PFF/Cinefest '09: Read a review and watch the trailer of It's Not Me, I Swear!

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PFF/Cinefest '09: Read a review and watch the trailer of It's Not Me, I Swear!

POSTED: Monday, March 30, 2009, 6:48 PM

Filed Under: Movies | Film Fest Watch

Attention film festival junkies: It's Not Me I Swear! is one of CineFest's best. I've emerged from a weekend marathon run through the city's movie theaters; emaciated, disheveled, disoriented, shielding my eyes from the horror of natural light, in order to make the people aware of one particularly fine film. To wit:

Director Philippe Falardeau coaxes strong performances from each of his young lead actors in this poignant, yet darkly droll coming-of-age tale set in 1960s suburban Montreal. Antoine L''cuyer plays L'on, a 10-year-old boy with both a rebellious spirit and a morbid curiosity. Witness to the dissolution of his parents' marriage, L'on responds by alternating between destructive bouts of mischief, several comic attempts at self-destruction, and one larger scheme aimed at finding his mother after her abrupt desertion. His partner-in-crime, L'a, portrayed by Catherine Faucher, is an equally unhappy neighborhood-girl hoping to escape an abusive uncle. As the two conspire together, they discover in one another the empathy and understanding others seem incapable of offering. At turns funny, disturbing, and tender, the film is an earnest look at the problems children face when left to cope with situations they cannot fully comprehend. Well-shot, possessed of superb cinematography, and emotionally resonant, It's Not Me I Swear! interrogates, with both sly humor and insight, the unhappy adolescents who occupy seemingly idyllic spaces.

Can't possibly swing a trip out to Bryn Mawr for this year's final screening? Then get this one on your Netflix queue and wait patiently for its release. You will not be disappointed. Any recommendations, my fellow festival attendees? Let your voice be heard in the Comments! And now I return to the dark embrace of the movie theater. Philadelphia Film Festival huzzah! It's been good to me thus far. Thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers who made such cinematic glory possible.

Screen 3/31, 7:00 p.m., Bryn Mawr Film Institute

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