In The Cities (Dans Les Villes)

Review by Amy Cook | 16 Aug 2007

Trees; dark, sombre and alone, stand like silent outcasts within the urban landscape. In Catherine Martin’s film, people are likewise outcast, wandering throughout the city without purpose or company. In this Québécois study of depression, the forlorn nature of the film is belied by a bleak beauty to which we find ourselves drawn in even the darkest of moments. Painted in hues of grey, this film is relentlessly captivating and possesses the kind of quiet, sad charm which endears us to the characters, and holds our attention throughout the ensemble of slow-moving scenes.

This film is not a thrill-a-minute piece; it is slow-paced to the point of indulgence. There are extended tracking shots in which the camera follows the characters in their journeys throughout the city. These are largely silent and make no pretence to offer anything to the plot; instead they are simply there to emphasise the banal reality of these character’s lives.

Despite its largely pessimistic focus, the film does offer beautiful moments of hope in which people come together to alleviate one another’s loneliness. It is this prospect of companionship which the film leaves us with that transforms a tale of haunting isolation into one of quiet optimism.