The Heat Line

The Heat Line (French: La Ligne de chaleur) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Hubert-Yves Rose and released in 1988.[1] The film stars Gabriel Arcand as Robert Filion, a divorced man who is travelling with his young son Maxime (Simon Gonzalez) to Florida to identify and claim the body of his father Eugène (played by Gérard Poirier in flashbacks and hallucinations) after the older man's death of a sudden heart attack.[2]

The Heat Line
FrenchLa Ligne de chaleur
Directed byHubert-Yves Rose
Produced byMarc Daigle
Written byHubert-Yves Rose
Micheline Lanctôt
StarringGabriel Arcand
Gerard Parkes
Music byRichard Grégoire
CinematographyMichel Caron
Edited byJean-Pierre Cereghetti
Louise Surprenant
Production
company
ACPAV
Release date
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The film's cast also includes Gerard Parkes as Norman Simpson, a retired American man they meet on the trip who appears to be trying to ingratiate himself into Robert's life as a replacement father figure, and Charlotte Boisjoli as Robert's mother.[3]

The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight program at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival,[4] and had its Canadian premiere at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival.[5]

Response

In his book A Century of Canadian Cinema, Gerald Pratley described the film as "a difficult theme almost lost in the monotony".[1] Writing for Cinema Canada, Jean Chantale reviewed the film more positively, calling it "deeply satisfying" and evocative, and concluding that "La Ligne de Chaleur is like attending your own funeral. It should not be missed. You will marvel at what you learn about relationships you thought you had pegged."[3]

Richard Grégoire received a Genie Award nomination for Best Original Score at the 10th Genie Awards.[6]

References
  1. Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN 1-894073-21-5. p. 96.
  2. André Roy, "La ligne de chaleur : la ligne du risque". 24 images, No.39-40 (Fall 1988). pp. 44–45.
  3. Jean Chantale, "Hubert Yves Rose's La Ligne de Chaleur". Cinema Canada, November 1988. p. 28.
  4. Bill Brownstein, "Cannes gives nod to Quebec third time". Montreal Gazette, April 8, 1988.
  5. Peter Goddard, "Canadian movies a mixed bag". Toronto Star, July 20, 1988.
  6. "Genie award nominees: complete list". Vancouver Sun, February 14, 1989.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.