Film: Léolo - 1992

Leo is an imaginative 12-year old that writes with a lyricism well beyond his years. He writes to escape the stifling ennui of a working class Montreal family composed almost entirely of idiots and the mentally ill. He's a gifted outsider fighting the pressure to succumb to the muted brutality he was born into. His refutation: "Because I dream, that is not what I am."

Nearly every line of narration is a poignant portrayal of childhood's fear, discovery, joy, and ultimate sadness. Reality becomes the plaything of a boy coming to terms with the disconnect between the way he believes things ought to be and how they actually are. The lens often illustrates Leo's perspective with surreal flourishes of astounding creativity. The soundtrack is phenomenal and eclectic- ranging wildly from Tom Waits' melancholy blues, to medieval Tallis chorals and Tibetan throat singing. "Léolo" was French Canadian director Jean-Claude Lauzon's second and final feature-length film before his tragic death in a plane crash.


It's late at night. Consuming darkness abounds except for a small sliver of light illuminating the face of a boy intensely absorbed in the pages of a book. Leo is on the floor of the kitchen wearing mittens and a ski cap, reading by the light of the refrigerator.
Narration:
"I don't try to remember what happens in a book. All I ask of a book is to give me energy and courage to tell me there's more to life than I can take... to remind me of the need to act.

It was the only book in the house. I never wondered how it got there. It was thick. The words were pushed together and required enourmous effort and concentration to yield their secret.

At home, I never saw anybody read or write. Television and Billboards cluttered my brain. In the beginning I read the underlined passages without really understanding. I remember wanting to give up because there were no pictures.

I find my only real joy in solitude. Solitude is my castle. That's where I have my chair, my table, my bed, my breeze, and my sun. I sit in exile. I sit in a fake land.

Because I dream, I am not. "

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