August 32nd on Earth (Denis Villeneuve, 1998)

 August 32nd on Earth (Denis Villeneuve, 1998)

Cast: Pascale Bussières, Alexis Martin, Evelyne Rompré, Emmanuel Bilodeau, Richard S. Hamilton, Serge Thériault, Ivan Smith, Joanne Côté, R. Craig Costin. Screenplay: Denis Villeneuve. Cinematography: André Turpin. Art direction: Jean Babin. Film editing: Sophie Leblond. Music: Natalie Boileau, Robert Charlebois, Pierre Desrochers, Jean Leloup.

August 32nd on Earth begins with one of its protagonists in an automobile accident and ends with the other in a coma. In between, it’s some kind of romantic comedy. This confusion of tones is obviously intentional, clearly indicated by the title of the film, which sets your expectations askew the way the reference to clocks striking 13 in the first sentence of George Orwell’s 1984 does. Simone (Pascale Bussières) and Philippe (Alexis Martin) are in the throes of a midlife crisis (a premature one considering that she’s 26 and he’s 30). She’s fed up with her job as a model, and he’s thinking of dropping out of medical school. So after her automobile accident leaves her hanging upside down in the wrecked car and suffering from a concussion, she decides that it’s time to have a baby. She’s not particularly choosy about who the father will be, but she settles on her old friend Philippe. They’re not lovers, and in fact he’s presently involved with another woman. But eventually he agrees, with the stipulation that they perform the act of conception in the desert. So they fly from Montreal to Salt Lake City and hire a taxi to take them out to the salt flats. Lots of other curious stuff occurs, including the discovery of a dead body and a night spent getting drunk on mescal in a Japanese capsule hotel. Meanwhile, on-screen dates tell us it’s August 33, 34, and so on until they return to Montreal and the dates switch to September. Reality begins to set in.  All of this could have been intolerably whimsical – there are those who think it is – but it was the first feature from writer-director Denis Villeneuve, who would go on to direct such brain-teasers as Enemy (2013) and Arrival (2016), and major films like Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and the blockbuster Dune (2021). Like his better-known films, August 32nd on Earth has striking visuals and solid performances. It’s the kind of movie designed to provoke arguments about what it all means, and if that’s the sort of thing you like, or if you’re just interested in the early days of an important filmmaker, it’s definitely worth checking out.