Review of Polytechnique (2009) by Damion R — 05 Feb 2010

There is no arguing that December 6th, 1989 was one of the worst days the city of Montreal has ever had to endure. Having been fifteen at the time, I remember the event which took place, but the details were never something that I really had a clear grasp on.

Thus my curiosity about this film. I hoped to learn more about the incident that stole the lives of fourteen women at Ecole Polytechnique.

However, I would have been much better served by a documentary than a dramatization. The film did shed some light, I suppose, on the events of that day by bringing the stories that I had read and heard to life. However, it didn't shed any real light on the subject, nor did it really have anything really to say. One would hope this film is not viewed to be entertained, per se, but to be more educated or enlightened on the horrible acts of Marc Lepine, and all it did was put a visual aspect the all the facts that have been laid out time and again, while adding some dramatical elements that ultimately lent nothing to the experience, never engaging the audience on any sort of emotional level.

There is nothing particularily wrong with the film. The acting is alright and the direction is adequate, but as the credits began to roll, it didn't really leave me with anything more than I already knew, felt or thought. If anything, I simply wondered why this film was made if it had nothing really to say.

If you are going to make a movie about a horrible event, whether it be something like a massacre at a school or 9/11, there should be a purpose to what is being put forth to the viewing audience, and "Polytechnique" came across as nothing more than a visual translation of horrific events that many already knew.

In no way do I find this film insulting or disrespectful, I just didn't see the point in making it in the first place.