one of my absolute favorites!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This film from Quebec is a quiet family drama, and requires patience to appreciate. Not much happened in the film except for Gaby, an ageing farmer close to retirement, attending to his live stock, 24x7.His has two adult daughters living in the city, who seldom visit him. But when one of them got into financial trouble, Gaby made a tough decision to help her out, thus throwing his regular and regimented life style into turmoil.The film depresses me in the sense Gaby was clearly taken advantage of by one of his daughters, but still made the sacrifice willingly, without considering the impact to his remaining years.This is a well acted film for those who enjoy family dramas, and are interested in gaining an insight to farm life in Quebec.

This independent film, written and directed by Sebastien Pilote, offers the viewer lots of quiet realism. For those that have the patience to allow a drama to unfold at its' own pace, enhanced by fine acting, you may very well find rewards here with this movie.Gabriel Arcand powerfully portrays Gaby, a 63-year-old life-long sheep farmer, in the beautiful countryside of Quebec Province, Canada. He's been divorced for 20 years, and only sees his two daughters Marie (Lucie Laurier) and Frederique (Sophie Desmarais) occasionally, as they live in Montreal. He does have his trusty companion and work dog with him, is visited by his neighbor friend Louis (Gilles Renard) who helps him with his financial books, and gets part-time help on the farm by a local boy.However Gaby's world is jolted when he receives a visit from Marie, and her two sons, who tells her father she's now separated from her husband, and asks Gaby if he can lend her $200,000 so she can buy out her husband's interest in their home and save it from foreclosure.Gaby is in lots of debt with his farm, which is barely showing any profits, and quickly realizes that if he wants to help his daughter he may have to sell his farm. Although others tell him he's being manipulated by Marie, Gaby feels that a father has to give to his family to happy.If he's to go ahead with the auction of his farm, Gaby will have to face the cold-hearted realities of the process of selling all of his possessions, including the land, the sheep, his home etc., and begins to see the emotional toll this can take on him. However, at the same time, he sees it as a way of breaking free of a life he's been toiling at for decades, with few rewards, and enable him to be closer to his family.There are some nonsensical decisions that Gaby will make along the way, but overall I found this film to be a poignant and powerful drama, enhanced by superb acting all around, and wonderful cinematography.

This is the story of a Canadian farmer which was told in a quite realistic mode. A man who lives in the countryside and his way of life was presented beautifully on the screen. It also speaks the value of the family members even though each of them are spread out to different places seeking a better life and future. I had seen many movies that depict the farmers' lives around the world, but this part of the world probably first time for me.The story of a father who live alone in a country farm on which he raises livestocks. Among the best in the surrounding area and people are jealous of it. One day one of his daughters comes asking financial help. As a father how he reacts to the circumstance to give support to his daughter. For that he has to sacrifice his way of life he led in the last 40 years, which ends in a high note emotion.I am quite happy for choosing this. It was an heartwarming melodrama. Many touchy lines reached real deep into me. The character Gaby was the highlight of the movie. The actor who did that role was fantastic, must recognize and acknowledge it. The movie was too slow though well executed in every part of the story. Strictly for drama movie fans and family audience. It was a simple and good movie. There's nothing more to talk about than a watch and to know it yourself.

"The Auction" (2013 release from Canada; 111 min.; original title "Le démantèlement" or "The dismantling") brings the story of Gaby, a 60-somethingh year old sheep farmer in the northern part of Quebec. Gaby has spent his whole life there, but is now alone, his brothers having left him, then his wife, then his 2 daughters Marie and Frederique, who chose the life in the big city (Montreal). Then one day, Marie and her 2 little boys visit Gaby. She tells him that she has left her husband Steve, and that she needs money to buy out Steve's half of the house. Gaby is determined to help her, but soon realizes he may need to sell his beloved farm to do so. Will Gaby sell the farm and dismantle his entire existence? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first and foremost, this is essentially a movie about a farmer's life, and as such the movie moves at a snail's pace, and I mean that as a (high) compliment. The farm's environment is showcased time and again, to great effect. Second, Gabriel Arcand, in the role of Gaby, brings a towering performance that will leave you wowed at the end of the movie (he won the Canadian Oscar-equivalent for Best Actor, and much deserved at that). Third, kudos to writer-director Sebastien Pilote for bringing this story, he scored several nominations for this movie at the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars (but didn't win). Last but certainly not least, the movie has a fantastic soundtrack, composed by Serge Nakaushi-Pelletier. I am going to check if by chance the soundtrack is commercially available. Bottom line: "The Dismantling" (much better title than "The Auction") is an emotionally taxing movie that is worth the investment, time-wise, money-wise and emotion-wise.This movie was the March, 2014 release in the on-going series of Film Movement's DVD-of-the-Month Club of foreign and indie movies, and the DVD will be released to the public at large in August, 2014. As usual, the DVD comes with a number of bonus materials, and also a nice animated shortie ("The Giant", 2013 release from Spain; 11 min.), equally worth checking out. "The Auction" is another very worthy addition to the ever-growing Film Movement library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED