Whitewash (2013)

Whitewash on paper sounds like the most boring film ever made but as a film, Whitewash is an excellent story of survival as Bruce, Thomas Haden Church, a local snow plow driver and a drunk in a rural Quebec town who accidentally kills a man while driving his plow on a stormy evening. Out of a drunken paranoia, he hides out in the wilderness during a severe storm. In the time that he is by himself, he reflects back on the events that got him where he is. This film is absolutely fantastic. It is paced beautifully and gives the audience just enough, minute by minute to keep the audience interested. Writer/Director Emanuel Hoss- Desamaris proves he is one hell of a director. Equal parts psychological thriller and survival drama, Desamaris does a wonderful job blending these genres, filling the void with a clever voice-over from Bruce. Thomas Haden Church is absolutely phenomenal here, flawless in his performance. To be able to take a film and carry it from start to finish is no easy feat for an actor and for Church to be able to pull it off effortlessly really makes you question why this guy isn't in more stuff because he is truly mesmerizing here. Cinematographer André Turpin does an amazing job here as well, chronicling the harsh environment Bruce is in all while delivering extreme suspense in certain scenes, it is really well done and with the added snow merely intensifies his imagery here. It is very close to Roger Deakins and Conrad Hall's work. Another highlight with this film is the score by Serge Nakauchi Peletier. It is a beautiful piece of music that fit the film perfectly and if the cinematography or the acting doesn't cut it for you, the score sure as hell will. Out of the box and absolutely triumphant, Whitewash is a relentless psychological drama that uses ever minute of its runtime wisely and has Thomas Haden Church in a career best performance.

"You know, they say, that every guilty person is his own hangman. They also say that tomorrow will be a better day." Bruce (Church) is a snowplow operator in the cold desolate Quebec woods. He spends his nights alone with a bottle. One night when the two mixed he winds up accidentally killing someone. Rather then do what is right he decides to do what he can to cover it up. While he thinks of ways to hide what he did he begins to remember the man he killed and the events leading up to the tragedy. This is a hard movie to review and explain. The movie is good and Church is great in it but on the other hand it is pretty slow moving and not much happens. The movie reminded me a lot of A Single Shot which came out a few months ago. Both deal with accidental killings and the lengths these loners will go to to cover up what they did from the world but are unable to run away from it mentally. If you liked the Single Shot movie you will enjoy this. For everyone else it is one you will either like or one you may not be able to finish. Give it a chance though you may be surprised. Overall, good acting and Church does such a great job that it's almost worth watching just for him. I give this a B-.

"It's the cursèd cold, and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the bone" and yet, like the main character in "The Cremation of Sam McGee," the protagonist of "Whitewash" plods on, putting one foot in front of the other, stumbling from misadventure to misadventure, somehow managing to sustain the dim glow of life that really has no basis to exist in the midst of all this freezing indifference: (again from 'Sam McGee'): "The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in." The human spirit strives on, perhaps pointlessly. As Hamlet asks, "What should such fellows as I do crawling between heaven and earth?" In "Whitewash," the meaningless response is: freeze our butts off, that's what. Or, a fellow can build an igloo and sit in the middle of it and talk to himself, explaining his guilt and victimization to the uncaring frost vapor in front of his face. The only way "out" is death, but perhaps that's a "cop-out," a betrayal of the spirit. After "saving" him from suicide, Bruce later "helps" the dishonorable Paul find that "out," and Paul's smiling corpse attests to the macabre victory of his release: "I could swear to God he was smiling," which is reminiscent of Sam McGee: "And he wore a smile you could see a mile . . . " This is one of those movies that starts out with a bizarre incident and then, by means of a series of flashbacks interspersed through the narrative, explains how that critical mishap came-to-pass. This always confuses me at first, until I realize what's going on. In this case, the narrative tapestry develops into a solid work of art. The threads in this tapestry are grounded by a brilliant and unusual soundtrack, much of it original to the film, credited to Serge Nakauchi Pelletier. Indeed, it is so unique that it at times seems to be defining its own genre: "arctic ambient." The "whitewash" cinematography is so cold and relentless that the mood gradually permeates the bones. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! And what pitch-perfect understated acting! Thomas Haden Church's lonely monotone soliloquies keep himself meager company throughout the film, and his deadpan delivery is perfect for the role.I cannot find any fault in this film. It's lean and mean and doesn't waste any strokes. It stands by itself in its essential cinematic niche. It's "classic," in a word. Hooray for director Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais and everyone involved.

I had the pleasure of seeing Whitewash at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival or KVIFF for short. I went to see this film while knowing nothing about it because that is sometimes the way you see films at KVIFF. You buy a ticket and go see a film that you know nothing about. I strongly recommend going into a movie which you know nothing about because that way you can enjoy it much more.A snow plow operator accidentally runs over with his mini-plow a man walking on the street during a blizzard. That's all you need to know about this film's plot. What ensues after this accident is a the perfect blend of drama and black comedy. Surprisingly Thomas Haden Church's Bruce spends most of the movie hiding in his snow plow and trying to figure out what to do next. Thomas Hadden Church gives here the best performance of his life. Very minimalistic though but very gripping and funny. The film shows how physically demanding Bruce's survival is. (The story is set in Quebec, so the winter there is very harsh) Thomas Haden Church portrays a man who is unwilling to die even though he is doubting if living is worth the struggle. But all this can be told with a lot of humor, even if the situation wouldn't be funny in real life.After the screening there was a short Q&A session with the director Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais. He said that although the winter looks very harsh, during the time of the shoot the winter was very wimpy so they had to help themselves with a few special effects. After the Q&A session ended I went up to the director and asked him for an autograph and asked him if the Coen brothers was an influence on this film. The answer was: Of course! The guy seemed like a very sympathetic fellow and I look forward to seeing more of his work.