understand them perfectly and the mains actors are simply great, especially Oliver Gourmet.Congorama is about a guy who discovers he was illegally adopted and his journey to find his parents but never really does cause the film takes another turns and it makes very much sense.This film is also about history in some way and it carries some subtle messages about environment and politics which make this film more valuable. Great editing, great camera work, excellent screenplay, definately a different culture if you arent «Québécois».