Some
stoners are actually sensitive kids. Believe it or not, it is not impossible for
them to fall in love, under the right circumstances. This is even true in French
Canada. When Théo meets Mag (short for Marguerite), the timing is either
utterly awful or absolutely perfect. Regardless, their rapport develops at warp
speed in Pascal Plante’s Fake Tattoos (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival
in Park City.
Initially,
Mag and Théo meet awkwardly rather than cutely after a hardcore gig. She starts
busting on him for sporting a temporary tattoo, but then admits his artistry with
eye-liner is quite impressive. Aside from some comical guilty pleasures, they
mostly have the same taste in music. They are also unhappy outsiders, so a bond
quickly forms. Even a ragingly uncomfortable morning after cannot derail their
mutual attraction. However, their affair must presumably be finite, because Théo’s
mother is relocating them in two weeks, from Montreal to his grown sister’s provincial
digs.
Tattoos is sort of like a
grungy, slacker teen Éric Rohmer movie, mostly in the best ways. Plante takes time
to develop his primary characters and gives them scrupulously realistic but consistently
meaningful dialogue to chew on. Plante recreates the same breathlessly intimate
vibe and uses music to devastating effect, but as is sometimes the case with some
works from the master of the Seasons and the Moral Tales, it is debatable whether
Tattoos adds up to much when it is
all said and done.
Still,
Anthony Therrien and Rose-Marie Perreault rather brilliantly keep us focused on
the present moment, every second of the way. They are utterly unaffected and
completely believable as the young nearly-lovers, but it would be a disservice
to suggest they are just playing themselves. Most eighteen or nineteen-year-olds
lack this kind of emotional maturity. Their chemistry is also quite real and
potent.
On
some level, most folks will easily identify with this tale of underdog outsider
romance. It is a small film, but it gets its hooks into viewers, evoking
memories of summer love and missed opportunities. Recommended as a nice
sleeper, Fake Tattoos screens again
this Thursday (1/25), as part of this year’s Slamdance.