Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: HANK EST EN VILLE [Fantasia Film Festival 2025 - Montreal, Canada - Virtual]
The aspect of homegrown texture is important in a genre festival. With "Hank Est En Ville" [Hank Is In Town] (Les Fantastiques Weekends Du Cinéma Québécois), the angle is an old school Western but in an almost silent film but in a way mixed in a style of 60s Disney mentality. The film is made very independently so it does have a DIY quality which is interesting considering the period setting. The basis is, of course, country music with a musician and his lover trying to make a go of it playing music as a duo on a border town. The townsfolk are supportive but when the lady's former brother-in-law (who has a thing for her) arrives in town with a Marshall on his tail, it is about finding the nooks and crannies for people to hide their secrets. While there is a lot of enthusiasm from the players, the tension is a bit negligible because the stakes are a little bit too loose.
Jim Larochelle (Michael Kelly) as the brother in law doesn't seem to get that Suzanne (Geneviève Néron) is not quite into him. But the play of a lover's quarrel between this guy and her current beau comes off monotone in many ways. When the pursuit gets going with the Marshall, the action sequences cut in some stop motion which is very jarring. It almost would have been better to infer elements off screen instead of trying to show them which (because of the story) are understandably logistically challenging. The final resolution is tragic in many ways but doesn't have the impact that one needs for this sort of story. Ghislain Vachon (Martin Pelletier) fares the best. His singer is the one that writes to Hank Williams in hopes of him coming to the small town. When Vachon is invited to join the singer at a date in Kansas City, it creates a sense of hope. Those elements are what drives the film but its impact is less than effective. The music is meant to drive the emotions but they seems more derivative than an authentic recreation. "Hank Est En Ville" does its best with what it has available but it is not quite enough. C
By Tim Wassberg
