Polytechnique

Synopsis: On December 6, 1989, a lone gunman walked into Montréal's École Polytechnique, a post-secondary institution focusing primarily in engineering, and began a shooting massacre. This event and its aftermath are shown from the perspective of three people. The first is the shooter himself, who blamed the problems in his life on who he considered feminists, such as female engineering students, who were his primary targets. This event was the culmination of a seven year plan, which had a self-defined end. The second is female mechanical engineering student Valérie, who earlier that day had an interview for her dream internship, working on an aerospace project. The interview process itself was a disturbing one for her in the stereotypical view by the male interviewer, who did not believe that females could work in the business and still have aspirations to have a family. And the third is Jean-François, Valérie's friend and fellow mechanical engineering student, who was one of the few who did wh
Genre: Crime, Drama, History
Director(s): Denis Villeneuve
Production: Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm
  16 wins & 9 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Metacritic:
63
Rotten Tomatoes:
86%
NOT RATED
Year:
2009
77 min
682 Views


These too.

Do you have some change?

Not much.

- Bye.

- Bye.

Forgive the mistakes.

I had 15 minutes to write this.

Would you note

that if I commit suicide today

it is not for economic reasons,

for I have waited until

I exhausted all

my financial means,

even refusing jobs,

but for political reasons.

Because I have decided

to send the feminists,

who have always ruined my life,

to their maker.

For 7 years

life has brought me no joy,

and being totally blase,

I have decided to put an end

to those viragos.

I tried in my youth to enter

the forces as an officer cadet,

which would have allowed me

possibly to get into the arsenal

and precede Lortie in a raid.

They refused me because...

antisocial.

I therefore had to wait until this day

to execute my plans.

In the meantime, I continued

my studies in a haphazard way

for they never really

interested me,

knowing in advance my fate.

Which did not prevent me

from obtaining very good marks

despite my policy

of not handing in work

and the lack of studying

before exams.

Even though the media

will label me a "mad killer",

I consider myself

a rational individual

who has been pushed

to take extreme measures

only by the arrival

of the grim reaper.

For why persevere to exist

just to please the government?

Being a backwards-looking

thinker by nature,

except for when it

comes to science,

I have always been enraged

by feminists.

They cling to women's benefits,

like cheap insurance,

maternity leave,

preventative leave,

while seizing for themselves

those of men.

Thus it is an obvious truth

that if the olympic games

removed the men-women

distinction,

there would be women only

in the graceful events.

So the feminists are not fighting

to remove that barrier.

They are so opportunistic

that they never fail to profit

from the knowledge accumulated

by men through the ages.

They always try to misrepresent them

every time they can.

Thus, the other day,

I heard they were honouring

the Canadian men and women

who fought at the frontlines

during the world wars.

How can that be

when women were not authorized

to go to the frontlines?

Will we hear of Caesar's female

legions and female galley slaves

who of course took up

though they never existed?

Real casus belli.

Sorry for this too brief letter.

- Val?

- Hmm?

An adiabatic transformation.

Is it isentropic when it's reversible

or irreversible?

Reversible.

I can't even remember

the basic concepts.

In one ear out the other.

Just think of an elastic.

The entropy remains constant,

therefore it's reversible,

like a rubber band.

That's nice.

You want the job, you'll get it.

Ah, I haven't been able

to read Sylvain

and I can't finish

my structure lab.

Hey, j-f.

It's a bit early

for a striptease, isn't it?

Re you finished?

- No.

You still comin' to the party?

I don't know.

I'll be studying in the "caf".

Let me know how it went, ok?

Ok.

Thanks.

Good luck!

Mom,

sorry, it was inevitable.

Hey, buddy!

Hey.

F***!

My assignment.

Sh*t!

Valerie Dompierre?

Ltervie room

valerie Dompierre.

Maurice Martineau.

Hi.

So you're here for the mechanical

engineering internship?

Yes.

That's unusual.

What do you mean?

You in mechanical engineering?

Women usually go

for civil engineering. It's easier.

It's a real passion for me.

It's always been my dream

to work in aeronautics.

I meant, uh, easier for

raising a family.

We're looking for candidates

who won't quit...

- and?

- and what?

And what you say?

Nothing.

What could I say?

I don't know, Val.

That... that your career

comes first.

That you don't want kids.

Anything.

So, did you get the job or not?

It's not even a job.

It's an internship.

Job, intemship.

It's the same thing.

Anyway, yeah, I got it.

You got a job!

Do you realize what this means?

You don't seem very happy.

No, I am happy.

But what?

But I know that if I told him

that I wanted kids,

I wouldn't have gotten it.

It's like he was telling me

my education was just for fun.

He was so condescending.

Hey, cheer up.

You shouldn't let

that guy get to you.

You know, you work super hard.

Your grades are amazing.

Screw that guy!

Yeah, screw him.

Right.

- Hi, girls.

- Hi.

Can you help me?

I can't do this.

Can you lend me

your notes, please?

Yeah, sure.

- Thank you.

- Class is in 15 minutes.

See you there.

Is it gonna be long?

No.

Go ahead.

Next.

Can I help you?

We could define entropy

as a measurement of

the disorder in a system.

Any system that is subject

to pressure

from its external environment

will undergo a conversion

that results in imbalance

and a transfer of energy.

For example,

water in a pot on the stove

starts to move

and change into steam.

If we put a lid on the pot,

the steam lifts the lid,

which falls back down

only to be lifted

again and again

until there is no more heat

or no more water.

At the microscopic level,

this transfer of energy

results in increasing

molecular agitation,

which we call entropy.

Sorry.

Order cannot be restored until

maximum entropy is achieved.

Did I miss anything?

No, we just started.

Do you have my notes?

Thanks.

Re you finished?

- Almost.

Quiet in the back, please.

On a more metaphysical level,

the universal law

of entropy also tells us

that any isolated system,

left on its own,

is inevitably destined

to irreversible degradation,

to the point of self-destruction.

- Everybody stop.

Uh, young man, please come back

when the class is over.

Split up.

Girls on the left,

guys on the right.

I said split up!

Guys right, girls left!

Ok, guys out.

Girls, stay here.

I said move!

Go on! Go on!

Outside, outside!

Out! Out!

Hey, hey!

Some guy just took

all the girls hostage!

You have to call the police!

Some guy just took all the girls

hostage on the second floor!

Call the police, hurry!

- Are you kidding?

Hurry up!

Go, go!

It's gonna be ok.

Sorry!

Put pressure on it.

I'll be right back.

Thank you.

An ambulance is on the way.

F***.

I'll be right back.

Hey, J-F!

Want a beer?

Oh, honey!

What a nice surprise!

Hi, mom.

You ok?

- Yeah.

It's good to see you.

I'm really happy that you came.

You should visit more often.

Your aunt Simone

was asking about you.

How's she doing?

Fine.

So, it looks like

Claude and Martin

are coming for dinner

on the 24th.

You have plans for Christmas?

Nothing yet.

Exams were postponed

until mid-January.

Your father is still having

his New Year's Eve party.

Your brothers will be there.

Are you going?

I don't know.

What are you gonna do?

The usual.

You can come if you like.

It was good.

I should get back.

You're not staying for supper?

- No, I can't.

- You're not sleeping here?

I have to study.

If you need anything,

you know I'm here.

Thanks.

I worry about you.

You always worry.

Split up.

Girls on the left,

guys on the right.

I said split up!

Guys right, girls left!

Ok, guys out.

Girls, stay here.

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Jacques Davidts

Jacques Davidts is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. He is best known as the writer of Polytechnique (2009), for which he won a Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 30th Genie Awards in 2010.He was born in Liège, Belgium, and raised in Saint-Eustache, Quebec. He has also been a writer for the Ici Radio-Canada Télé series Les Parent. more…

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