HISTOIRE DE PEN is bad from beginning to end. The filmmaker/writer used EVERY cliche in the book for this prison story, including the "hero" getting raped by a black guy or a male prisoner who dresses like a woman (*rolling eyes*). The acting is bad from the entire cast, even though the main actor's performance/presence was sorta of original for a Quebecois flick. The film tries so hard to be edgy and instead it comes off looking silly and overdone. There's almost nothing to recommend about it. And it's VERY long. The film actually felt like 3 hours, not 112 minutes.
4 Reviews
A cross between "Le Party" and "Hochelaga", but 10 times stronger
~PL~14 October 2002
Warning: Spoilers
"Histoire de Pen" is a film by Michel Jette. This man has already directed another movie entitled "Hochelaga". In Quebec (that's where the movie was made), "Hochelaga" was considered as an Oliver "Stonesque" exploration of the dark world of bikers (which are the equivalent of the maffia here). It only had a budget of one million dollars (and it's Canadian dollars...so in U.S. dollars, it would be approximately 600 000 dollars!) but clearly said what it had to say. Michel Jette, in that film, made his name as a director that offers realistic films, with a very sober but raw way to tell a story that stands closely to reality. (Minor Spoilers Warning)
But "Hochelaga" was nothing compared to this. "Histoire de Pen" is, ten times stronger than "Hochelaga" was. And I'm saying that considering that "Hochelaga" was a pretty good and effective film.
"Histoire de Pen" tells the story of Claude, a man that has to spend ten years of his life in jail. It doesn't take a lot of time for him to discover that the prisoners are divided in several clans that fight each other...in other words, he discovers that inside the prison, it's an extremely wild jungle in which security guards have only a limited power, and that only the strong survive. Violence is inevitable, and alliances with clans are risky. Claude will have to make his way through that "animal factory" (oh yeah, and that's another film about prisons directed by Steve Buscemi!). I won't give away anything else about what happens inside, but I'll stimulate your curiosity by only saying that, piece by piece, the puzzle that contains the reason why Claude is in jail is resolved.
Now that you know a little about the story, you HAVE to know more about the directing of this film. It is simply great! Michel Jette has become a very promising name in Canadian cinema, and I'd even say he could be internationally known, but I don't believe that's his goal, though. He truly has a talent portraying the criminal world and really gives a very believable vision of it. The atmosphere in the prison is unlike anything you've seen before. It is just as I imagine it would be. The violence is raw and hard to watch, even though it is not gory or graphic, it is just too realistic. The sound is as good as in "Fight Club" when they hit each other...There is also a rape scene that will truly disturb you...it would never have been so horrible if there had not been such a great directing. For that scene and other fight scenes, I would not recommend this film for people under 16 years of age (even though in Quebec they gave it a 13 and over certification). The lighting is perfect, the camera and the angles are amazing, and the feeling the directing provides will give you the impression that you are inside the prison. The textures are strong and you can almost smell the iron and the sweat. Also, there is a poetic aspect (including references to Francois Villon) that gives a colored and tender aspect in the cold and hard atmosphere of the film. It is by far the most effective directing I've seen in a movie recently.
The acting is pretty good too. The only actor that I didn't like that much was Dominic Darceuil, who played a transvestite, but still, he was not bad. The best actor was Emmanuel Auger, who played the main character. The cast is really good, and they all play their roles more than well.
Now, what I think is the strongest point, and, also, the ultimate goal of Michel Jette's film, the message. Those who have seen Martin Scorsese's films, some of Oliver Stone's movies will be familiar with that kind of films. They offer a picture of reality, and unmask and show the real face of a particular world (the world of maffia ("Casino" and "Goodfellas"), bikers ("Hochelaga"), professional football ("Any Given Sunday"), politics ("JFK"), media ("Natural Born Killers"), among others). In "Histoire de Pen", the message is clear. We put criminals in a place where they HAVE to become even more violent and wild (in order to survive!), then, we release them, and look, we have worse killers, rapists in the streets. The film doesn't focus on who creates them, (even though Michel Jette, in a subtle way, shows that, where they live, these guys are meant to end up in jail, because it's a sector full of criminality, and guess what, this sector, that really exists by the way, is Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, from the title of his previous film) it puts a bigger emphasis on the effect of jail time on prisoners. This film will really leave you thinking.
The film has flaws too. The love story is not bad, but it has some cliches, even though every love story has cliches, and the point of the film is to seem realistic. Also, the way Claude escapes from the prison is more or less believable. Except for that, the film is truly great.
Overall, a film that will make you think, with very shocking images, awesome directing and acting. Really worth to go see it in a theater, the big screen really delivers the atmosphere with an incredible realism. And also, for me, it will worth the money I'll spend on it when it comes out on DVD, which I'll immediately buy! "Histoire de Pen" is raw, brutal, touching, realistic, and great. Bravo to Michel Jetté!
I give it 9/10.
But "Hochelaga" was nothing compared to this. "Histoire de Pen" is, ten times stronger than "Hochelaga" was. And I'm saying that considering that "Hochelaga" was a pretty good and effective film.
"Histoire de Pen" tells the story of Claude, a man that has to spend ten years of his life in jail. It doesn't take a lot of time for him to discover that the prisoners are divided in several clans that fight each other...in other words, he discovers that inside the prison, it's an extremely wild jungle in which security guards have only a limited power, and that only the strong survive. Violence is inevitable, and alliances with clans are risky. Claude will have to make his way through that "animal factory" (oh yeah, and that's another film about prisons directed by Steve Buscemi!). I won't give away anything else about what happens inside, but I'll stimulate your curiosity by only saying that, piece by piece, the puzzle that contains the reason why Claude is in jail is resolved.
Now that you know a little about the story, you HAVE to know more about the directing of this film. It is simply great! Michel Jette has become a very promising name in Canadian cinema, and I'd even say he could be internationally known, but I don't believe that's his goal, though. He truly has a talent portraying the criminal world and really gives a very believable vision of it. The atmosphere in the prison is unlike anything you've seen before. It is just as I imagine it would be. The violence is raw and hard to watch, even though it is not gory or graphic, it is just too realistic. The sound is as good as in "Fight Club" when they hit each other...There is also a rape scene that will truly disturb you...it would never have been so horrible if there had not been such a great directing. For that scene and other fight scenes, I would not recommend this film for people under 16 years of age (even though in Quebec they gave it a 13 and over certification). The lighting is perfect, the camera and the angles are amazing, and the feeling the directing provides will give you the impression that you are inside the prison. The textures are strong and you can almost smell the iron and the sweat. Also, there is a poetic aspect (including references to Francois Villon) that gives a colored and tender aspect in the cold and hard atmosphere of the film. It is by far the most effective directing I've seen in a movie recently.
The acting is pretty good too. The only actor that I didn't like that much was Dominic Darceuil, who played a transvestite, but still, he was not bad. The best actor was Emmanuel Auger, who played the main character. The cast is really good, and they all play their roles more than well.
Now, what I think is the strongest point, and, also, the ultimate goal of Michel Jette's film, the message. Those who have seen Martin Scorsese's films, some of Oliver Stone's movies will be familiar with that kind of films. They offer a picture of reality, and unmask and show the real face of a particular world (the world of maffia ("Casino" and "Goodfellas"), bikers ("Hochelaga"), professional football ("Any Given Sunday"), politics ("JFK"), media ("Natural Born Killers"), among others). In "Histoire de Pen", the message is clear. We put criminals in a place where they HAVE to become even more violent and wild (in order to survive!), then, we release them, and look, we have worse killers, rapists in the streets. The film doesn't focus on who creates them, (even though Michel Jette, in a subtle way, shows that, where they live, these guys are meant to end up in jail, because it's a sector full of criminality, and guess what, this sector, that really exists by the way, is Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, from the title of his previous film) it puts a bigger emphasis on the effect of jail time on prisoners. This film will really leave you thinking.
The film has flaws too. The love story is not bad, but it has some cliches, even though every love story has cliches, and the point of the film is to seem realistic. Also, the way Claude escapes from the prison is more or less believable. Except for that, the film is truly great.
Overall, a film that will make you think, with very shocking images, awesome directing and acting. Really worth to go see it in a theater, the big screen really delivers the atmosphere with an incredible realism. And also, for me, it will worth the money I'll spend on it when it comes out on DVD, which I'll immediately buy! "Histoire de Pen" is raw, brutal, touching, realistic, and great. Bravo to Michel Jetté!
I give it 9/10.
Terrible
aonanim21 October 2005
Released under "Banged Up" (Cert 18) in the Irish/UK markets.
Avoid this made-for-TV tripe at all costs.
Not only does this "movie" suffer from an absence of plot and a liberal peppering of flash-backs throughout (yawn...); the disc production is wholly sub-standard:
A) This movie is *dubbed* into English (not subtitled). B) Colour conversion from NTSC->PAL is awful. (Unless the original was also bathed in a crimson hue?) C) The disc is labelled as "Aspect: Full screen". Unless your TV is capable of manually resizing its picture, this movie plays out-of-aspect. Changing your player settings to 4:3 (PS/LB) are not sufficient to repair the over-stretched (tall) picture.
My DVD store were kind enough to refund my euro4.75. Hopefully others will be as sympathetic!
As for the English-language release title ("Banged Up"); this is surely a pun too far?
Avoid this made-for-TV tripe at all costs.
Not only does this "movie" suffer from an absence of plot and a liberal peppering of flash-backs throughout (yawn...); the disc production is wholly sub-standard:
A) This movie is *dubbed* into English (not subtitled). B) Colour conversion from NTSC->PAL is awful. (Unless the original was also bathed in a crimson hue?) C) The disc is labelled as "Aspect: Full screen". Unless your TV is capable of manually resizing its picture, this movie plays out-of-aspect. Changing your player settings to 4:3 (PS/LB) are not sufficient to repair the over-stretched (tall) picture.
My DVD store were kind enough to refund my euro4.75. Hopefully others will be as sympathetic!
As for the English-language release title ("Banged Up"); this is surely a pun too far?
Michel Jetté has just made his name as a very important director!
~PL~13 October 2002
Warning: Spoilers
"Histoire de Pen" is a film by Michel Jette. This man has already directed another movie entitled "Hochelaga". In Quebec (that's where the movie was made), "Hochelaga" was considered as an "Oliver Stonesque" exploration of the dark world of bikers (which are the equivalent of the maffia here). It only had a budget of one million dollars (and it's Canadian dollars...so in U.S. dollars, it would be approximately 600 000 dollars!) but clearly said what it had to say. Michel Jette, in that film, made his name as a director that offers realistic films, with a very sober but raw way to tell a story that stands closely to reality. (Minor Spoilers Warning)
But "Hochelaga" was nothing compared to this. "Histoire de Pen" is, ten times stronger than "Hochelaga" was. And I'm saying that considering that "Hochelaga" was a pretty good and effective film.
"Histoire de Pen" tells the story of Claude, a man that has to spend ten years of his life in jail. It doesn't take a lot of time for him to discover that the prisoners are divided in several clans that fight each other...in other words, he discovers that inside the prison, it's an extremely wild jungle in which security guards have only a limited power, and that only the strong survive. Violence is inevitable, and alliances with clans are risky. Claude will have to make his way through that "animal factory" (oh yeah, and that's another film about prisons directed by Steve Buscemi!). I won't give away anything else about what happens inside, but I'll stimulate your curiosity by only saying that, piece by piece, the puzzle that contains the reason why Claude is in jail is resolved.
Now that you know a little about the story, you HAVE to know more about the directing of this film. It is simply great! Michel Jette has become a very promising name in Canadian cinema, and I'd even say he could be internationally known, but I don't believe that's his goal, though. He truly has a talent portraying the criminal world and really gives a very believable vision of it. The atmosphere in the prison is unlike anything you've seen before. It is just as I imagine it would be. The violence is raw and hard to watch, even though it is not gory or graphic, it is just too realistic. The sound is as good as in "Fight Club" when they hit each other...There is also a rape scene that will truly disturb you...it would never have been so horrible if there had not been such a great directing. For that scene and other fight scenes, I would not recommend this film for people under 16 years of age (even though in Quebec they gave it a 13 and over certification). The lighting is perfect, the camera and the angles are amazing, and the feeling the directing provides will give you the impression that you are inside the prison. The textures are strong and you can almost smell the iron and the sweat. Also, there is a poetic aspect (including references to Francois Villon) that gives a colored and tender aspect in the cold and hard atmosphere of the film. It is by far the most effective directing I've seen in a movie recently.
The acting is pretty good too. The only actor that I didn't like that much was Dominic Darceuil, who played a transvestite, but still, he was not bad. The best actor was Emmanuel Auger, who played the main character. The cast is really good, and they all play their roles more than well.
Now, what I think is the strongest point, and, also, the ultimate goal of Michel Jette's film, the message. Those who have seen Martin Scorsese's films, some of Oliver Stone's movies will be familiar with that kind of films. They offer a picture of reality, and unmask and show the real face of a particular world (the world of mafia ("Casino" and "Goodfellas"), bikers ("Hochelaga"), professional football ("Any Given Sunday"), politics ("JFK"), media ("Natural Born Killers"), among others). In "Histoire de Pen", the message is clear. We put criminals in a place where they HAVE to become even more violent and wild (in order to survive!), then, we release them, and look, we have worse killers, rapists in our streets. The film doesn't focus on who creates them, (even though Michel Jette, in a subtle way, shows that, where they live, these guys are meant to end up in jail, because it's a sector full of criminality, and guess what, this sector, that really exists by the way, is Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, from the title of his previous film) it puts a bigger emphasis on the effect of jail time on prisoners. This film will really leave you thinking.
The film has flaws too. The love story is not bad, but it has some cliches, even though every love story has cliches, and the point of the film is to seem realistic. Also, the way Claude escapes from the prison is more or less believable. Except for that, the film is truly great.
Overall, a film that will make you think, with very shocking images, awesome directing and acting. Really worth to go see it in a theater, the big screen really delivers the atmosphere with an incredible realism. And also, for me, it will worth the money I'll spend on it when it comes out on DVD, which I'll immediately buy! "Histoire de Pen" is raw, brutal, touching, realistic, and great. Bravo to Michel Jetté!
I give it 9/10.
But "Hochelaga" was nothing compared to this. "Histoire de Pen" is, ten times stronger than "Hochelaga" was. And I'm saying that considering that "Hochelaga" was a pretty good and effective film.
"Histoire de Pen" tells the story of Claude, a man that has to spend ten years of his life in jail. It doesn't take a lot of time for him to discover that the prisoners are divided in several clans that fight each other...in other words, he discovers that inside the prison, it's an extremely wild jungle in which security guards have only a limited power, and that only the strong survive. Violence is inevitable, and alliances with clans are risky. Claude will have to make his way through that "animal factory" (oh yeah, and that's another film about prisons directed by Steve Buscemi!). I won't give away anything else about what happens inside, but I'll stimulate your curiosity by only saying that, piece by piece, the puzzle that contains the reason why Claude is in jail is resolved.
Now that you know a little about the story, you HAVE to know more about the directing of this film. It is simply great! Michel Jette has become a very promising name in Canadian cinema, and I'd even say he could be internationally known, but I don't believe that's his goal, though. He truly has a talent portraying the criminal world and really gives a very believable vision of it. The atmosphere in the prison is unlike anything you've seen before. It is just as I imagine it would be. The violence is raw and hard to watch, even though it is not gory or graphic, it is just too realistic. The sound is as good as in "Fight Club" when they hit each other...There is also a rape scene that will truly disturb you...it would never have been so horrible if there had not been such a great directing. For that scene and other fight scenes, I would not recommend this film for people under 16 years of age (even though in Quebec they gave it a 13 and over certification). The lighting is perfect, the camera and the angles are amazing, and the feeling the directing provides will give you the impression that you are inside the prison. The textures are strong and you can almost smell the iron and the sweat. Also, there is a poetic aspect (including references to Francois Villon) that gives a colored and tender aspect in the cold and hard atmosphere of the film. It is by far the most effective directing I've seen in a movie recently.
The acting is pretty good too. The only actor that I didn't like that much was Dominic Darceuil, who played a transvestite, but still, he was not bad. The best actor was Emmanuel Auger, who played the main character. The cast is really good, and they all play their roles more than well.
Now, what I think is the strongest point, and, also, the ultimate goal of Michel Jette's film, the message. Those who have seen Martin Scorsese's films, some of Oliver Stone's movies will be familiar with that kind of films. They offer a picture of reality, and unmask and show the real face of a particular world (the world of mafia ("Casino" and "Goodfellas"), bikers ("Hochelaga"), professional football ("Any Given Sunday"), politics ("JFK"), media ("Natural Born Killers"), among others). In "Histoire de Pen", the message is clear. We put criminals in a place where they HAVE to become even more violent and wild (in order to survive!), then, we release them, and look, we have worse killers, rapists in our streets. The film doesn't focus on who creates them, (even though Michel Jette, in a subtle way, shows that, where they live, these guys are meant to end up in jail, because it's a sector full of criminality, and guess what, this sector, that really exists by the way, is Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, from the title of his previous film) it puts a bigger emphasis on the effect of jail time on prisoners. This film will really leave you thinking.
The film has flaws too. The love story is not bad, but it has some cliches, even though every love story has cliches, and the point of the film is to seem realistic. Also, the way Claude escapes from the prison is more or less believable. Except for that, the film is truly great.
Overall, a film that will make you think, with very shocking images, awesome directing and acting. Really worth to go see it in a theater, the big screen really delivers the atmosphere with an incredible realism. And also, for me, it will worth the money I'll spend on it when it comes out on DVD, which I'll immediately buy! "Histoire de Pen" is raw, brutal, touching, realistic, and great. Bravo to Michel Jetté!
I give it 9/10.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
