Missing Victor Pellerin: Where art and business meet

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****½

My personal award for "Most unusual while remaining intelligent, enjoyable and accessible" movie of the year goes to Missing Victor Pellerin, an ain't-seen-nuttin'-like-it wonder from Canada--a land which continues to wildly impress for spawning unique winners (anybody seen Slings and Arrows?). To try to explain this singular film is to try to pin down a changeling that keeps on evolving, right up to its staggering finale.

All due praise must be given to one Sophie Deraspe, who is credited with the writing, direction, cinematography and editing (she probably did the catering, as well). There are a few other names listed in the crew, but's basically a one-woman show. Ms Deraspe has created something else. But equal praise must be heaped upon the movie's cast of unknowns, all of whom manage to nail their characters beautifully and succinctly, even as the film keeps evolving right out from under them. Did the cast know from the beginning exactly where their stories and the movie were going? How did they manage to create such complete and complex characters so elliptically and wittily, when these characters are also changing?

And speaking of change, the movie jumps genres, too--from documentary to fiction, mystery, satire -- as it follows the path of Pellerin, a young star of the Art scene who disappeared from Montreal without a trace. I suspect the film will stay with you long after it's over, if only because you'll keep filling in the pieces. Yet, as weird and all-over-the-place as events become, stick with them, because they do coalesce. And if you know anything about the state of our current "art world"--which is one of the film's major themes--you're probably going to love and appreciate Missing Victor Pellerin even more. It possesses that elusive combination of a great concept and amazing execution.