125, rue des Malaises finds humour in the most unlikely topic, October 27 at Alliance Française
Visions Ouest and Alliance Française present the Quebec comedy-drama about a healthy senior who gathers his clan at a cottage to announce his plans for MAID
125, rue des Malaises
Visions Ouest Productions and Alliance Française present 125, rue des Malaises on October 27 at Alliance Française Vancouver
LARGELY IMPROVISED BY its all-star cast, the new Quebec comedy-drama 125, rue des Malaises has a raw, unscripted feel that adds to its chaotically fun exploration of a somewhat taboo topic.
The subject matter may not immediately bring to mind laughs: perfectly healthy senior Laurent Perrier (Rémy Girard) decides to request medical assistance in dying (MAID) so he won’t become a burden. He has summoned his daughter, Marie-Claude (Geneviève Schmidt), to their family’s picturesque lakeside chalet, setting off bickering and property disputes. The chaotic weekend spans a live reading of the patriarch’s will and an appearance by his long-lost illegitimate son, Jacob (Pier-Luc Funk).
Directed by Louis Bélanger, the film is full of big laughs, all devised on the fly by actors working their own considerable comedic chemistry based on scenarios created by the filmmaker and producer Denise Robert.
Still, underneath, 125, rue des Malaises also has a lot to say about our right to choose our own fate. (Quebec, after all, was this country's first province to decriminalize medically assisted death.) But let’s just say the way it frames that discussion is surprisingly funny. 
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