Irish Film Institute -No

No

Prolific man of the theatre and occasional filmmaker Robert Lepage finds a farcical situation among the separatists in Montreal in 1970 to match the Feydeau variety being performed in Japan. The link is provided by the actress Sophie (Anne-Marie Cadieux), who’s appearing in a play at the Osaka World’s Fair, and whose boyfriend Michel (Alexis Martin) wants to write a more elegant note to go with the bomb his terrorist colleagues plan to set off in three hours’ time. Michel’s confusion over Japanese and Canadian time has hilarious consequences, as does Sophie’s involvement with a lecherous diplomat and his snooty wife. Lepage asserts his mastery of time and space by cutting back and forth between a theatrical performance in full-colour Osaka and a counter-cultural dump in black-and-white Montreal while offering a barrage of possible perspectives. The title refers to the Quebecois vote against separation and to a No play.

Canada, 1998.
English subtitles.
Colour and black-and-white.
85 mins.

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