The Fundy Film Society

Roche papier ciseaux (Rock Paper Scissors)

Roche papier ciseaux (Rock Paper Scissors)

Quebec director Yan Lanouette Turgeon’s debut feature is the story of three men—Vincent, Lorenzo and Boucane—whose lives are brought together through a strange sequence of events.

Vincent (Roy Dupuis; Shake Hands with the Devil, The Barbarian Invasions), a doctor stripped of his medical license, is a man of few words, a man who prefers anonymity. Earlier in his life when he could not pay off gambling debts, he was forced to work for the Chinese mafia. He treats a clientele of thugs he secretly despises, while managing the organization’s pharmaceutical needs. Today, married to a wonderful wife and a few months away from becoming a father, this parallel life, both amoral and dangerous, is eating away at him. He is desperately seeking a way out.

Lorenzo (Remo Girone), an old Italian immigrant on his last dime, walks the streets of Montreal in search of scrap metal that he then tries to sell in order to survive. His wife Rosa Maria (Victoria Zinny) suffers from Alzheimer’s and Lorenzo’s only goal in life is to fulfill the promise he made to Rosa Maria—to return her body to Italy to be buried in their hometown. But dreams cost money, lots of money, and collecting scrap cans and odds and ends will never bring in enough, not to mention the arthritis eating away at his hands. In short, Lorenzo is praying for a miracle.

A silent, dark-eyed Aboriginal, Boucane (Samian) is somewhere between a naïve adolescent and an adult in the making. A difficult past (a mostly absent mother and a father who committed suicide) as well as a rather poisonous environment has stolen much of his innocence. One summer night, he makes a decision. Freedom and a better life await him in Montreal. By the next morning, he is ready to leave. With only a bag containing clothes and a few possessions—including a bezoar inherited from his father—he heads south, ready and hoping for a fresh start. But he makes one big mistake early on: he hooks up for a lift with Normand (Roger Léger), a quirky gun-toting character who is clearly up to no good.

Originally from France, Shaw Mue-Fan aka Muffin (Frédéric Chau), an enforcer for the Chinese mafia, is the common strand bringing these three lives together. He is well placed within the criminal organization. His ability for building alliances has made him the youngest right arm in the history of the Montreal Triads. Always impeccably groomed and wearing the latest fashion, Muffin is a proud man who seems charming and nice at first… until he gets angry, of course.

Their fates collide on the night of a lunar eclipse.