The Trotsky

“Jacob Tierney’s sharp, funny The Trotsky follows Leon (the phenomenal Jay Baruchel), a precocious, upper-middle-class Montreal teenager who fervently believes he is the reincarnation of fabled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. His obsession extends far beyond wearing Trotsky’s trademark wire-rimmed spectacles — he’s determined to duplicate every event in Trotsky’s life . . . One of the most appealing aspects of the movie is that it is unreservedly Canadian and packed with very specific, slyly funny cultural references, ranging from gags about the French-English divide in Montreal to Ben Mulroney's ancestry . . . Leon is possibly the most intriguing creation in recent English-Canadian cinema” (Steve Gravestock, Toronto I.F.F.). “A treat . . . Tierney lets the farce bubble nicely, then spices the concoction with hints of satire, sprinklings of wit and a liberal measure of charm . . . I’m willing to wager this is the only film [this year] that manages to blaze a narrative path from Sergei Eisenstein to Ben Mulroney” (Rich Groen, Globe and Mail). The Trotsky won the audience awards at the Tokyo IFF and the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. Colour, 35mm. 113 mins.