Days of Darkness

It’s hard to imagine just what filmmaker Denys Arcand was attempting to accomplish with Days of Darkness, as the movie, though infused with a few interesting interludes and a fantastic central performance from Marc Labrèche, comes off as a consistently underwhelming effort that’s never even remotely as engrossing as his last effort (2003’s The Barbarian Invasions). Set within an Orwellian Quebec that’s been overrun by political correctness and red tape, the movie follows a put-upon civil servant (Labrèche’s Jean-Marc) as he escapes from the myriad of annoyances in his life by engaging in fantasies that are primarily sexual in nature (he will, however, occasionally imagine a harsh comeuppance for his controlling boss). There’s a distinct feeling of repetitiveness to much of Days of Darkness, as Arcand hammers home many of the same points time and time again – with a particular emphasis on the government’s proclivity towards wastefulness. And while Jean-Marc is certainly an intriguing figure, he’s been surrounded by a series of over-the-top caricatures (including his workaholic wife and perpetually sullen daughter). The incredibly uneven structure only exacerbates the film’s various problems, as there reaches a point at which Arcand plum runs out of things for Jean-Marc to do (a seriously tedious excursion to a Crusades re-enactment in the third act smacks of needlessness). The inclusion of a few honest moments towards the film’s conclusion come too late to make any real impact, with the end result a staggeringly disappointing effort from a genuinely talented filmmaker.

** out of ****