Who by Fire

 

Noah Parker

Philippe Lesage's Who by Fire (Comme le feu) is a Canadian drama than conveys the claustrophobia of intimacy from first shot to last. It is a long film, over two and a half hours long, and a slow burn that unspools at its own pace. It is set at a remote lakeside lodge in Northern Quebec owned by Blake (Arieh Worthalter), a maverick filmmaker. The film chronicles a troubled reunion he hosts with his former collaborator, Albert (Paul Ahmarani). Albert brings along his two late adolescent children and, crucially, a friend of one of them named Jeff (Noah Parker). Jeff is the main witness to the various entanglements that ensue, the only character given point of view shots by the director. 

Jeff's awkwardness and essential estrangement mark this film as a coming of age drama and, indeed, we do detect some growth in his compassion by film's end. The film has its outdoor sequences which contain more than a whiff of danger, hiking, hunting and canoeing through rapids, but the real battles occur indoors over many bottles of wine as the temporary housemates share meals around a table captured by the largely fixed gaze of Lesage's camera. Despite the many stunned onlookers, which includes Blake's staff and the odd film star (Irène Jacobs), Albert and Blake partake in verbal sparring, taking the opportunity to trade recriminations and old resentments. The backbiting gets so vicious that the film becomes a nightmarish dreamscape of bourgeois neurosis. The frantic party mood, highlighted by a conga line to "Rock Lobster", quickly devolves into bleary disenchantment. The constant petty humiliations and lengthy harangues that dot Who by Fire recall Dostoyevsky who Lesage's script alludes to. So too does the final scene which highlights compassion to a beast allegedly dumber than a man. 

The film does reach discordant heights, but it is far from perfect. The scenes of canoes maneuvering through white water are unconvincing. Some of the motivations for actions by the characters are sketchily motivated. Still, there is a sense of unease in Who by Fire that I found unsettling and memorable. The cast is outstanding, delivering the high falutin dialogue mellifluously.