Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin is persuasive when a part asks her to listen and keep searching. Incendies makes a strong case for her quiet dramatic work, though its writing sometimes gives her more questions to ask than character to play.
Fi1m perspective
In Incendies (2010), Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin makes Jeanne Marwan’s need for answers feel pressing. She has the difficult job of sustaining the children’s investigation beside the more forceful material given to Lubna Azabal. She and Maxim Gaudette give that search enough personal weight to keep it from becoming a procession of clues. We were moved by Jeanne’s persistence because Désormeaux-Poulin makes knowing the truth matter to this particular person. It is quiet work in a film where each discovery is meant to hurt.
Before Jeanne, her work included television and the teen films À vos marques... party (2007) and its 2009 follow-up. Incendies became the dramatic breakthrough, opening the way to more serious film and television parts. Beyond the Walls (2012), in which she played Anka, was the first major film role to follow it. There is no reason to treat the lighter work as something she needed to apologise for; the turn matters because it brought different demands and opportunities.
Denis Villeneuve makes good use of her willingness to listen, but the writing does not always repay it. At times, she and Gaudette are confined to asking whatever will move the investigation along. We rate Incendies highly, with reservations about its contrived plotting; Désormeaux-Poulin makes the need to investigate believable even when the next step seems too convenient. Rémy Girard’s calm Notary Lebel helps give some relief from the solemnity, and these quieter performances allow us to stay interested in the people doing the searching.
In Gabrielle (2013), her supporting performance as Sophie again draws its strength from family bonds and personal struggle. That is a useful continuation of the work in Incendies, though it is Jeanne who gives us the clearest reason to recommend her. We would like to see that capacity for listening matched by scripts that let her do more than receive information. Start with Incendies, and allow for a screenplay that occasionally underserves its actors.
Biography
Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin is a Canadian actress. She began acting as a child, appearing in an advertising campaign at the age of six and in television series from 1989, including Jamais deux sans toi and Les Héritiers Duval. She studied at an arts school in Lanaudière.
She is known for her role as Jeanne Marwan in Denis Villeneuve's Incendies (2010). Other film credits include Taking the Plunge (2007) and its sequel (2009), Beyond the Walls (2012) as Anka, Gabrielle (2013) as Sophie, and Threesome (2017) as Estelle Legrand. She has also appeared in numerous television series. Désormeaux-Poulin received Jutra Award nominations for Incendies and won for Best Supporting Actress for Gabrielle.
