The Worlds of Vincent

By inviting us to set sail with her brother Vincent towards Saint-Raphaël, on the road to their childhood vacations in France, Rozenn Potin takes us on a journey through time, asking: "What was it like before? Before Vincent's mental illness.” The director skilfully blends muted, warm-colored personal summer archives of children's games and motions, with still shots of her adult brother, static and tired, explaining what it's like to live with his "imposed roommate". In a virtual world, he struggles for hours on end against uncontrolled thoughts, while in the real world, he builds nothing. So prominent is the question of an “us” and cohabitation in the film, it may well have been entitled The Worlds With Vincent. This "us" refers both to Vincent's experience of understanding voices ("I've got guys, they're at my place, they talk to me [...] they're squatting in my skull.") and to the "us" within the couple, the family and, more broadly, society. The film's strength lies in its uncompromising portrayal of the choices made by each of the protagonists (brother, sister, father, mother, and girlfriend) to preserve these precious bonds. By choosing herself and not shunning her brother, Rozenn Potin, through this documentarian gesture from a sister to her brother, makes a resolute contribution to this inclusive "us".

Mouloud Boukala
Professor at the Media School, UQAM
Chairholder of the CRCMHA

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