August 32nd on Earth (French: Un 32 août sur terre, and also known as 32nd Day of August on Earth) is a 1998 Canadian drama film directed and written by Denis Villeneuve, in his feature film directorial debut, and produced by Roger Frappier. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.[1] Alexis Martin won the Prix Jutra for Best Actor. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not nominated.[2][3]
| August 32nd on Earth | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Denis Villeneuve |
| Written by | Denis Villeneuve |
| Produced by | Roger Frappier |
| Starring | Pascale Bussières Alexis Martin |
| Cinematography | André Turpin |
| Edited by | Sophie Leblond |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Languages | French English |
Plot
editIn the aftermath of a highway mishap, photo model Simone (Pascale Bussières) decides that conceiving a baby with her best friend Philippe (Alexis Martin) is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning. Philippe reluctantly agrees with the proviso that they conceive in a desert.
Cast
edit- Paule Baillargeon as Doctor in hospital
- Emmanuel Bilodeau as Philippe's best friend
- Pascale Bussières as Simone Prévost
- R. Craig Costin as Hired car clerk
- Joanne Côté as Monica
- Frédéric Desager as Stéphane
- Estelle Esse as Leather shop clerk
- Lee C. Fobert as Car driver – Salt Lake City
- Venelina Ghiaourov as Nurse
- Richard S. Hamilton as Taxi driver
- Marc Jeanty as Janvier
- Alexis Martin as Philippe
- Évelyne Rompré as Juliette
- Ivan Smith as Doctor
- Serge Thériault as Car driver
- Jim Levesque as Customer in café
Reception
editMetacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]
Brendan Kelly of Variety praised the film's visuals, the lead performances, the "sparing but effective" use of musical tracks by Quebec icons Robert Charlebois and Jean Leloup, but Kelly criticized the "thin" storyline, saying it "simply doesn't have the goods to keep audiences interested over the long-haul."[5] Time Out equally praised the striking visuals, but called the film "an intriguing but only partly successful oddity...never really adding up to very much at all."[6] Reelfilm.com gave the film two out of four stars, saying it was "a sporadically intriguing yet mostly self-indulgent first film from a director who would go onto much better things."[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Festival de Cannes: August 32nd on Earth". Festival-Cannes.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ "45 Countries Submit Films for Oscar Consideration". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 19 November 1998. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "August 32nd on Earth". Metacritic.
- ^ Kelly, Brendan (21 May 1998). "August 32nd on Earth". Variety. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ GA. "August 32nd on Earth". Time Out Worldwide. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "The Films of Denis Villeneuve - Reviews by David Nusair". reelfilm.com. Retrieved 24 October 2022.