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Beer for My Horses Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Far Side of the Moon
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring Robert Lepage, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Marco Poulin, Céline Bonnier, Gregory Hlady, Richard Fréchette, Lorraine Côté, Sophie Faucher, and Érika Gagnon
Childhood memories and the race to the moon by two rival nations are recurring themes in this feature film exploring reconciliation and the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe. (TLA Releasing)
| GENRE(S): | Drama | Foreign |
| WRITTEN BY: | Robert Lepage |
| DIRECTED BY: | Robert Lepage |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 4, 2006 Theatrical: December 2, 2005 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | Canada |
| LANGUAGE(S): | French / English / Russian (with English subtitles) |
Original title "La Face Cachée de la Lune"
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Paula M. gave it a9:
Funny movie, dry, intelligent and strangely moving. Robert Lapage wrote, directed and played both brothers. He looks down on the pet goldfish suspended in solid ice and immediately asks his brother Phillipe over his phone: "sushi?" The movie is not a fast mover but it has plenty of rewards.
Chad S. gave it a7:
In spite of being on the talky side, "Far Side of the Moon(from Canada it came), as a cinematic proposition(I spy "Leolo"), is completely successful in concealing its theatrical roots. This filmmaker, I think, takes his visual cues from the late Jean-Claude Lauzon(plane crash casualty; he also made "Night Zoo"), especially when the fluidity of time is demonstrated in same-frame transitional shots thatt ties the past and present as a seamless whole. "Far Side of the Moon" is partly about the sad life of an academic(it's also partly about his gay identical twin, a weatherman), and indeed there is something pathetic about being so doggedly hard-wired to investigate irrelevance down to its textual core, its minutia, as a way of earning a place on the high-end side of obscurity. Phillipe(Robert Lepage), albeit smarter than your average bear, is a hack, an intellectual mediocrity(who's interested in how science plays a part in the popular culture). Railing hard against narcissism without a hint of irony, Phillipe is seemingly unaware that there's nothing more self-involving than being in love with your brain. He has issues with the moon(read: a mirror, narcissism's pusher friend). Contemplating the failed scholar's face framed in the spherical window of a washing machine is representational, I think, of Phillipe from the moon's perspective; his near side(Phillipe's visage, his good side) is the far side(the side facing the moon when he peers into the night sky), the bad side, synonymous like the moon's own far side that's bombarded by meteorites(read: slings and arrows hurled from the infamously thorny academic community) from the third planet's point-of-view. Late in the game, Phillipe is redeemed by an outsider group which validates his theory, and confirms the viewer's suspicion that the washing machine window is representational of the nocturnal orb. "Far Side of the Moon" can sometimes be on the dry side, but its ambition is admirable and not the least bit gratuitous.
Brutus gave it a9:
I saw this by mistake - the film I came to see was cancelled and this was screened instead. But I am so glad I did see it. I know nothing about LePage (though I am now looking into it), but this film charmed me. Touching, and sometimes very funny, the movie wears its art-house aspirations on its sleeve, but was never dull. And it has the best soundtrack (Led Zeppelin fans, take note) and slyly witty use of fantasy special effects I have seen for some time. The sequence with the goldfish was particularly hilarious! I gather this started off as a play - but for me it very much worked as a movie. An unexpected delight.
ales s. gave it a10:
This is UNDOUBTELY the best film of the new millenium.all of the words are weak against this pure poetry of moviemaking.monsieur lepage is renaissance person par excellence.remember it please.
Moody and sensual. Lepage's camera work made this a great art film.
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