Polytechnique
2009
Drama
Crime
1h 17m
A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.
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Polytechnique
2009
Drama
Crime
1h 17m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 57.62% from 581 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews
(581)
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Rated 19 May 2019
70
65th
Mass shootings: An uncomfortable little film genre, in which it isn't always clear to what greater purpose the event was fictionalized. 'Polytechnique' has its problems with highly stylized images of dead teenagers, but earns a certain legitimacy with its treatment of gender issues and depression.
Rated 19 May 2019
Rated 27 Aug 2009
89
83rd
This film shows the "Montreal Massacre" that resulted in the death of fourteen female students in 1989. It is a serious film, and a disturbing one, filmed in black and white in both French and English versions. This is not a passionate film, at least on the surface, but it is an empathetic one. The points the director makes about misogyny and gender relations are implicit in the facts. They remain in memory, and they create profound unease.
Rated 27 Aug 2009
Rated 12 Jan 2018
90
91st
Denis Villeneuve images ask for a calm look at a drastic, dualistic world view. His images refuse to give up on the idea that we are connected. We do the same, we shave, we call our mother. We talk to each other. Polytechnique defines a school shooting as an dramatic act of failed communication. While exploring life as the quest for a successful form of it. Can we find a way to connect? Through language, holding hands or sex. While withdrawing the word from those who refuse to engage.
Rated 12 Jan 2018
Rated 30 Jul 2019
75
77th
I'm always a bit on the fence with these type of contemporary tragic docs-dramas' use of artistic license, but in this case, I think it's handled pretty well, and the film in itself is gripping.
Rated 30 Jul 2019
Rated 08 Sep 2022
60
44th
Denis Villeneuve's comeback continues his streak of tragic stories but this time drawing from a real-life incident. "Polytechnique" is distressing due to the harrowing subject matter and its dramatization, which doesn't feel like it's conducted in an exploitative manner, instead displaying simplicity and directness yet also restraint in its approach. This choice of style is justified and perhaps preferable, nevertheless the writing mostly fails to carry you away and involve you emotionally.
Rated 08 Sep 2022
Rated 22 Mar 2020
30
10th
An artsy public service announcement. I don't fault the attempt to connect individual behavior and cultural/societal attitudes; it's just totally lacking in nuance and subtlety. Black and white in multiple ways, with weak acting.
Rated 22 Mar 2020
Rated 13 Sep 2020
63
67th
The first 20 or so minutes were really on the nose about the killer's insanity and sense of loneliness almost to the point of parody. The movie picks up when the shooting actually happens, and while the cinematography for this event is good, it's hampered by some awful padding that tries too hard to be "artsy." Did we really need to be shown that the guy has a good relationship with his mother? The ending was also way too tacky and platitude ridden for my tastes.
Rated 13 Sep 2020
Rated 02 Sep 2023
8
77th
It's a fucked up world. I read plenty of complaints about the majority being focused on the male perpetrator and the male witness and not enough on the victims themselves, and I can understand that issue. But I can't say I agree. I think it handled it pretty well. It's sick, but that's kind of the point. It's really easy to see Denis Villeneuve coming into his own.
Rated 02 Sep 2023
Rated 31 Jul 2014
62
51st
A simplistic approach to the true events of the Montreal Massacre that led an everyday schoolday into a nightmare. It's so calm, disturbing and brutal in it's approach, it focuses on the human tragedy of the people involved but struggle to build great connections to the characters.
Rated 31 Jul 2014
Rated 21 Apr 2017
4
70th
Polytechnique pulls off the tricky feat of filming a massacre with enough finesse to avoid either pulling its punches or reveling in the horrific brutality of the ordeal, as well as effectively other-izing the perpetrator of the massacre while maintaining the dignity of the his victims. It's an impressive balancing act, all the more important for what heavy material he's dealing with.
Rated 21 Apr 2017
Rated 13 Dec 2017
4
74th
Living in the United States, mass shootings have become a banal fact of life. I should feel this sad and angry every day. What an immensely upsetting film.
Rated 13 Dec 2017
Rated 27 Feb 2024
83
72nd
The sense of dread started before the movie even began as I knew a bit about what I was getting into, but I forced myself to watch this as I aim to watch everything Villeneuve has directed. This movie handles an extremely difficult subject matter to make a movie about well. It will certainly stick with you. My main question is why?
Rated 27 Feb 2024
Rated 22 May 2019
75
77th
I can't decide whether or not Villenueve's poetic stylistic choices were fitting for the material, but it's a gripping film about a harrowing true crime.
Rated 22 May 2019
Rated 23 Jul 2018
61
14th
Suffers from an at times overwrought script, but Villeneuve brings the film alive with a good understanding of suspense and stakes. The scenes in which Jean-François is running around the labyrinthine school helping people without knowing where the shooter is are masterful, and the claustrophobic black-and-white photography neuters the flash and flamboyance of the '80s in an interesting way. That said, it's hard to see how much use such a distanced portrayal of the event can be.
Rated 23 Jul 2018
Rated 01 May 2021
10
2nd
Boring amateurish Canadian crap. Has any truly good film ever come out of Canada. I can't think of one. How many Canadian films have been nominated for Oscars?
Rated 01 May 2021
Rated 04 Oct 2014
70
67th
I liked that the film didn't glorify the violence or the killer at all, and didn't make the whole thing too melodramatic. A main part of the film is about misogyny, which feels very relevant in today's increasing ubiquity of feminism. It's well-shot, and interestingly structured, but sometimes feels more like a dramatisation on one of those crime shows. Still worth a watch, though.
Rated 04 Oct 2014
Rated 09 Feb 2012
60
41st
The cinematography is really good. Some things bugged me, though - like, did we need that scene with the job interview? Felt almost bizarrely heavy-handed. And it's not a good sign that it feels too long at 1 hour and 17 minutes. The structure just doesn't work I think - specifically the sudden shift to bearded dude alone. And the ending, I dunno. I'm torn. Very nice-looking, but it has a sort of student-filmy vibe apart from that. Not sure it's off-putting in the way I imagine it wants to be.
Rated 09 Feb 2012
Rated 17 Oct 2017
62
48th
Wildly uncomfortable to watch, but tells an important story with occasionally stunning finesse.
Rated 17 Oct 2017
Rated 01 Dec 2018
70
79th
The choice of black-and-white photography is a piece of genius, as it turns what could have been a blood-soaked melodrama into a harrowing portrait of fear and hatred.
Rated 01 Dec 2018
Rated 18 Jan 2018
75
53rd
Despite being almost 10 years old this is really relevant today. I had to remind myself it was made in 2009 and not now. The black and white adds to it, along with the minimalist music, showcasing the work of a director who would go on to make some of the most interesting directorial efforts of modern times. But he shows enough artistic restraint to not make this too beautiful because I mean, it is a movie about a massacre and you don't want to lose that. Nice balancing act.
Rated 18 Jan 2018
Rated 04 Nov 2021
65
71st
Depicting an anthropique event a decade before Columbine and two weeks before my 19th birthday, in my first year at university (photocopying rooms featured heavily in those days), this shares with ELEPHANT the sense of a withdrawal of affect (but unexplored and unexplained), but adds a perspective that draws attention to the fact that every single one of these massacres has a male perpetrator (why that is is unexplained). A little bit of triteness towards the end (about raising boys and girls).
Rated 04 Nov 2021
Rated 19 Feb 2016
13
69th
Star Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated 19 Feb 2016
Rated 23 Jan 2016
60
13th
21 Gener 2016 - Lenta. No explica gran cosa de cap dels personatges. Es fa pesada. Sensació de no endinsar-se gaire. La Berta deia que té una bona imatge; no crec que jo ho hagués pensat. No m'he arribat a concentrar molt.
Rated 23 Jan 2016
Rated 10 Jul 2012
78
79th
okul baskini, scholl shooting, anti feminist, farkli cekim teknikleri, dik sahneler, kanada, gercek bir hikaye, mühendislik ögrencisi, kendine ait bir dili var filmin.
Rated 10 Jul 2012
Rated 05 Jan 2023
85
94th
A punch in the face, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen
Rated 05 Jan 2023
Rated 14 Dec 2009
80
81st
Chilling, sober, frightening. The black and white mixed with the minimalistic music creates an unnerving mood. A bit 'arty' sometimes, but not distractingly so.
Rated 14 Dec 2009
Rated 29 Oct 2009
75
53rd
29 ekim 09. & katliami yapan kisiye anlayisla yaklasabiliyorsunuz. bunun disinda gereksiz kamera acilari var. ritim ve teknik olarak minimalizme ve noir-filme goz kirpan fakat ikisi de olamayan bir film.
Rated 29 Oct 2009
Rated 05 Aug 2011
35
90th
"Denis Villeneuve's unnerving abstraction of the subject matter daringly relays his view of the human cost of gender warfare." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 05 Aug 2011
Rated 17 Apr 2024
62
75th
Rated 31 Aug 2018
60
44th
Important.
Rated 31 Aug 2018
Rated 22 Sep 2021
84
79th
Нарратив - 4 Сценарий - 3 Сюжет - 4 Постановка - 4 Целостность - 4 Монтаж - 4 Выполнение своей цели - 5 Флоу - 4 Атмосфера - 4 Эмоции - 5 Актерская игра - 4 Саундтрек - 4 Синематографи - 4 Визуал - 4 Звук - 4 Продакшн дизайн - 4 Оценка - 85 Общая - 81
Rated 22 Sep 2021
Rated 01 Jun 2014
75
20th
I do not think for a foreigner like me that kind of narrative would show me the real thing. I'd rather see why and how the manic reached to the verdict of killing.
Rated 01 Jun 2014
Rated 09 Apr 2018
80
73rd
Denis Villeneuve is now a juggernaut of visual feats, but his humble beginnings show that they were never really humble. While his next film would be heavy handed in the emotional sense, Polytechnique is chillingly cold with only a few reprieves. The photography is excellent, with the camera switching from bystander to perpetuator in a hauntingly floating manner. The film tackles both the horrible violence and its misogynistic motives responsibly and bravely.
Rated 09 Apr 2018
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