André Lachapelle

(On Cable TV, September 2020) The French-Canadian dream of retiring somewhere in the woods next to a quiet lake gets explored in semi-tragic fashion in Il pleuvait des oiseaux. Evocative title, legendary cast (by French-Canadian standards, anyway), beautiful scenery, an impending sense of doom—this may not be my kind of film, but I found it far easier to watch than most of Québec’s kitchen-table dramas. It takes chances with curmudgeonly characters, an elderly romance, a slow pace and a somewhat tragic ending, but it sort of works despite it all. André Lachapelle is exceptional in the final role of a very long career; so is Gilbert Sicotte, although Rémy Girard remains Rémy Girard as in most of his characters. The rest of Il pleuvait des oiseaux is almost too delicate to describe.