Felix and Meira
{{short description|2014 film}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Felix and Meira
| image = Felix and Meira.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Maxime Giroux
| producer = Sylvain Corbeil
Nancy Grant
| writer = Maxime Giroux
Alexandre Laferrière
| starring = Martin Dubreuil
Hadas Yaron
Luzer Twersky
Anne-Élisabeth Bossé
| music = Olivier Alary
| cinematography = Sara Mishara
| editing = Mathieu Bouchard-Malo
| studio = Metafilms
| distributor = Funfilm
| released = {{Film date|2014|9|7|TIFF|df=yes}}
| runtime = 105 minutes
| country = Canada
| language = Yiddish
English
French
}}
Felix and Meira ({{langx|fr|Félix et Meira}}) is a 2014 Canadian drama film directed by Maxime Giroux, and starring Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, and Luzer Twersky. It is about an improbable affair between two Montreal 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, where it won the Award for Best Canadian Film. It received numerous other film festival awards, and was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture.
Plot
In Mile End, Montreal, a Hasidic Jewish 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 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, a novel concept for her, since she comes from a culture where women have as many as 20 children. She avoids eye contact with him, and becomes enraged when, while they are playing Ping-Pong, 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, 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.
Cast
- Martin Dubreuil as Félix
- Hadas Yaron as Meira
- Luzer Twersky as Shulem
- Anne-Élisabeth Bossé as Caroline
- Benoît Girard as Théodore
- Melissa Weisz as Ruth
Production
File:Alexandre Laferrière.png carried out much of the research for the film.]]
Felix and Meira was director Maxime Giroux's third full-length film, and he said that in writing and directing it, he learned more about his home of Montreal.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/canada-oscar-academy-awards-foreign-language-film-1.3243992 |title=Félix et Meira tapped as Canada's Oscar foreign-language film contender |work=CBC News |date=25 September 2015 |access-date=25 September 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927212849/http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/canada-oscar-academy-awards-foreign-language-film-1.3243992 | archive-date=27 September 2015}} Additionally, he said he lived near Hasidic Jews 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 at cafes, Giroux said: "We'd see these women and men walking by, and we just didn't know anything about them."{{Cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movies/felix-et-meira-explores-love-across-the-cultural-divide |title=Félix et Meira explores love across the cultural divide |last=Kelly |first=Brendan |date=29 January 2015 |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=The Montreal Gazette}} Laferrière did much of the research.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/cinema/399285/les-amants-du-mile-end |title=Les amants du Mile End |last=Lévesque |first=François |date=8 February 2014 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=Le Devoir}}
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-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, 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foreign-oscars-felix-meira-director-844753 |title=Foreign Oscars: 'Felix & Meira' Director on Courting Controversy With Hasidic Jew Romancer |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |date=1 December 2015 |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}
Release
Felix and Meira premiered in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto-international-film-festival-reveals-7-big-new-lineups-20140812 |title=TIFF Adds 'Clouds of Sils Maria' and 'Two Days, One Night', Reveals 5 More Line-Ups |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=Indiewire|date=12 August 2014 }} It was also in competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and at the Torino Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/eat-your-bones-wins-top-752801 |title='Eat Your Bones' Wins Top Prize in Torino |last=Anderson |first=Ariston |date=29 November 2014 |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}} In January 2015, it screened at the New York Jewish Film Festival.
The film had a wider release in Quebec theatres on 30 January 2015, distributed by FunFilm, and had a limited release in the United States on 17 April 2015. It was released on DVD on 12 May 2015. By September 2015, the film had played in over 50 festivals and 15 countries.{{Cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/local-arts/canada-to-announce-its-movie-pick-for-the-foreign-language-oscar-category |title=Canada picks Maxime Giroux's Félix et Meira as foreign-language Oscar contender |last=Dunlevy |first=T'cha |date=26 September 2015 |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=The Montreal Gazette}}
Reception
=Critical response=
The film received positive reviews, with a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 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".{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/felix_and_meira/ |title=Felix & Meira (2015) |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=Rotten Tomatoes}} Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/felix-and-meira?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c | title=Félix and Meira | website=Metacritic }} 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.{{cite press release |title=TIFF Tips Its Toque to the Best in Canadian Film-Making: Cronenberg, Dolan, and Gunnarson Among Directors Recognized |date=1 December 2014 |access-date=21 December 2014 |url=http://d12gbu3zt5gvms.cloudfront.net/docs/Lg5Q3v_14th_Annual_Canada%27s_Top_Ten_Film_Festival_2014___8510266_1418745501.pdf |publisher=TIFF |archive-date=21 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221204542/http://d12gbu3zt5gvms.cloudfront.net/docs/Lg5Q3v_14th_Annual_Canada%27s_Top_Ten_Film_Festival_2014___8510266_1418745501.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |newspaper=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/12/01/tiffs_top_ten_film_festival_spotlight_on_canadian_film.html |date=1 December 2014 |access-date=21 December 2014 |author=Linda Barnard |title=TIFF's Top Ten Film Festival: Spotlight on Canadian film }}
{{ill|Marc-André Lussier|fr}} wrote in La Presse that the film was not sensational, but subtle, sensitive, and highly interesting.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lapresse.ca/cinema/201409/17/49-5941-felix-et-meira.php |title=Félix et Meira: attirance progressive. Et mutuelle |last=Lussier |first=Marc-André |date=29 January 2015 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=La Presse}} Brendan Kelly, writing for The Montreal Gazette, gave the film four stars, praising it as "so powerful precisely because it's so under-stated".{{Cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movies/aching-need-to-break-free-gives-felix-et-meira-its-power |title=Aching need to break free gives Félix et Meira its power |last=Kelly |first=Brendan |date=29 January 2015 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=The Montreal Gazette}}
Outside Canada, Joe McGovern of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B.{{Cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/2015/04/23/felix-meira-ew-review/ |title='Felix & Meira': EW review |last=McGovern |first=Joe |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=3 February 2017 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} Jeannette Catsoulis, writing for The New York Times, called it "a tenderly observed love story".{{Cite web|url=http://ew.com/article/2015/04/23/felix-meira-ew-review/ |title=Review: 'Felix and Meira,' a Portrait of a Tempted Hasidic Wife |last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}} Ty Burr wrote in The Boston Globe that the film avoided melodrama about cultural conflicts to focus on its characters, and criticized the Motion Picture Association of America for giving the film an R rating, though there is a scene where Meira watches a couple have sex.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2015/05/28/felix/SAtFzODwlXO8YHU3VtvMhM/story.html |title='Felix and Meira' is a hushed affair |last=Burr |first=Ty |date=28 May 2015 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=The Boston Globe}} Variety's Peter Debruge said it was easy to root for Meira's liberation, but he was not satisfied with the ending.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/san-sebastian-film-review-felix-and-meira-1201314192/ |title=Film Review: 'Felix and Meira' |last=Debruge |first=Peter |date=26 September 2014 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=Variety}} Conversely, Jordan Hoffman, of The New York Daily News, felt it lacked chemistry.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/felix-meira-review-culture-conflict-punch-article-1.2186382 |title='Felix and Meira' review: Encounter between the secular and the devout lacks sizzle |last=Hoffman |first=Jordan |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=3 February 2017 |work=The New York Daily News}}
=Accolades=
The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-felix-meira-submitted-foreign-827250 |title=Oscars: Canada Submits 'Felix and Meira' for Foreign-Language Category |last=Vlessing |first=Etan |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=25 September 2015 |access-date=25 September 2015}} It was a rare Canadian submission for featuring a substantial amount of Yiddish as well as French.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/canada-oscars-pick-1.3775950 |title=Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World to be Canada's Oscar foreign-language film submission |last=Wong |first=Jessica |date=23 September 2016 |access-date=3 January 2017 |work=CBC News}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|3685218|Felix and Meira}}
- [http://www.cinoche.com/films/felix-et-meira/index.html Félix et Meira] at Cinoche.com
{{Maxime Giroux}}
{{TIFF Best Canadian Film}}
{{Canadian submission for Academy Awards}}
{{Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix And Meira}}
Category:2010s English-language films
Category:Films set in Montreal
Category:2010s French-language films
Category:Yiddish-language films
Category:Films directed by Maxime Giroux
Category:Jewish Canadian films
Category:Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews
Category:2014 multilingual films
Category:Canadian multilingual films
Category:Films scored by Olivier Alary