Leolo - Trailer

Leolo - news September 2008

On the 29th September 2008, one of our favourite labels, Network DVD, are releasing the cult classic Leolo. The Network DVD label is renowned for its classic TV releases (everything from Emmerdale Farm 1st series to Budgie to The Owl Service to Michael Bentines Potty Time through to 3 volumes of Pipkins - all firm favourites with us), and it is also building up an impressive roster of films in its catalogue. Only recently it released the classic The Red Balloon, and Leolo is the latest in a long line of films released by Network DVD that, but for them, otherwise might not have been released on DVD. These include many films we have recommended in the past to you such as Billy The Kid And The Green Baize Vampire, The Chain, Bloody Kids, The Fruit Machine and The Buster Keaton Chronicles to name but a few. Coming soon they are also releasing a digitally restored version of Lindsay Anderson's debut feature This Sporting Life.

Leolo is Jean-Claude Lauzon's highly respected1992 French-Canadian Palme d’Or nominated comedy drama. The film also won the award for Best Screenplay at Vancouver International film Festival and the title of Best Canadian Film at the Toronto Film Festival. With the release of Leolo on DVD here's hoping that a lot more people get to see this wonderful and wonderfully and uniquely affecting comedy drama.

Leolo - Synopsis

Leolo tells the story of a young boy (Leolo), who is being brought up in squalid conditions in the shabby tenement in Montreal that he shares with his family - most of whom seem plagued to some extent by either severe dysfunction or madness. To both cope with, and escape from, these chaotic conditions, he increasingly retreats into a world of his own imagination where he looks to find some path to happiness, whether it be falling in love with his beautiful neighbour, or by killing his Grandfather whom Leolo blames for the genetic failure of the entire family. As Leolo begins to drift further into his imagined world, the "real" world begins to impinge and to merge. The escape that he longs for and his eagerness to make sense of the world around him that seems, at times, even more brutal even than his world at home, pushes him into increasingly desperate actions.

Leolo - Review

Leolo is a quite remarkable piece of work that we made DVD release of the month for September 2008.

Leolo is a strange and relatively unknown film. The most remarkable story contained in the film is in turn funny, tragic, sentimental, brutal and other times just plain weird, all of which neatly mirror the madness that Leolo's family suffers. In fact it is plain weird quite a lot of the time. There is also a certain schizophrenia in the cinematography which switches seamlessly from the "late 1980s post-MTV ultra slick music video epic" ultra slow camera zoom ins and zoom outs, to the European cinema approved long tracking establishing shots, both of which work beautifully in conjunction with the terrifically atmospheric score. Allied to these ingredients, the film contains a truly superb main cast, though special mention has to go to the then 13 year old Maxime Collin who so perfectly judges the role of Leolo.

There is something about this film with its nostalgic dream like quality that reminds us very much of A Christmas Story. But whereas A Christmas Story is a light and happy nostalgic childhood trip to the suburban warmth and comfort of American privilege, Leolo is a darker, more disturbed nostalgic voyage through the cold harsh realities of a Montreal tenement neighbourhood. That being the case, this film is never likely to have gained a massive mainstream audience, but in amongst the very hard times there is a beauty, a strength and honour in a film with such strong power, that it seems ridiculous that it is not much more widely known.

It's always an absolute thrill stumbling across such hidden gems as this film. So here is hoping that lots more people get to discover this fantastic piece of work thanks to this fabulous DVD release. Take a peek at the trailer above and see what you are missing out on.