Le Vendeur

The Salesman (Le Vendeur) was written and directed by Sébastien Pilote. It was his first feature film, and a highly successful one. Starring Gilbert Sicotte in an admirably moving performance, the film depicts in almost mundane detail the life of Marcel, the best car salesman in his small town for the past 15 years. Living only for his work and for his beloved daughter and grandson, Marcel passes his days watching the winter landscape through the showroom window, waiting for customers to come through the door. But none does, and the minutes pass slowly and quietly, almost on tiptoe. The town has been economically depressed since the supposedly temporary shutdown of the local mill more than half a year ago. Thus Marcel plods on through the grim days of winter, until tragedy strikes...and then he moves on once more. Gilbert Sicotte is deeply affecting He bears the entire dramatic burden of the film, a picture of restraint, betraying his loneliness and resignation with little more than scarcely perceptible sighs.

Filmed in Québec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, this film features a somewhat neglected character in the world of Québec film: winter. The wonderful wintertime photography adds to the film’s sense of languor and its characters’ sense of desperation. Pierre Lapointe’s beautiful score skilfully heightens both.

The Salesman was screened at a number of international film festivals, including Sundance, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Turin, and Manheim-Heidelberg, where it received the FIPRESCI International Federation of Film Critics Prize and the International Jury’s Special Prize. At the Mumbai International Film Festival in 2011, The Salesman won the Silver Gateway Jury Grand Prize in the International Competition category, while Gilbert Sicotte received the Silver Gateway Award for Best Actor. Back home in Québec, his performance in The Salesman was recognized again, in 2012, with a well deserved Jutra Award for Best Actor.