Canadian, Sniper // By Michel Kandinsky. With François Arnaud, Lothaire Bluteau and Sophie Desmarais.
Some films leave a lasting impression, whether positive or negative. Canadian, SniperMichel Kandinsky’s latest feature film, unfortunately falls into the second category. Although it aims to be a psychological dive into the life of a former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS), the film struggles to captivate. Despite laudable intentions and a decent performance from François Arnaud, the whole thing is sorely lacking in rhythm, emotion and depth. With a title like Canadian, Sniperit would be legitimate to expect a military thriller or a work charged with dramatic tension. However, Kandinsky chose a very different approach: that of an introspective drama.
As he attempts to peacefully reintegrate into civilian life, an Army sniper struggles to discern reality from the haunting uncertainty of post-traumatic stress disorder.
While the idea of focusing on the psychological aftereffects of war is relevant and potentially moving, the result is far from up to par. The dull, almost disembodied staging fails to exploit the narrative potential of this story. The protagonist, an unnamed former sniper (played by François Arnaud), returns to his small hometown in Canada after serving in Afghanistan. Consumed by PTS, he tries as best he can to rebuild his life while searching for answers about his father’s disappearance. If this synopsis could open the way to a poignant reflection on the invisible scars of war, the film falls into a frustrating narrative slowness. The events follow one another slowly, without ever managing to capture the attention.
One of the biggest problems of Canadian, Sniper is his inability to maintain interest. The slowness of the story, combined with an overly academic direction, gives the film a boring character. Some scenes drag on for no apparent reason, as if Kandinsky wanted to stretch each moment to extract a depth that, in the end, does not exist. The flashbacks to the character’s military past, although essential to understanding his mental state, are insufficiently exploited and lack visual or emotional impact. Likewise, the moments supposed to illustrate the hero’s mental confusion or the blurred border between his memories and reality fall flat. Kandinsky seems incapable of conveying the psychological tension necessary to make the viewer feel the inner distress of the protagonist.
The result is a distant, almost cold experience that prevents immersion. If the film avoids total darkness, it is largely thanks to François Arnaud, who strives to bring this tortured character to life. In the role of this former sniper, he manages to express a certain vulnerability despite a scenario which offers him little material. Through his body language and heavy silences, Arnaud conveys the contained pain and isolation of his character. However, even his performance is not enough to save the film from its blandness. The problem lies mainly in the writing of the main character. While it might have been fascinating to delve into his ambivalence – a man trained to kill but yearning for a peaceful life –, Canadian, Sniper reduces him to a stoic and monotonous figure.
On several occasions, the character’s decisions lack logic or psychological depth, making it difficult to gain empathy or attachment. Visually, the film also fails to impress. The Canadian landscapes, which could have been used to heighten the atmosphere or reflect the protagonist’s state of mind, are filmed in a flat and unimaginative manner. Kandinsky opts for a dull color palette, perhaps to illustrate the melancholy of the hero, but this only accentuates the general monotony of the work. The rare action or confrontation scenes are sorely lacking in energy and intensity. For example, a sequence involving an altercation in a bar – which could have provided a key moment of dramatic tension – is dispatched without any real impact.
Likewise, the scenes meant to show the hero’s PTSD attacks are treated in a mechanical, almost disinterested manner, which reduces their emotional power. One of the intentions of the film appears to be to denounce the isolation of veterans and the invisible stigma of PTS. It is a relevant and necessary subject, but Canadian, Sniper fails to do it justice. By overemphasizing sobriety and restraint, Kandinsky ends up stifling any form of pathos or emotional connection. The viewer remains at a distance, unable to fully feel the pain or dilemmas of the protagonist. Additionally, the subplot surrounding the disappearance of the character’s father, which could have been an interesting plot thread, is treated superficially.
Rather than shedding additional light on the hero or his past, this quest seems to be a pretext to justify certain actions of the character, without any real dramatic resonance. In conclusion, Canadian, Sniper is a work which, despite its ambitions, fails to convince. François Arnaud’s honest performance is not enough to compensate for a bland production, a flat screenplay and an inability to exploit the thematic richness of its subject. What could have been a gripping psychological drama turns into a long, plodding film that leaves an aftertaste of frustration. If some spectators could find in Arnaud’s playing a reason to linger, I can’t help but think that Canadian, Sniper is above all a missed opportunity. With such a subject, there was scope to offer an intense and striking experience.
Note : 2/10. In short, a bland and frustrating portrait of a tormented veteran. Michel Kandinsky seems to have gotten lost along the way, delivering a film as bland as its protagonist. For my part, the boredom felt with this work left me more than doubtful.
Coming soon in France
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