We do not know where he comes from or where he’s going. Little is known about Wilcox (Guillaume Tremblay), the main protagonist that gives his name to the film, apart from the fact that he’s dressed as a military man, and that he avoids crowds and populated areas. We see how he wanders through suburban and rural areas in search of a place to sleep. Sometimes, we follow him closely and at others, we observe him from a distance. Without dialogue and bathed in an unusual film score, we have a feature film of just over an hour where, to a large extent, we hear nothing of the surrounding environment or of what is being said. Instead, viewers are immersed in a Lynchian atmosphere worthy of Eraserhead.
Denis Côté, director of Ghost Town Anthology, screened during last year’s edition of Americana, made an enigmatic, alienating and abstract feature. In a film where improvisation was sought to get the maximum truth out of the filmed sequences, we see how this reality contrasts with an abstraction of form. The final result sits somewhere between mystery and uncertainty, and attracts and pushes away viewers in equal parts. The Canadian filmmaker wanted his viewer to get lost in this limbo of sensations and unanswered questions that he deliberately shatters and reconstructs.
The uniqueness of this piece could earn it the label of experimental film, since not being able to listen to what you see is something far from the standards and canons of the film industry. Côté is one of those filmmakers who manage to produce and present bold films that are totally unique in their genre. Wilcox is the exception that proves the rule.
