by KEVIN LAFOREST

Let me make this clear: I do NOT think violence against women is funny in any way, shape or form. But I do think the film Elles étaient cinq (The Five of Us) is laughable. For most of the 80-minute running time, I had to repress my amusement, lest the people around me think that I find vicious sex crimes jolly good fun.

The Québécois film that opened the World Film Festival starts out with Manon (Jacinthe Laguë) running into the man (Peter Miller) who brutally raped her and one of her friends (Noémie Yelle) when they were teenagers. She's terrified and overwhelmed that the monster from her past has been released from prison. In an attempt to make sense of these bad memories, Manon reunites with her high school girlfriends for a trip back to the country house where tragedy struck 15 years ago.

Again, the subject matter is not humorous in the least and the sexual assault scene itself is disturbing, but whatever visceral impact the film has early on quickly vanishes. In its place is ridiculous, trite melodrama. Particularly unconvincing is the tentative relationship between Manon and an effete co-worker (Sylvain Carrier) with whom she shares a love for hot dogs.

The only bright spot is Laguë, who manages to be mysterious, radiant and touching as Manon, in spite of the mediocre writing. Unfortunately, her co-stars don't fare as well and they indulge in a lot of embarrassing overacting. Then again, even the best actress in the world couldn't sell a line like, "Moi avec mon judo, je l'aurais sauvée Sophie!" ("With my judo, I would have saved Sophie.") Screenwriter Chantal Cadieux obviously meant well with her demanding subject matter, but her story and dialogue are way too heavy-handed.

The film feels like a stretched out episode of Watatatow. Like the long-running Radio-Canada teen soap, Elles étaient cinq gives the distinct impression that it was conceived by social workers who know a lot about the issues but precious little about scriptwriting. When you add that to the awful supporting performances and Ghyslaine Côté's direction (her feature debut was Pin-Pon: Le Film, after all), it's really hard to take the film seriously.

Elles étaient cinq is now playing

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