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For starters, I just found out that this movie is from Canada NOT France, yes a week after watching it. It was a very disturbing movie about this young punk who would not stop at nothing just to get some attention from his parents, in his own bid to keep them together.

Léon Doré is the disturb boy who apparently has the same clothes that I wore when I was young. The stripped T shirts, teeny weeny shorts and high socks were the epitome of mamal-ness back in the 80s. Hence I felt very personal about this movie although his antics were too exaggerated. I was a good boy, I even got the “Most Obedient” award during Primary School days which now I take that as an insult. Am I being compared to a dog??

It was night at the movies with 3 handsome chaps, me included. Azhar booked 3 seats at GV Vivocity and we rushed off from work to catch the 7pm show. The show for me has some underlining message about how a dyfunctional family can affect the well being of a child. Apparently Leon doesn’t know the meaning of FEAR and DEATH; he attempted suicide so many times, it’s a surprise that he’s still alive.

Here’s a review by CNA

SINGAPORE – It was named one of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Top 10 Canadian Films of 2008, and was voted Best Canadian Film by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

And rightly so.

“It’s Not Me, I Swear” is more than just a Quebec coming-of-age story about 10-year-old hellraiser Leon (played by fascinating newcomer Antoine L’Ecuyer) who lies, wreaks havoc and attempts many a suicide in order to distract his flighty painter mum and emotionally-absent lawyer dad from fighting.

It’s also much-lauded director Philippe Falardeau’s convincing social commentary about the repercussions of a fractured home life and changing cultural issues of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

With parental advice like “It’s better not to lie, but it’s worse to lie badly”, one really wonders if the tragically disconnected Leon even stood a chance.

Never once allowing Leon or his histrionics to lapse into cute, Falardeau manages a trifecta of black humour, pathos and childhood whimsy to create a truly heart-wrenching cinematic experience.

Which serves as a complete surprise for someone who might be expecting a Canadian “Dennis The Menace” meets “Home Alone”.

Not only is a damaged child’s pain and cry for help on full display, he is also surrounded by gripping characters leading lives of desperation: His long-suffering elder brother; his aggravated father; and Lea, the damaged girl next door (a captivating Catherine Faucher).

Adapted from a pair of popular novels by Bruno Hebert and mesmerisingly shot by cinematographer Andre Turpin (2000 Maelstrom), who manages to find the beautiful in the banal, this is one film that carefully balances the dark emotional tragedy with a comedic playfulness – all with a light hand.

It’s a story so uncomfortably real, it’s disquieting.

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