Saint-Narcisse: Provocateur Bruce LaBruce Takes the Narcissus Myth to the Next Level

 By Jim Slotek

Rating: B

A fellow in tight jeans, our protagonist Dominic (Félix-Antoine Duval) meets a young woman at a laundromat. By way of an ice-breaker, he pulls a bra out of the dryer. 

Soon they are rocking the appliances in a carnal way, while a crowd gathers at the window.

So far, so Bruce LaBruce - Canada’s filmic provocateur, who has been both invited to film festivals and banned from them.

Felix-Antoine Duval co-stars with himself in Bruce La Bruce’s Saint-Narcisse.

But the reckless public sex act, besides being totally expected in his oeuvre, mainly serves to get your attention for the clever narrative in his movie Saint-Narcisse. The film manages to squeeze together, in a winking way, the dark secret-keeping of the countryside and closed communities – a la Midsommar and the brilliant original ‘70s version of The Wicker Man – and the Greek myth of Narcissus. To the latter, let’s just say when Narcissus meets and falls in love with himself, he takes it to the next level. (LaBruce says his original working title for the film was Twin-cest).

Saint-Narcisse takes place in 1972, which explains the Cancon hit Where Evil Grows by The Poppy Family playing during the opening coital scene. But Dominic is a man ahead of his time in that he uses his Polaroid camera to take numerous “selfies.” He is self-obsessed, even before meeting himself. And, his past being intrinsic to his self-image, he can’t resist going on a motorcycle trip on hearing news that his presumed-dead mother is alive and that he himself is said to have “died” as a child.

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

At the bucolic village of Saint-Narcisse, he meets his New Agey mom Beatrice (Tania Kontoyanni) and her young life-partner Irene (Alexandra Petrachuk)

He visits his own grave, that of an infant in the local cemetery. And he encounters young monks, novitiates at a monastery housing The Order. It’s run by the deranged Father Andrew, who believes his prized pupil, Daniel (also played by Duval) is the reincarnation of the tortured martyr St. Sebastien. 

It is only a matter of time before Dominic and Daniel find each other, with the besotted Dominic hatching plans to free Daniel from the clutches of the cleric who fancies him his “Bride of Christ.”

There’s an entertaining commitment to the story and its references in Saint-Narcisse (a real place that may be impossible to photograph badly, such is the natural beauty that surrounds this demented tale). And LaBruce knows a striking leading man when he casts one. Duval commands the screen in both roles (though playing Daniel demands he dial down Dominic’s brashness). Andreas Apergis gives good evil as Father Andrew, and the overarching theme of narcissism works nicely as a comment on the contemporary social media era.

Saint-Narcisse. Directed and co-written by Bruce LaBruce. Stars Felix-Antoine Duval, Andreas Apergis and Tania Kontoyanni. Begins streaming Tuesday, April 4, 2023 on MUBI Canada..