Post Mortem

Post Mortem consists of two portraits that are linked together in a very special way. Linda (Silvie Moreau) wants to move with her daughter (5) from the big city to the countryside as soon as possible. That costs money. Without any guilty conscience or scruples Linda sets to work. She cashes social security cheques, seduces men, steals their credit cards and sells them to a small fence. In the meantime, she is a good mother during the day. Everything works out until one day she picks up an American tourist. Ghislain (Gabriel Arcand, brother of the director Denys and one of the greatest actors in Quebec) leads a hermit-like life, almost entirely beyond the fringe of society. This shy man sticks to his daily routine, only interrupted by one hobby: listening to blues records. Looking for the culprit of a brutal rape, the police arrests Ghislain and subjects him to a cross-examination. He refuses to cooperate, but in flashbacks we find out more about him, such as that he works in a mortuary at night. Supported by a subtle soundtrack and wonderful acting, the power of Bélanger’s début film is to be found in the concentrated realism. Bélanger: ‘I consider myself first and foremost as a screenwriter, a profession which for me is closely related to that of a journalist. In a way, I’m a robber of lives, leaving the juggling of the camera to others.’