This film from Quebec is a quiet family drama, and requires patience to appreciate. Not much happened in the film except for Gaby, an ageing farmer close to retirement, attending to his live stock, 24x7.His has two adult daughters living in the city, who seldom visit him. But when one of them got into financial trouble, Gaby made a tough decision to help her out, thus throwing his regular and regimented life style into turmoil.The film depresses me in the sense Gaby was clearly taken advantage of by one of his daughters, but still made the sacrifice willingly, without considering the impact to his remaining years.This is a well acted film for those who enjoy family dramas, and are interested in gaining an insight to farm life in Quebec.

This independent film, written and directed by Sebastien Pilote, offers the viewer lots of quiet realism. For those that have the patience to allow a drama to unfold at its' own pace, enhanced by fine acting, you may very well find rewards here with this movie.Gabriel Arcand powerfully portrays Gaby, a 63-year-old life-long sheep farmer, in the beautiful countryside of Quebec Province, Canada. He's been divorced for 20 years, and only sees his two daughters Marie (Lucie Laurier) and Frederique (Sophie Desmarais) occasionally, as they live in Montreal. He does have his trusty companion and work dog with him, is visited by his neighbor friend Louis (Gilles Renard) who helps him with his financial books, and gets part-time help on the farm by a local boy.However Gaby's world is jolted when he receives a visit from Marie, and her two sons, who tells her father she's now separated from her husband, and asks Gaby if he can lend her $200,000 so she can buy out her husband's interest in their home and save it from foreclosure.Gaby is in lots of debt with his farm, which is barely showing any profits, and quickly realizes that if he wants to help his daughter he may have to sell his farm. Although others tell him he's being manipulated by Marie, Gaby feels that a father has to give to his family to happy.If he's to go ahead with the auction of his farm, Gaby will have to face the cold-hearted realities of the process of selling all of his possessions, including the land, the sheep, his home etc., and begins to see the emotional toll this can take on him. However, at the same time, he sees it as a way of breaking free of a life he's been toiling at for decades, with few rewards, and enable him to be closer to his family.There are some nonsensical decisions that Gaby will make along the way, but overall I found this film to be a poignant and powerful drama, enhanced by superb acting all around, and wonderful cinematography.

Canadian writer/director Sébastien Pilote has created a fine little film that in many ways plays like an elegy to times past. The film moves slowly, like a gentle stroll in the Canadian countryside, the action is spare, the acting is excellent and the message is exquisite. Canadian farmer Gaby Gagnon (Gabriel Arcand) tends his sheep on his lovely little farm in northern Quebec and much of the essence of the film is his interaction with the land and the animals that have been his life. He has named the highly regarded farm Bouchard & Sons, hoping his farm will be passed to his sons. But instead of sons he has two daughters – Frédérique (Sophie Desmarais) and Marie (Lucie Laurier) - and both have moved away from the farm to Montreal and into different lives. Marie and her 2 sons visit Gaby requesting financial support: she has left her husband Steve and needs to buy Steve's half of the house to maintain her family. Gaby wants to help her but realizes that the only source of money he has is Bouchard & Sons, which would mean essentially ending Gaby's home and way of life. It is a conflict well resolved by the writer/director.The sense of isolation, need, seclusion and yet camaraderie with his fellow farmers who know and love nothing more than the life of a farm makes this a very nostalgic film. Gabriel Arcand is luminous as Gaby and every moment of his struggle we feel intensely. The film score by Serge Nakaushi-Pelletier is at once simple and eloquent and the cinematography by Michel La Veaux captures the essence of the Canadian countryside. In all, this is a gentle, quiet, slow moving film about emotional decisions and family commitment and traditions and it plays very well indeed.

"The Auction" (2013 release from Canada; 111 min.; original title "Le démantèlement" or "The dismantling") brings the story of Gaby, a 60-somethingh year old sheep farmer in the northern part of Quebec. Gaby has spent his whole life there, but is now alone, his brothers having left him, then his wife, then his 2 daughters Marie and Frederique, who chose the life in the big city (Montreal). Then one day, Marie and her 2 little boys visit Gaby. She tells him that she has left her husband Steve, and that she needs money to buy out Steve's half of the house. Gaby is determined to help her, but soon realizes he may need to sell his beloved farm to do so. Will Gaby sell the farm and dismantle his entire existence? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first and foremost, this is essentially a movie about a farmer's life, and as such the movie moves at a snail's pace, and I mean that as a (high) compliment. The farm's environment is showcased time and again, to great effect. Second, Gabriel Arcand, in the role of Gaby, brings a towering performance that will leave you wowed at the end of the movie (he won the Canadian Oscar-equivalent for Best Actor, and much deserved at that). Third, kudos to writer-director Sebastien Pilote for bringing this story, he scored several nominations for this movie at the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars (but didn't win). Last but certainly not least, the movie has a fantastic soundtrack, composed by Serge Nakaushi-Pelletier. I am going to check if by chance the soundtrack is commercially available. Bottom line: "The Dismantling" (much better title than "The Auction") is an emotionally taxing movie that is worth the investment, time-wise, money-wise and emotion-wise.This movie was the March, 2014 release in the on-going series of Film Movement's DVD-of-the-Month Club of foreign and indie movies, and the DVD will be released to the public at large in August, 2014. As usual, the DVD comes with a number of bonus materials, and also a nice animated shortie ("The Giant", 2013 release from Spain; 11 min.), equally worth checking out. "The Auction" is another very worthy addition to the ever-growing Film Movement library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED