Delightful, intelligent cinema
International cinema often goes unnoticed in the country mostly because of Bollywood’s antics.
There is a desperate need for people to watch such polished, amazing cinema more often. As a part of the Canadian Film Festival which ended last week, the India International Centre held the screening of the film Sticky Fingers.
A delightful watch, Sticky Fingers is a sly comedy in which six of the world’s worst gangsters manage a theist of US $ 2 million, but only one of them gets away with the loot. After four years in the jail, five bumbling thieves from Montreal are forced to walk the famous Camino pilgrimage in Spain to prove they've changed their ways and deserve their cut of the loot. Roy Dupuis, Patrice Robitaille and Aure Atika were the lead characters of the film.
Written and directed by Ken Scott, the film is set in 1964 where Donald Quintal (Patrice Robitaille) meets Father Padre Carmet (Jorge Sabate) at a missionary but is told by Carmet that he cannot be given the money.
Donald starts to narrate his story. He was a part of The Panet Street Gang that was made up of six Montreal gangsters which was four years ago. While they were in prison, they planned a bank heist. But they got caught and voted to give Jimmy, one of the members of the gang, the money on the condition of promising to share it when they all met again.
Donald explained to the group that he had received a letter from Jimmy that they were to walk 515 miles of the Camino pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela to get their share of the money on the condition that they have changed their character. The rest of the story is about how they complete their journey, almost lose the money and remain the same as they were! One of the gangster’s girlfriend was also involved in getting the money for them but not the heist. It is she who eventually saves all the money and distributes equally among them.
Full of betrayals, friendships, love and comic instances, the story is about how this walk can affect pilgrims and how millions may come to redeem themselves in this age old tradition. The group meets a lot of people on their way who help them become better persons. The gangsters discover the good and the bad in themselves in the walk but the thief in them hardly vanishes as they keep robbing and stealing throughout the walk too! One of them even steals someone’s car to avoid walking for some time.
There is a single background score which is played throughout the film which fits every scene very well. The actors played their parts very well, each becoming an important part of the film and moving the narrative forward. Rou Dupuis, in spite of his character, steals your heart and the happy ending of the love story makes you happy as well!
