LE CONFESSIONNAL

Marc and Pierre

"Dans la ville où je suis né le passé porte le présent sur son épaule comme un bébé."

With these words the union of the past and the present is introduced as a hidden mystery of destiny in Robert Lepage's 1995 filmdirecting debut "Le Confessionnal".

In fluent shifts between the past and the present, the audience are made aware of the story behind the brothers Lamontagne and their search for the truth about their origin; a puzzle mystery that in the end reveals a modern greek tragedy.

The year is 1989,and the art student Pierre Lamontagne ( Lothaire Bluteau) returns to Québec after three years in China to attend his father's funeral. His adoptive brother Marc (Patrick Goyette)does not attend; he finds no rest as his only goal is to reveal the identity of his unknown biological father. And only Pierre can help Marc find the secret of his past and heal his restlessness.

In 1952, the 16-year-old Rachel (Suzanne Clement)gets pregnant, but refuses to identify the father of her child. Not confiding to her older sister and mother of Pierre, nor her sister's husband, only one person hears the truth. In confession, she tells the truth to the young priest Massicotte who cannot break the seal of confidence. The secret is safe, but after the birth of Marc, the burden of the truth is too heavy to bear for the young Rachel - she committs suicide one morning while taking a bath. The truth about Marc's father remains unknown.

Hitchcock & "I Confess"

At the same time as these events take place, Alfred Hitchcock is in Québec to shoot his latest film "I Confess", a film about a priest who receives a murder's confession while another man stands on trial for the same crime.

The parallell to Rachel and Massicotte is obvious; the priest's choice is a dilemma that will follow him forever after wether he lets the secret rest with him or not...







Marc

35 years later, Marc suffers a depression - he is uncertain of his identity and the crisis leaves him with the belief that his mother's choice might also be meant for him. His death wish grows and his inability to settle down with anything common and safe is made clear to Pierre as he tries to find the right path in the search of Marc's past.

Rebellious and constantly looking for himself, Marc's journey leads Pierre to find that Marc has a diabetic son with a striptease-dancer; a son that lives a life no more certain than Marc himself has done. Again, the vicious circle seems to repeat itself.

The key to the truth is the priest Massicotte, who in 1989 no longer is a man of the church. Unaware of his prescence, Marc serves as a gigolo for the old man Massicotte, who reveals the truth with a tragic outcome as a result.




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Hitchcock himself ends the movie with these tragic, but true words: "This is not a suspense story. It's a Greek tragedy." And how can he say this?



He is told a story by a taxidriver, as story about secrets and deceit, about death and love, regrets and weakness. The storyteller is Paul-Emile Lamontagne - Pierre's father. The third one to know the truth about Marc. A truth he kept secret to his family, a truth he shared with only one man; Alfred Hitchcock, who did't care.

Pierre in his father's house

Before Pierre realizes the truth, Marc is beyond rescue in the hands of Massicotte - he kills himself in Massicotte's luxurious Japanese suite, and like his mother before him he bleeds to death in water. His destiny has challenged him and he has lost, death is his way out, his union with his origin.

Pierre finds the truth when Massicotte returns after Marc's death, and clearifies the connection between the two diabetics in the family; Marc's son and Pierre's father.