Mémoires Affectives

This is a movie that I think should be seen more than once to get the full picture and think you understood it. That's what it took for me. It had kind of a David Linch quality for me. The first time around I spent most of it enjoying the finesse of Roy's acting, watching his expressions, being charmed by the harsh and beautiful scenery in which it was filmed, and sympathizing with his quest of the past. I enjoyed seeing him in a vulnerable role, so different from everything else he's done before. The music is also perfectly chosen to accompany him and us in this journey, soothing and haunting. I was left at the end with more questions though and I was hesitating between two theories about the meaning of the story.

 
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What I understood the second time I watched it is that he's really stealing other people's memories from them, and not just merely imagining them saying what he wants to hear the first time he speaks with them (the second theory). The trauma he suffered in his childhood, that his brother made him forget, was somehow related to the death of a deer, and it's a dying deer again that blows a hole in his mind and triggers the amnesia. It's like Alexander doesn't want his own memories anymore, the truth being something too hard to take, and his mind simply sponges the memories from others afterward. The first memory he steals is from the deer itself, and he must come full circle before he gets it all back.

by Dana V

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I absolutely loved this film and agree with Dana that you really have to
see it more than once to understand all the complexities of the story.
Roy was wonderful-  so vulnerable, so needy yet as he gained his
strength and the memories he never lost that vulnerabilty. He saw
himself through everyone else's eyes and emotions and slowly came to
terms with who he was and why..the results of the events that shaped his
life. 

One thought I had was that as they mentioned in the end- all the
memories he took into himself were the parts of those he loved that he
needed as parts of himself. His daughters devotion and love, his
partners admiration and friendship, his wife's fidelity, his brother's
courage, the deer's death which I equated to the death of his guilt over
his Father etc. I think  you could watch this film over and over and
read more into it. I loved the way it is filmed - loved the whole mood
of the film. I am so glad Roy won best actor for this role!

Silly things:
"You look good for forty"! LOL Loved that line!!
Loved the striped jammies
Loved the seeing his reflection with the snow falling while he was
talking to Joseph the first time.
Man he looks good when he wakes up!
Loved the gray in his hair
He still moves gracefully even with a cane!
I thought the wife kind of looked like an older version of Karine
Vannesse....
Loved seeing his old NW pal playing his brother. They must be great
friends.
I still think there are only about 12 actors in Quebec! The experienced
police chief was oh so familiar.
He looks good in black... oh wait we knew that
What an electric smile he gave his girlfriend in the memories- reminded
me of Obsessed- maybe it was the fishtank<g>
He looks good in jeans- oh wait we knew that too
Loved season 3 hair on him yet again!
Stubble- gotta love it too
the end ripped my heart out - he does that sound of grief so well...
boohoo...
He would make a great poorch swing adornment..hahaha  dip me in the
water any time!!
And finally--- love love love hearing him speak French! So smoooth.....

That's it for now..
Can't wait to see some of the other films!

A la vie et Roy,
Minuet

 

 

Memoires Affectives
(Looking for Alexander)
2004
French, with English subtitles available

Alexander: "It's like I was born an old man."
Nurse: "Don't worry. You look great for forty."

I was very impressed with the power of the story, the beauty of the
photography, and the strength of Roy's performance.

Roy Dupuis plays Alexander Tourneur, a veterinarian who is in a hit and run
accident. Alexander wakes up unexpectedly from a coma when his life support
is turned off, and has no memory of his former life.

As Alexander slowly recovers physically and interacts with his wife,
daughter, and friends, none of whom he remembers, he sorts through confusing
flashes of memory as well as contradictory accounts of his past
relationships. What's fascinating is that Alexander's perceptions appear to
ricochet and affect the memories of others; his amnesia may be catching.
(This is fairly subtle at first.) His only "unaffected" conversations are
with the police who are investigating the hit-and-run as well as the attempt
on his life.

Early on, one of the cops says, "He looks like he needed an extra week in
intensive care." Alexander does look grey and drawn (actually, pretty
terrible) at the start of the film, and Alexander's mental and physical
state is reflected in the photography. It is winter; the color is muted and
much of the background is grey. Roy's performance goes from subdued and
exhausted to deeply emotional as Alexander discovers the truth about
himself, and as the story progresses, the color in the film increases in
intensity along with Alexander. The photography is just stunning. Many of
the images are very powerful and quite beautiful.

Much of this film can be interpreted in more than one way, but this is not
one of those abstract movies where you get to the end and you don't know
what happened. The resolution is moving and everything pretty much makes
sense. I recommend watching it twice; the second time, for me, it was like
watching tumblers click into place, and I found even more layers of meaning
and depth in what was happening.

Very impressive. Four out of four stars,

Billie
http://www.billiedoux.com/