re:mote voices

Title: Chaos And Desire [La Turbulence Des Fluides]
Cast: Pascale Bussières, Julie Gayet, Jean-Nicolas Verreault, Geneviève Bujold, Norman Helms, Vincent Bilodeau, Gabriel Arcand, Jean-Pierre Ronfard
Director: Manon Briand

Chaos and Desire was showing as part of the third “North of Hollywood – A Canadian Cinema Showcase”. Unlike many of these kind of events it almost seems that this is the smallest of the three so far. The last couple of years being coordinated better and including guests, this year the festival seems to have been reduced to four films, with Edinburgh having them in January while Glasgow got them a month later.

In real terms Chaos And Desire is really just a small indie film, with which it perhaps isn’t anything particularly remarkable. But personally, I really enjoyed it. Alice is a seismologist, a Canadian woman in the specialist centre in Tokyo. When she is called in to her bosses office one morning, she is less than pleased to find that something has come up in Canada. The locals aren’t equipped to investigate events properly and have asked for some assistance, and being from Canada it seems that Alice is the obvious choice. Especially when it turns out the problem is in the very small town where Alice was born. However this logic isn’t one that makes Alice pleased, but it seems she has little choice, so reluctantly finds herself heading back to Canada.

Despite having born in this small coastal town in Quebec, Alice never actually lived there, her parents having been passing through when she was born. As such she really doesn’t know what to expect, but luckily it turns out one of her old college friends is also in town. Providing her with a side kick as they set out to investigate why the tides have stopped, and whether it is a precursor for an earthquake. However what they find instead, is a town filled with people behaving oddly, all of which seems to be attributed to the missing tides – sleep walkers, aliens using a micro wave to send messages in Morse code, the boy who receives radio waves in his mouth, and other assorted oddities. All of which leaves an insomniac Alice bemused and without answers, well at least as things start to piece together, without answers that make sense.

There is something about the way that all the little details are put together and the way the characters interact that makes Chaos and Desire really work for me. The fact that it unfolds nicely, displays just the right amount of humour and all ties together in a pretty satisfying fashion also helps.