Les états nordiques / Drifting States - by Denis Côté (2005)

A man named Christian constructs a new life for himself in a small town called Radisson after his mother falls into a coma.
A powerful study of alienation and isolation, Cote’s feature debut was shot on a shoestring budget in defiance of (or at least in opposition to) contemporary commercial cinema both within and outside Quebec. In the film’s opening sequence, Christian (Christian LeBlanc) watches a bloody wrestling match along with a raucous but unheard crowd, which he seems completely divorced from. Travelling to the hospital where his comatose mother is strapped to a life support system, Christian takes matters into his own hands and then flees Montréal for Radisson, a small town 1500 miles away. There he slowly, tentatively begins to construct a new life for himself. Beautifully composed, with minimal dialogue and a daring soundscape that makes the most mundane sounds vital, Les états nordiques is a remarkably assured debut which boasts a rich and already fully-formed sensibility.