Chloé Robichaud lifts Days of Happiness @TIFF2023

Director Chloé Robichaud chimes in with her third feature Days of Happiness at TIFF. The film follows a young female conductor Emma, played by Sophie Desmarais, looking to make it on the Montreal scene. But to make things a lot heavier per se, her agent is her dad Patrick, played by Sylvain Marcel. The idea of nepotism could work in a tight-knit musical community in Montreal. However, the audience discovers that there is more to reveal about their relationship. Patrick seems to have a hold on her ever since childhood. But at the same time allowing for promise to enter her career in landing a role with a prestigious orchestra.

The one relationship she focuses on primarily is her romantic relationship with one of her cellists Naëlle played by Nour Belkhiria. She is a newly separated single mother who is doing the best that she can by raising her child. As Emma’s gig gets stronger and stronger, her confidence in becoming more involved in the life of Naëlle becomes prominent. As Naëlle’s boundaries start to lessen with her child getting to know Emma, more pressure is put on her career. This comes from her dad who knows his daughter’s strengths and weaknesses. However, he used the same tactics when she was a child. They are quite Whiplash-aggressive but there is pressure on him to make his daughter the best that she can be.

Under Pressure

With all of this pressure in Emma’s immediate circle, the expectation to perform and move up a notch becomes difficult to navigate. But according to her father, the more life she lives and the more pressure she experiences, the better the music she will play. It’s the genuine equation for success for a musical conductor. Although Emma has yet to garner her emotions into her music which is necessary to move up to the next level. She has to learn how to fight for what she wants in both her career and her personal life.

Days of Happiness is a beautiful and robust film that uses this fine musical orchestral backdrop to accentuate the relationships in this film. Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, principal conductor and artistic director of the Metropolitan Orchestra, musical director of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, and musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, served as the film’s musical consultant while the Metropolitan Orchestra collaborated both in recording musical pieces and filming the movie. The audience can feel the emotions of the music.

Not only the music in this film is astounding but it gives the audience a new level of respect for it. Once more it shows a musician in a different light. The case is usually a different genre of music that films focus on with a lot of star power. The rock star aspect does not exist in this industry. Days of Happiness brings it back to earth making the audience resonate with all the characters in the film. Robichaud is more sympathetic to her characters, especially Emma. It is a humbling film and FERNTV certainly prescribes it. It’s simply music to your ears.