Felix And Meira
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''Felix and Meira'' () is a 2014 Canadian
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Maxime Giroux Maxime Giroux (born 16 April 1976) is a film director from Quebec, Canada. Giroux was born in Montreal, Quebec. He has directed several short films, videoclips and commercial videos. In 2006, his film '' The Days (Les Jours)'' won the prize for be ...
, and starring
Martin Dubreuil Martin Dubreuil (born May 26, 1972) is a Canadian actor and musician from Quebec.Hadas Yaron Hadas Yaron (; born April 12, 1990) is an Israeli actress. She began acting as a child and made her film debut as a supporting actress in the 2006 film, ''Out of Sight''. Yaron played lead character Shira Mendelman in the 2012 Israeli drama film, ...
, and Luzer Twersky. It is about an improbable affair between two
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
residents - one a married woman from a devoutly Jewish family and community, and the other a single French Canadian man with his own family issues. The film premiered in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...
, where it won the Award for Best Canadian Film. It received numerous other film festival awards, and was nominated for five
Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
, including
Best Motion Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film an ...
.


Plot

In
Mile End, Montreal Mile End is a neighbourhood and municipal electoral district in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the city’s Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. Description Since the 1980s Mile End has been known for its cult ...
, a
Hasidic Jewish Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
woman named Meira lives a repressed life, married to Shulem, who does not allow her to listen to secular music. They have a young daughter named Elishiva, but Meira confides in her friend that she does not want any more children, despite their religious duty. Word reaches Shulem, who berates Meira for shaming the small family. By chance, Meira meets Félix, a
French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
man who has just lost his father Théodore, who at the end of his life no longer knew Félix was his son. Meira is mystified by the fact that Félix has no children, as he is
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
, a novel concept for her, since she comes from a culture where women have as many as 20 children. She avoids
eye contact Eye contact occurs when two people or non-human animals look at each other's eyes at the same time. In people, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and can have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, ...
with him, and becomes enraged when, while they are playing
Ping-Pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
, Félix's sister Caroline unexpectedly arrives and sees her. Félix and Meira go out dancing. Caroline also informs Félix that their mother had an
affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...
, drawing parallel to Félix's interest in a married woman. Eventually, Shulem sees Félix and Meira walking on a street together, rushes up behind them, and begins slapping Félix. Later, Shulem visits Félix in his apartment, informing him that if Meira and Félix re-unite, Meira will never be allowed to return to the Hasidic community. Shulem also asks Félix to keep Meira safe and cared for. Before leaving, Shulem notices a folded-up piece of paper, that Félix says was written by Théodore and never read. Shulem reads it, revealing Théodore apologized for bullying Félix to conform to the family, where he never felt comfortable. Félix and Meira take Elishiva to
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
.


Cast

*
Martin Dubreuil Martin Dubreuil (born May 26, 1972) is a Canadian actor and musician from Quebec.Hadas Yaron Hadas Yaron (; born April 12, 1990) is an Israeli actress. She began acting as a child and made her film debut as a supporting actress in the 2006 film, ''Out of Sight''. Yaron played lead character Shira Mendelman in the 2012 Israeli drama film, ...
as Meira * Luzer Twersky as Shulem *
Anne-Élisabeth Bossé Anne-Élisabeth Bossé is a Canadian actress from Repentigny, Quebec.
as Caroline * Benoît Girard as Théodore * Melissa Weisz as Ruth


Production

''Felix and Meira'' was director
Maxime Giroux Maxime Giroux (born 16 April 1976) is a film director from Quebec, Canada. Giroux was born in Montreal, Quebec. He has directed several short films, videoclips and commercial videos. In 2006, his film '' The Days (Les Jours)'' won the prize for be ...
's third full-length film, and he said that in writing and directing it, he learned more about his home of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Additionally, he said he lived near
Hasidic Jews Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affi ...
on Mile End, and knew it was particularly challenging for women to leave the culture. While meeting and discussing possible stories with co-writer
Alexandre Laferrière Alexandre Laferrière (born 1973) is a Canadian screenwriter known for working with the director Maxime Giroux. Among his screenplays are ''Demain'' (2009) and '' Jo for Jonathan'' (''Jo pour Jonathan'') (2010), directed by Giroux. In meeting with ...
at cafes, Giroux said: "We'd see these women and men walking by, and we just didn't know anything about them." Laferrière did much of the research. Giroux assembled a cast, including actors who were once Hasidic Jews, but later gave up that faith and culture. He commented: "It's their story in a way, and I know at some point, it was difficult for them to shoot some of the scenes because it was really close to what they lived in their lives. It's tough for them to re-invent themselves and have a new life in our society." It was challenging to cast
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
-speaking actors in Montreal, but in New York, several people pointed Giroux to Luzer Twersky, who they said would be interested. The producers recommended
Hadas Yaron Hadas Yaron (; born April 12, 1990) is an Israeli actress. She began acting as a child and made her film debut as a supporting actress in the 2006 film, ''Out of Sight''. Yaron played lead character Shira Mendelman in the 2012 Israeli drama film, ...
, but as she did not speak French or Yiddish, she had to study both languages, working on Yiddish with Twersky and on French in Israel.


Release

''Felix and Meira'' premiered in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...
. It was also in competition at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...
, and at the
Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...
. In January 2015, it screened at the
New York Jewish Film Festival The New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF) is an annual festival in New York City that features a wide array of international films exploring themes related to the Jewish experience. The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center work in ...
. The film had a wider release in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
theatres on 30 January 2015, distributed by FunFilm, and had a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States on 17 April 2015. It was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on 12 May 2015. By September 2015, the film had played in over 50 festivals and 15 countries.


Reception


Critical response

The film received positive reviews, with a 76% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, based on 46 reviews, and an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus states: "''Félix & Meira'' uses its simple structure and slight story as the setup for a sensitive, well-acted romance whose unusual specifics belie universal truths".
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was included in the list of "Canada's Top Ten" feature films of 2014, selected by a panel of film-makers and industry professionals organized by TIFF. wrote in ''
La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...
'' that the film was not sensational, but subtle, sensitive, and highly interesting. Brendan Kelly, writing for ''
The Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'', gave the film four stars, praising it as "so powerful precisely because it's so under-stated". Outside Canada, Joe McGovern of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' gave it a B. Jeannette Catsoulis, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', called it "a tenderly observed love story".
Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who reviews films for ''The Washington Post'' and writes the film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist". Burr worked as a film critic at ''The Boston ...
wrote in ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' that the film avoided melodrama about cultural conflicts to focus on its characters, and criticized the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...
for giving the film an R rating, though there is a scene where Meira watches a couple have sex. ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
s Peter Debruge said it was easy to root for Meira's liberation, but he was not satisfied with the ending. Conversely, Jordan Hoffman, of ''
The New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in tabloid format, and rea ...
'', felt it lacked chemistry.


Accolades

The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
at the
88th Academy Awards The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. D ...
, but it was not nominated. It was a rare Canadian submission for featuring a substantial amount of Yiddish as well as French.


See also

* ''Twist of Faith'' (2013 film) *
List of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of submissions to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award ...
*
List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Canada has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1971. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside ...


References


External links

*
Félix et Meira
at Cinoche.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Felix And Meira 2014 films 2014 drama films Canadian drama films 2010s English-language films Films set in Montreal Films set in Venice 2010s French-language films Yiddish-language films Films directed by Maxime Giroux Jewish Canadian films Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews 2014 multilingual films Canadian multilingual films 2010s Canadian films Films scored by Olivier Alary English-language Canadian films French-language Canadian films