Remake by Jean Imbeault  Éditions de L'Olivier, Seuil, Paris, 2012; $20.59

This review is part of a specially commissioned set of reviews of books by Quebec Francophone authors. Please read the introduction from the Book Review Editor in Canada, Richard Simpson here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

This is a gem of a book, a delightful read, with an intriguing approach to film and to psychoanalysis as well. Its catchy title, the same in English and French, suggests its focus, the ‘reworking’ of some 11 films of the author's choosing. The book consists of the insightful comments, associations, and reflections of a very sensitive, French-language Canadian psychoanalyst who shares with the readers his impressions of these films that he has seen in the course of the past several years. The format is that of a journal - or rather, excerpts or quotations from a journal, varying in length and theme - in which the author records his impressions of the films seen, often along with the circumstances or settings in which he happened to see the film, or the events in his life that led to searching out the DVD because of something remembered from a film, an association to a film, to one of his patients, or something in his own personal experience that reminds him of the film. The result is a fascinating voyage, not just through the films, but into the theory of film as well, sometimes even through the opus of a particular director, and, along the way, a look at topics in the history and theory of psychoanalysis.

Each chapter focuses on a particular film. The films seem randomly and perhaps even whimsically chosen. Many are not well known, though most are readily available from Internet sources. In each chapter Imbeault gives a crisp, clear, nuanced, and quite sensitive retelling or synopsis of the film. He shows keen intelligence and capacity for observation in understanding the characters and plot. These summaries are all the more fascinating because of the author's uncanny ability to describe what is going on,