Imitation
Federico Hidalgo
2006, Société de développement des entreprises culturelles Québec/Government of Québec/Movie Network/Corus
87 minutes, English
LATAMROB rating: **
PERHAPS ONLY in Canada could the hunt for a missing person begin in a supermarket over a tub of strawberries. Imitation tells the story of Teresa (Vanessa Bauche), the hot Mexican chic whose search for her husband begins in a Montreal grocery store. Fenton (Jesse Aaron Dwyre), a shop assistant, is drawn into the pursuit both of the spouse, but increasingly of the esposa, which takes the pair into encounters with a series of comical characters across the city. It’s not exactly forbidden fruit – the romantic tension never quite blossoms – but Bauche and Dwyre do leave the viewer in that condition of uncertainty that defines the immigrant lifestyle, whether intentionally or not. Dwyre succeeds in delivering the main message of the movie, about friendship vis-à-vis love, and Bauche – better known as Susana in the superb Amores Perros – is, of course, a pleasure to look at. Imitation is the second movie directed by the Argentine-Canadian filmmaker Federico Hidalgo whose A Silent Love (2004), his first feature film, also dealt with Canadian-Mexican romance and loneliness. Must be something to do with those strawberries. – EC
