Star Rating  * - Poor

Desert Crossing

From time to time I rewatch Une histoire inventée and La comtesse de Bâton Rouge. Purely for pleasure. And always with the same delight. I love André Forcier’s craziness. Except that Les États-Unis d’Albert is more outrageous and wordy than surrealist and poetic. Hard to bear.

In his first leading cinema role, Éric Bruneau plays Albert Renaud, a young Quebecois actor whose dream is to conquer Hollywood. We are at the end of the 20’s and, full of energy, the budding star is heading for the city of a thousand illusions. But on the way he falls for Grace (Émilie Dequenne), a pretty young Mormon who has also attracted the attention of a travelling journalist. Thrown off the train by his rival, Albert finds himself lost in the middle of the Arizona desert. Happily for him he happens upon Jack (Roy Dupuis), a golfer on the run from the police, who will become his companion on his travels and in misfortune. Together they come across several colourful characters, played notably by Céline Bonnier and Marc Labrèche. Will Albert find his Grace again? Will he conquer Hollywood? If you are made of stern stuff and are able to stay seated for the 90 minutes, you will find the answers.

We’re told that Les États-Unis d’Albert is an auteur film. So it may be. But is that an excuse for the deep boredom I felt throughout? And my sighs of exasperation - were they because I failed to understand the route that Forcier is taking? That could well be the case. But since I’m no stupider than the next person, I imagine that a lot of people are asking where Forcier was trying to go with his boat. An odd boat co-produced by Quebec, Switzerland and France, which should have been filmed in English and which finally got stranded in French. Les États-Unis d’Albert is a long desert crossing.