Robert Lepage on LE CONFESSIONNAL | TIFF Bell Lightbox

Robert Lepage had already pushed the boundaries of traditional stagecraft with his bold cinematic effects, which made his transition to film a foregone conclusion. Set in Quebec City, Lepage's debut feature Le Confessionnal begins in the present day, where estranged adoptive brothers Pierre (Lothaire Bluteau) and Marc (Patrick Goyette) are reunited for their father's funeral, which awakens Marc's desire to learn the identity of his real father. As the brothers set out to discover the truth of their origins, their search is intercut with a parallel narrative set in 1952, where Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess is being filmed on location in Quebec as the unwed and pregnant sixteen-year-old Rachel (Suzanne Clément) seeks absolution in a church confessional — but refuses to divulge the name of her child's father. Brilliantly structured, elegantly photographed and impeccably acted, Le Confessionnal firmly established Lepage's cinematic signature: boldly stylized visual strategies, intricate puzzle-box narratives, and a complex intertwining of personal and public histories.