Review of Polytechnique (2009) by Stefano C — 07 Jan 2018

Any great film about a psychopath should always have you asking: could I be this guy? People are afraid of that, they'd rather feel removed. But empathy accomplishes so much dramatically, and it's what sets this film up for the horror that ensues. Denis manages to be both delicately respectful of the true story while visually and structurally searching for interesting, unusual ideas.

I admire how the story moves from the present event, which is the shooting, into the future to see how it will affect key characters, back to the horror. However, the Future glimpses, telling as they were, might've been the least interesting part of the film, feeling dull, melodramatic, and almost like a mere space-filler.

There's some connective tissue to identify. The film opens on girls at a copier, jolting is with shots fired at them - bold start. Later we see Jean at this same copier, turning it over to one of the girls who will be shot. We get a queasy feeling when we see him at this spot.

There's a weak, sad love story going on between Jean and Valerie. Maybe there was a budding romance, or just a mutual liking of one another. Jean wanted to stand up for her, but was gripped with fear. He tries to get her help, then comes back to find her dead. But there is a blood trail. After we learn that Jean will off himself in the future, we are given a tale that almost seems like their paths never crossed again. We see it play from another angle, Valerie believing the killer is coming back, playing dead next to her friend. But it is Jean, the two never see each other, and he thinks she's dead. That's really powerful if they never see each other again, but that idea is tarnished when we see him wheeling her out on the stretcher and she tells him it's not his fault. Maybe there was no budding romance, since knowing she's alive he still went ahead and killed himself. Unless he just couldn't live with the guilt of feeling like he let everyone go through with that.

I appreciate the choice of naming the victims one at a time, a powerful and respectful moment that certainly brought tears to my eyes. I counted fifteen too many, and knowing the permanence of such an act, am left feeling cold as to what motivates something so heinous. That's a fine way to wrap a film that begins with empathy.